DARKE COUNTY – Two basketball players who excel in numerous facets of the game are this week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week.
This week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week are Ansonia boys basketball player Hunter Muir and Tri-Village girls basketball player Lissa Siler.
Muir leads Ansonia in points, rebounds and assists this season. His 9.4 rebounds per game lead all Darke County boys basketball players while he’s fourth with 18.9 points per game and sixth with 3.1 assists per game.
“Hunter has worked very hard at his game,” Ansonia boys basketball coach Chad Cramer said. “Hunter has put in the time to being a good basketball player.”
The Ansonia junior is one of the area’s best inside players but also can score from the outside.
“He has become really good off the dribble and has developed into a good outside shooter,” Cramer said.
Siler is second among all Darke County girls with 13.9 points per game this season. She’s also among the leaders in the county with 4.6 rebounds per game and 2.8 assists per game.
“She spends countless hours in the gym working on her game when nobody else is watching,” Tri-Village girls basketball coach Brad Gray said. “I recently had a very respected former college coach in the area tell me that he would take 10 Lissa Silers on his team and win a whole lot of games. To me that is an ultimate compliment. We obviously feel the same way about her, but it is nice to hear those kinds of comments from people who have done it at the next level.”
Along with being a great offensive player, Siler has excelled on defense as well.
“Lissa leads by example,” Gray said. “She is a team first kid who will do whatever is asked of her, from guarding the other team’s best player to being the kid that we expect to take big shots in big moments. Her work ethic is relentless in everything that she does. To me the thing that sets her apart from others is the fact that she is never going to be satisfied with where she is at. She is always striving for more.”
With Siler’s leadership, Tri-Village has established itself as one of the best teams in the state this season.
“In terms of basketball, she has really stepped her game up this year as a sophomore,” Gray said. “Last year as a freshman, she spent some time playing up with the varsity and got to play some valuable minutes in big games, but the jump that she has made from last year to this year has been significant. Again, that is a testament to the time and effort that she puts in to polishing her game. Her future in basketball is bright, and I can’t wait to see what is in store for her.”
