By Michael Minnich, The Exponent Telegram
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — For the first time since Huntington’s Jordyn Dawson in 2016-17, there is a repeat winner of the Mary Ostrowski Award, given to the top high school girls basketball player in the state of West Virginia.
Fairmont Senior’s Marley Washenitz, who shared the award with Nitro’s Baylee Goins last season, won the award outright this year in a vote by members of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
Washenitz enters next week’s state tournament at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center averaging 29.2 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and five assists per game.
“If you look at the stats…no one is perfect, but man, the kid plays hard,” Fairmont Senior coach Corey Hines said. “She’s done her thing.”
A good state tournament could push Washenitz over the 2,000-point plateau for her career.
She enters with 1,925, especially impressive considering the shortened junior campaign due to COVID-19.
“We have a really good support system here at Fairmont Senior,” Washenitz said. “I think we have just as much support from football to boys basketball to girls basketball. The tradition is always to win and that’s what we want to do at states.”
She’s up to 764 rebounds, 501 steals (after 10 in the regional final) and 457 assists in 101 games, posting a 90-11 record as a Polar Bear.
Washenitz and the Polar Bears are the No. 1 seed in the Class AAA for the second straight year.
Fairmont Senior last won the title in Washenitz’s freshman year, losing in the quarterfinals the day before COVID-19 shut down the 2020 tournament and falling in the finals to Nitro last year.
“I’ve started every game in my career and it doesn’t feel real,” Washenitz said after playing her final home game, a 77-28 win over Lewis County in the regional final. “We don’t truly feel it’s our last game. We still see ourselves coming back. It’s eye-opening. I’ve been playing with some of these girls since fourth grade, so for us to be able to carry that legacy since then and up until now, that’s not something you see a lot these days, especially in girls basketball.”
Washenitz verbally committed to attend West Virginia University on Aug. 5, 2020, but did not sign in the fall window as Maier did.
On Jan. 17, she tweeted that she would not be a Mountaineer.
“Unfortunately due to COVID and 5th year athletes coming back i no longer have the opportunity to be a Mountaineer. i’ve decided to reopen my recruiting process. ALL contacts should be filtered through me or (Washenitz’s AAU coach Scott Johnson) @Scottejohnson12 I looked forward to finding a new home!”
It didn’t take long, either…just 38 minutes after her initial message, Washenitz tweeted that she had an offer from Pitt coach Lance White, thanking him “for a great conversation and the opportunity to possibly be a panther.”
She’s also tweeted about offers from Massachusetts, Stetson (coached by former WVU assistant Lynn Bria) and Villanova and has interest from several other major programs.
“I’m still looking for the same things that I looked at at WVU: A coach and staff with integrity, honesty and loyalty, a team who I’m going to be comfortable with, on and off the court, like sisters, and coaches who are going to be like my parents for the next four years,” Washenitz said. “I want to go somewhere where I can get a good academic degree. For style of play, I’m a very fast-paced player. Here at Fairmont Senior, we average 70 or 80 points a game.
“I want to go and make an impact at the school I choose. I don’t want to sit on the bench for three or four years.”
As she considers her options, she’s still trying to boost her skills.
“I think I’ve definitely picked up my IQ from an offensive and a defensive standpoint,” Washenitz said. “On defense, I’m able to anticipate the next pass, which helps me get steals and double-doubles and triple-doubles. I’ve been more aggressive this year and learned how to be more aggressive without fouling.
“From an offensive standpoint, I’m able to pull up and hit mid-range shots and hit my floaters. My 3s have picked up percentage-wise. I think last year I was at 33%. Right now, I’m shooting over 50%,” Washenitz said. “It shows that hard work pays off. I think a lot of people expect to go in the gym and get one workout in and expect the results the next day. That’s not how it works.”
Washenitz is flanked by another Division 1 player and senior, Marshall commit Meredith Maier, who joined the Polar Bears from Grafton before her junior season, as well as Fairmont State-bound Emily Starn.
“When you add a player like Meredith, it takes some of that stress off her,” Hines said. “She was facing a lot of box-and-ones. But she’s grown as a player.
“That whole WVU situation? That was pressure from the state. So she’s been carrying that for a couple of years. And she still performs. That makes her amazing and strong-willed.”
“It makes it a lot easier for me,” Washenitz agreed. “Every day in practice, it gets me better. In college, I’m going to be playing against girls who are three or four years older than me. It helps me prepare for the next years. I have trust in my teammates because I know they are preparing off the court just as much as I am.
“We’ve all been playing the best basketball we ever have, because we’ve gone through so much as a team and as individuals.”
Washenitz beat out Huntington’s Dionna Gray for the honor, with Parkersburg Catholic’s Leslie Huffman, Logan’s Peyton Ilderton, Maier, Tug Valley’s Kaylea Baisden, Webster County’s Sydney Baird and Doddridge County’s Abby McDonough also receiving votes.
“If we were picking teams (for a game) from around the state, Marley and Meredith would both be selected,” Hines said. “That’s a sign of hard work and dedication and they both deserve it.”
The Ostrowski Award is named for former Parkersburg Catholic basketball star Mary Ostrowski, who was the first No. 1-rated recruit to play for Tennessee coach Pat Summitt.
Ostrowski was a 1982 Kodak All-American.
Washenitz will be honored at the 75th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 1 at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.