Girls basketball: Open Door's Briella Bendik, Keystone's Madyson Sokolowski named district players of the year

Averaging 27 points a game in your freshman year might not earn you a trip to Disney World, but for Open Door's Briella Bendik it earned her Division VII Northeast Lakes district player of the year honors, and a steak dinner. Bendik and Keystone's Madyson Sokolowski were named players of the year Monday in their respective districts when the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association released its all-district teams. Bendik scored 540 points for the Patriots this season, while also averaging 7.7 rebounds and three steals. She also made 58 3-pointers. "When I got in the car after school my mom said, 'Congratulations! And we get to go to Texas Roadhouse,'" Bendik said. "My goal that I set for myself this year was to average 25 a game and I did that." Bendik's mom, Jessy, is also Open Door's head coach and therefore had a front row seat to watch all of Briella's exploits this season, which included a 47-point game late in the season against Oberlin. "As a coach and has her mom, you always see the potential and possibility in your kids and your players," Jessy Bendik said. "To finally see her put a lot of those pieces together and take on the role she did as a freshman was incredible." Bendik beat out Strongsville's Sidney Butera, who averaged 25.9 points a game, as the leading scorer in the district regardless of division. "It was pretty difficult to deal with a lot of double teams and pressure but basketball is a mental game and you just have to do the best you can and get over it," Briella Bendik said. "The biggest challenge for me this year was going up and against older girls and bigger bodies because I'm not that big. I'm going to work out in the summer with Abe (Valentine) and my teammates are going to come with me, so we'll be ready for next season." Sokolowski, a junior, has been a star since her freshman year when she started in the Division III state semifinals for the Wildcats. However, this was the year she really came into her own, averaging 24.8 points and setting a school record with 612 points for a Keystone team that won 21 games and advanced to the district finals. "It's really an honor. I'd like to thank my coach, my parents and my teammates for helping me along the way. The hard work is paying off," Sokolowski said. "It's crazy to me when I see my stats from this season. There were games this season when I felt like I could have done a lot better than I did. It's surreal honestly." Sokolowski set a Lorain County record with 99 3-pointers and set school records with a 41-point game against Brookside, a nine-steal game against North Olmsted and by making nine 3-pointers against Black River. "She's a special player," Keystone coach Rocky Houston said. "She knew this season her role would be bigger and she was ready for that role to grow." Early in the season, Sokolowski had three consecutive games in which she scored 30 or more points. "Mady was ready to be a leader this year," Houston said. "Six of our 10 girls didn't play varsity last year. It was a big undertaking but Mady really prepared herself well to lead the team." Six Lorain County players earned first-team all-district honors led by Sokolowski's teammate, Keystone sophomore Jayda Gaines. Columbia was the only other team to have two first-team selections, senior Alyssa Goebel and sophomore Natalie Miller. Elyria Catholic's Ari Dimacchia made the first team in Division IV. Avon Lake's Olivia Miller was on the Division III first team and Kate Burman of First Baptist joined Bendik on the Division VII first team. The Ohio Prep Sports Media Association will announce its boys all-district teams today. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.