Ask Twitter: YAIAA fans vote on hoops MVP
With snow days keeping everyone inside for a week, we asked YAIAA fans to take a few minutes and answer four basketball questions ranging from best teams to MVP choices. Below are the results from those polls.
Best girls' team
Twitter says: 528 votes. Central York 34 percent, Red Lion 31, Susquehannock 19, Delone Catholic 16.
Brandon Stoneburg's take: I probably would've taken either Central or Red Lion, but I'd give the edge to the Lions because of their head-to-head win. Central has been rolling lately though so that second head-to-head matchup should be intriguing. Those two squads also have two of the best players in Emma Saxton and Courtney Dimoff and two of the best supporting casts. After that I would've taken Susquehannock or Delone in a toss up and even York Suburban too, but Twitter only allows four choices.
Christian Arnold's take: Central York is arguable one of the deepest teams. They have a talented starting five, led by Emma Saxton, and their bench has been equally as effective. They’ve played and beat some tough opponents this year, and they’ve only lost two games all season. In a division with Red Lion and Cinderella story William Penn that’s not an easy task to accomplish.
Best boys' team
Twitter says: 793 votes. Northeastern 40 percent, Central 28, Spring Grove 23, Eastern 9.
Stoneburg's take: I completely agree with Twitter on this one. They have the top four teams ranked exactly as I had them in the most recent power rankings. Central and Northeastern are the top tier in YAIAA, but the Bobcats won head-to-head so they get the edge. Nicely done, voters.
Arnold's take: It’s hard to argue against picking Northeastern here. The Bobcats have proven to be a well-rounded team and they’ve managed to win all but one game this year. Kobi Nwandu has deservingly gotten most of the attention when it comes to Northeastern, but they have found scoring outside of the big man.
Girls MVP
Twitter says: 490 votes. Ashley Stone (Susquehannock) 29 percent, Jordyn Kloster (Northeastern) 27, Kate Bauhof (York Catholic) 24, Courtney Dimoff (Red Lion) 20.
Stoneburg's take: Stone is great, but I'd go Kloster here. I chose her in our GameTimePA roundtable earlier this week. Christian made a good argument for Stone, but I think Kloster, who leads the league in scoring, is the best all-around player and means the most to her team. I do like that this was the closest vote though because I think this was the hardest field to choose. There are even a few who didn't make the list who have a solid argument.
Arnold's take: The fans picked Ashley Stone and I’m with them here. Stone has been the key to Susquehannock’s undefeated record in division play this season and she has been clutch for the Warriors when they’ve needed it most. Coach Dave Schreiner has said that her play is a big factor in the outcome of a game and that just speaks to how important she is to Susquehannock.
Boys MVP
Twitter says: 639 votes. Eli Brooks (Spring Grove) 44 percent, Kobi Nwandu (Northeastern) 25, Jared Wagner (Central) 23, Kyle Krout (Hanover) 6.
Stoneburg's take: This was the most lopsided poll we had and I agree with the winner. I think Brooks has been the best player in the league and if you take him off that Spring Grove squad, they don't have 15 wins like they do now. Solid job again, Twitter.
Arnold's take: I picked Jared Wagner as my MVP the other day and I won’t change my mind now. He remains a crucial part of Central York’s success this year and in a league full of highly talented players Wagner can get overlooked sometimes. His points per game is in the top five of the league and take Wagner off the court and the numbers in the win column might not be as high as they are.