JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Running out of Mondays for Monday columns. This week, a trip to Elizabethtown, where (true) the Bears are suffering through a 1-17 season, including a 0-12 mark in league games. But there is a hidden gem in E-town: Becca Bigler, the Bears’ junior forward, has really stepped up her game this season. A (dynamite) softball player by trade, she’s having a breakout season on the court. Here’s my column from Monday’s New Era:
This has not been the most exciting season in the history of Elizabethtown’s girls’ basketball program.
With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Bears – just two seasons removed from a trip to the District 3 Quad-A semifinals and a berth in the PIAA playoffs – are the lone winless team in league games in the Lancaster-Lebanon League (0-12), and will lug a 1-17 record into Tuesday’s Section 2 game at Conestoga Valley.
But there is a hidden gem on E-town’s team — a player who is averaging nearly a double-double every night, who does all the dirty work, who crashes the boards with authority on every trip, and will take the big shot in crunch time.
You might know Becca Bigler for her prowess as E-town’s hard-hitting shortstop on the Bears’ softball team.
But E-town’s junior forward is putting together a fine season on the basketball court, even though she’s toiling in near anonymity for a team with 10 freshmen on the varsity roster.
Yep, 10. And E-town has had five freshmen on the court at the same time more than once this season, so just call them the Baby Bears.
There is just one senior on board – guard Jen Dunkelberger, a regular starter – and Bigler and Dunkelberger were the only two players on E-town’s roster with any varsity experience when this season started. The other 14 players on the roster had never been on the court in a varsity game – hence this season’s rebuilding project.
While Dunkelberger has played the role of senior leader and big sister, Bigler, one of two juniors on the roster, has led by example.
“If you look at the term most valuable player, she’s the most valuable player in the league,” E-town coach Mike Pericci said. “I’d say she’s the most gifted athlete in our school – boy or girl – even though she’s just a junior.
“I don’t know where we’d be without her.”
Bigler is E-town’s leading scorer (9.7) and rebounder (9.0), and she’s scored in double figures in 10 games. Her season-high is 19 points, and that came in the Bears’ lone victory – a 59-31 triumph over Greencastle-Antrim in the consolation game of the Hershey Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29.
Bigler has been E-town’s go-to scorer ever since. She’s averaging 12.9 points in her last nine games, and she’s been the Bears’ leading scorer in every one of those games.
“She’s a big contributor, and there’s no doubt she does a lot for us on the floor,” E-town freshman guard Brianna Kuhn said. “When she takes the ball to the basket, she takes the ball strong. She’s definitely someone we look up to a lot.”
Just don’t ask Bigler to talk about her game. When asked about her success – her scoring average is up eight points over last season, when she was a key reserve – she was quick to compliment Dunkelberger for her senior leadership, and to credit the freshmen for picking up their game.
“I’m not sure why, but it’s just sort of happening for me,” Bigler said. “I try and keep the girls up as much as possible.”
“Becca is very humble,” Pericci said. “She’d rather talk about someone else. I’ve never heard her brag about herself.
“The greatest thing about her is that she plays softball most of the year and she plays field hockey most of the year. She plays basketball three months out of the year, but when she steps on the court, she’s one of the best players out there.”
As the L-L League is starting to find out.
“Becca is a great role model and she’s an amazing athlete,” Dunkelberger said. “She’s one of our hardest workers, and the younger girls really admire that.”
And, as a result, try and follow her lead.
“We watch everything she does,” Kuhn said. “We want to be just like her.”
More than anything, everyone around E-town’s program just wants to get some respect, and that should come with more victories.
“We know the wins aren’t coming right now, but we’re a tight family,” Kuhn said. “That matters more to us than wins and losses right now. We are taking some lumps, but this will make us strong in the future.”
It wasn’t all that long ago when the Bears made that magical postseason ride. And with Bigler back next season, along with those 10 freshmen, who will have a year under their belts, E-town could indeed be destined for a bright future.
