Girls basketball: Keystone's Madyson Sokolowski, Open Door's Briella Bendik named to All-Ohio first team

Keystone's Madyson Sokolowski and Open Door's Briella Bendik battled all season to see who would be the top scorer in Lorain County. On Monday, they were on the same team. The All-Ohio first team. Sokolowski, a junior, earned first team honors in Division V while Bendik earned her recognition in Division VII when the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association released its Divisions IV-VIII All-Ohio teams. Sokolowski set a Lorain County record with 99 3-pointers this season while also setting a school record with 612 points, averaging 24.8 for the Wildcats as they won 21 games and advanced to the district final. "I was shocked honestly. It's just a great feeling," Sokolowski said of the honor. "I knew I had a good season, but I try to set my expectations too high when it comes to things like this. I definitely feel like I deserve it because I know I work really hard." Sokolowski set a Keystone single-game record by scoring 41 points this season and also set school records with nine steals and nine 3-pointers in a game. Keystone's hadn't had an All-Ohio first-team selection since McKenah Peters in 2017. "You always hope that somebody who works and puts the time in for as long as Mady has achieves success at the high school level," Keystone coach Rocky Houston said. "She's never thinking about individual achievements. She puts that time in because she wants the team to be successful." Sokolowski wasn't the only Wildcats player to earn All-Ohio recognition as sophomore Jayda Gaines was listed as special mention. Joining Gaines on the list was Brookside senior Bella Diaz. Bendik didn't just star as a freshman for the Patriots, she dominated. Thirty-point games quickly became the norm for Bendik until late in the year when she had a pair of 40-point games, including a 47-point effort against Oberlin. Bendik, who celebrated her birthday Monday, was in school when she found out about the honor. "The first thing I thought was, 'Wow, that's great,'" Bendik said. "As a freshman one of my goals was to be first-team all-county, I never thought about being first team in the state." Open Door coach Jessy Bendik, Briella's mother, knew Briella was coming in with a wealth of talent but didn't necessary expect such big honors while she is still so young. "First-team All-Ohio is an elite honor," Jessy said. "Seeing her get this high level of recognition makes me incredibly proud to be her coach." Bendik is the first Open Door player to earn All-Ohio first-team recognition and she is proud to bring that honor to her school. "Being a Bendik, everyone at Open Door knows your name because you're one of the principal's children," Briella said. "So showing everyone I was able to do what I did is a good way to represent my family and my school and to represent God." First Baptist senior Kate Burman earned special mention in Division VII. Elyria Catholic had three All-Ohio selections — sophomore Ari Dimacchia was on the Division IV third team while Claire Petrus and Gabby Rodriguez earned honorable mention. Firelands senior Jordyn Copley was also a Division IV honorable mention. In Division VI, Columbia's Natalie Miller was a third-team honoree while teammate Alyssa Goebel was a special mention. Oberlin senior Janiah Bowen-Pride was a Division VI honorable mention. The girls' Divisions I-III All-Ohio teams will be announced today with the boys teams coming later in the week. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.