Flying under the radar

As coach Norman Dale so eloquently told his Hickory Huskers basketball team during one of the first practices of the season, there's more to the game than scoring.

How true that is.

There are a plethora of talented girls basketball players in the Eau Claire area. Some of them, like Rice Lake's Casey Weber, are also among the most prolific scorers in their respective conferences. The senior recently became the school's all-time leading scorer and leads the Big Rivers Conference with a 21.8 points per game average.

But there are others that may not get the same recognition simply because they don't put up the same numbers. Whether it is fair or not, many of the names you see our writeups in the Leader-Telegram are because of how many points they score. Unless we are physically at the game, it's often hard for us to gauge the impact of a particular player on the game unless she lights up the scoreboad.

That means that there are a handful of players that are somewhat flying under the radar in that they may not make headlines, but that doesn't mean they can't play.

Perhaps the best example is Flambeau's Beth Alberson. She scores around 14 points a game, which would place her in the top 10 in most conferences. But consider this: Flambeau rarely plays its starters in the second half, meaning Alberson is doing all of her damage in the first 16 minutes of the game. If she played a full game like most other players, she'd be averaging 28 points a game.

Anyone on Osseo-Fairchild is probably overlooked as well. Remember the Eleva-Strum football team? They had so many talented players and only one ball to share among them. Therefore, the stats took a bit of a hit. Same thing is going on with the Chieftains. There are several Osseo-Fairchild players — Letaya Mulhern, Katey Wrobel, Hailey Hart and Laura Olson — that could probably go for 20-25 points a night. But because they have that balance, the Chieftains should be a tougher out in the state tournament because they don't have one go-to player.

There are other players that have a bigger impact on the defensive end, like Mondovi's Anna Cole. Or those that may have a big scoring average, but often aren't appreciated for all the little things they do, like North's Hannah Quilling.

There certainly is more to the game than scoring.

- John Casper Jr.

I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface.