Catholic's Hill, NL's Zerman named All-State
Lebanon Catholic's Alexis Hill was named the Class 1A Player of the Year, while Northern Lebanon's Zoe Zerman earned second team honors in 4A.
A wildly successful girls basketball season for Lebanon County came to a glorious end a few weeks back, capped by the Lebanon Catholic girls capturing the Class 1A state title at Giant Center.
The games are over, but, for two county players, the honors are not.
Lebanon Catholic's Alexis Hill and Northern Lebanon's Zoe Zerman, who helped the Vikings to the Class 4A district title this past season, were named All-State by the Pennsylvania Sportswriters on Saturday.
Hill was honored as the Class 1A Player of the Year in addition to earning first team recognition, while Zerman, a third team selection last year, was named to the Class 4A second team.
Hill was a slam dunk pick as Player of the Year after leading the Beavers to their third state title and 19th District 3 1A crown, as well as a Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff berth.
A rangy, super athletic 5-foot-10 junior forward, Hill excelled in transition while averaging 19.2 points per contest in her first year under legendary head coach Patti Hower after transferring from Lebanon High.
She poured in a game-high 20 points in Catholic's 55-43 win over Juniata Valley in the state title game, and a game-high 16 points in the Beavers' district title win over Halifax.
Her season-high of 33 points came on two separate occasions - a Jan. 17 win over Pequea Valley and a Jan. 27 defeat of Lancaster Mennonite that gave Hower her 700th career head coaching victory.
"I'm really proud of her," Hower said of Hill. "It is well-deserved, She works hard and is a complete player. She plays with such intensity, and has a great motor, when she gets that rebound she's going with it.
"She's pretty much an all-around player - she handles the ball, she plays inside, she can shoot from the outside. I'm really happy with the way she progressed this year and really kinda dominated when we got into the postseason."
Zerman, meanwhile, garnered her second straight all-state nod after helping the Vikings successfully defend their L-L Section 3 title and capture a first-ever district championship.
A 5-9 senior point guard and superb two-way player, Zerman averaged 13.1 points per game as the Vikings' floor leader while also handling the team's toughest defensive assignment on a nightly basis.
Along with fellow seniors Megan Brandt and Amber Kintzer, Zerman was the catalyst for the most successful two seasons in NL program history, as the Vikings compiled a sparking 55-7 record from Dec. 2015 to March 2017.
"It's an incredible honor and I'm so lucky to have gotten this honor again this year," Zerman said, "but I couldn't have gotten this without my team and coaches who put us in huge playoff games. I would not be the player I am without (head coach Ken) Battistelli or the girls I play with on the court. It is an honor that wraps up this year and my entire career at Northern Lebanon and I am thankful to have been recognized for this."