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For the third straight season, a Hollidaysburg girls basketball player was voted the Altoona Mirror Player of the Year, and Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic coach Kristi Kaack won her second Coach of the Year award in the year she claimed her second state title.
Junior Bella Vent led the Lady Tigers to a District 4-6 Class 5A championship and a win in the first round of the state playoffs while averaging 15.9 points per game and playing excellent defense.
"She was one of the returning starters that we had from the previous year," Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said. "She knew what to expect coming from that standpoint. She increased her averages not only in scoring but in rebounding, steals and assists as well. The best part of her game honestly is probably her defensive ability. When she's on her game, she's able to get in the lane, get steals and separate from defenses in a way you can't teach."
Vent became the third different Hollidaysburg player to win Mirror Player of the Year in the last three years, following Ali Hatajik last season and Marin Miller in 2021-2022. Hollidaysburg has never had three consecutive Players of the Year since the Mirror began its all-star team after the 1983-84 season.
"I think she took it upon herself to work hard in the offseason and improved not only her ability to get to the basket but her ability to knock down more consistently an outside shot," Jubeck said.
Vent edged Williamsburg senior Ayla Hileman by just four votes, 256-252.
"I'm definitely very honored and thankful for this award," Vent said. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates and coaches. It's great to follow (Hatajik and Miller). They are definitely good role models."
Hileman has been a first-team all star in each of the last three seasons but missed the start of the 2023-2024 season while recovering from an offseason injury.
Hileman's teammate, LeeAnna Royer, also made the first team in just her sophomore year and was joined by Bishop Guilfoyle freshman Morgan Ruggery and Portage senior Jenna Burkett.
Kaack helped guide Ruggery and the rest of her BG teammates to the PIAA Class 1A championship in March despite losing the team's lone senior, Sarah Geishauser, to an injury just before the start of the season.
"We had watched in the summer and fall and had a good picture of what this season was going to look like," Kaack said. "Obviously, Sarah was going to handle the load of ball handling and pressuring the other team's point guard. When we lost her, we felt like we lost a little bit of our identity that we were comfortable with. I think the challenge for us was to find a new identity, and we ended up doing that through multiple players."
In addition to the state championship, Kaack led the Lady Marauders to a 29-3 record, a District 6 championship and three wins over a 27-4 Williamsburg team.
"At the end of all those (Williamsburg) games, you saw a couple plays where we showed a lot of toughness on both ends of the floor," Kaack said. "I think what's so impressive, with a young group, we were down in all three games and ended up coming back. That's a sign of a veteran team, but we're not a veteran team."
Kaack also won the Mirror's Coach of the Year award in 2021 after leading BG to the state championship that season.
"I'm very appreciative," Kaack said. "I'm surrounded by a lot of great coaches in the area. To win that is a great honor."
Altoona teammates Melana Eyer and Lanie Wilt, both juniors, made the second team. Joining them were Cambria Heights junior Sienna Kirsch, Bellwood-Antis sophomore Lilly Gerwert and BG freshman Maurie Querry.
Hollidaysburg's Clare Padamonsky, Altoona's Jaiden Krull, Williamsburg's Levada Gorsuch, Juniata Valley's Anna Taylor and Northern Bedford's Mariah Hall made the third team.