Sports

Howard Named Gatorade Ohio Girls Basketball Player of the Year

The high honor comes just before Twinsburg faces Solon in the Division I Regional Finals

The accolades keep coming for Lady Tigers basketball standout Malina Howard.

Thursday The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, announced  Howard as its 2011-12 Gatorade Ohio Girls Basketball Player of the Year, according to a press release.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Howard as Ohio’s best high school girls basketball player.

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Howard is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award announced in later this month.

The 6-foot-4 senior forward led the Tigers to a 22-3 record and the chance for another state title. This season she's averaged 17.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.7 assists through 24 games. A McDonald’s High School All-American Game selection and a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America Game invitee, Howard is ranked the nation’s No. 7 recruit by the Hoopgurlz ESPNU 100.

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Howard has maintained a 4.29 GPA in the classroom. A member of the National Honor Society and the Foreign Language Honors Club, she has served as the secretary on her school’s student council and has volunteered locally at an area nursing home and as a youth basketball coach.

She's not just getting attention from people in Twinsburg.

“Malina Howard is all that she is hyped up to be,” said Rob Matula, head coach at Mason High in a press release. “She has hands as soft as any great wide receiver and she can shoot from all ranges. What makes her more impressive is her demeanor. She stays collected at all times even while being double- and triple-teamed.”

Howard has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on an athletic scholarship at the University of Maryland this fall.


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