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Consistency was a major factor in this year's Daily Standard Girls Basketball Dream Team top honors.
Parkway junior Megan Hughes provided a consistent scoring and rebounding effort in helping the Panthers win 20 games this season, making her the choice for Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, the consistency of St. Henry this season led to the program capturing its first-ever state title. Nate Uhlenhake's patience and positive output earned him his second Coach of the Year award in three seasons.
Megan Hughes, Parkway, 13.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.5 spg, is The Daily Standard's Girls Basketball Dream Team Player of the Year.
Megan Hughes' win allowed the Hughes family to complete the grand slam of Dream Team honors. Mother Lynn Hughes, who won two state titles during her playing days at Fort Recovery, then earned a spot in the Xavier University Hall of Fame for her play, shared girls basketball Coach of the Year honors when coaching Parkway in 2000. Father Doug Hughes, Parkway's current boys coach, won in 2020 for taking the Panthers to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Older brother Dylan Hughes was the Boys Dream Team Player of the Year in 2021.
The six-foot guard/post player has been a key player for the Panthers since her freshman season, earning second team All-Midwest Athletic Conference honors as a freshman before taking first team honors as a sophomore, averaging 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as Parkway went 15-7.
This season, Hughes was a model of constant consistency. Hughes failed to score double digits in just four games this season and in eight games she pulled down double-digit rebounds, including 16 in a Dec. 18 win against Fort Recovery.
Hughes was the only Panther to average double figures in scoring this season with 13.2 points per game and averaged 8.2 rebounds per game to go with 1.3 assists and 1.5 steals. Hughes also had 26 blocked shots and 28 3-pointers.
The Panthers finished 19-5. Only one of the losses came to a non-MAC team (Paulding).
Hughes earned first team All-MAC honors for a second straight season, second team All-Northwest District and special mention All-Ohio honors in Division VI.
Nate Uhlenhake, St. Henry, 27-1, Division VI State Champions, is The Daily Standard's Girls Basketball Dream Team Coach of the Year.
When Uhlenhake took over at St. Henry beginning in 2021, the mission was to improve a program that finished with one win in the 2020-21 season.
In his fifth season, the rise was capped off the best way possible, a Division VI state championship, earning the St. Henry graduate his second Dream Team Coach of the Year honor after winning it in 2024 and becoming the sixth girls coach to be a repeat winner, joining Marion's Treva Fortkamp (four times), Minster's Nann Stechschulte and Mike Wiss (three each), Celina's Brian Stetler (three) and Parkway's Dan Williamson (two).
St. Henry opened the season with 17 straight wins, using a solid defense that allowed an opponent to reach 50 points just once - in the season opener against Bath. The streak ended in Rockford with Parkway winning 37-28, but that was the last time the Redskins left a gym on the wrong side of the decision, winning four straight to end the season - including a comeback win over Versailles to lock up the MAC. St. Henry outlasted a tough tournament field before winning 53-34 over Canton Central Catholic to claim the title.
The success this season was truly a team effort. No Redskin averaged double figures in scoring. The team defense worked hard to force turnovers.
The team effort really showed at the end of the season. All-MAC first teamer Morgan Baumer was injured in the first half of the regional final against Fayetteville-Perry, keeping her out the rest of the postseason save for a cameo appearance at the end of the state final. Then in the state semifinals against Harvest Prep, Molly Wendel hit the floor hard and was taken off the floor by medical personnel, keeping her out of the rest of the tournament. The bench, which normally played four to five players, dug deep to fill the contributions of Baumer and Wendel.
Addison Albers, New Knoxville, 14.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, has been named to The Daily Standard's Girls Basketball Dream Team.
Reece Albers, Minster, 11.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.7 spg, has been named to The Daily Standard's Girls Basketball Dream Team.
Kate Ashman, Marion Local, 10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.4 spg, has been named to The Daily Standard's Girls Basketball Dream Team.
Morgan Baumer, St. Henry, 9.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.3 spg, has been named to The Daily Standard's Girls Basketball Dream Team.
Rachel Rammel, Celina, 8.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.5 spg, has been named to The Daily Standard's Girls Basketball Dream Team.
