Local talent

[zete]

BLOOMDALE — Just midway through her high school career, Elmwood sophomore basketball standout Brooklyn Thrash has already reached a lofty status in the eyes of Royals coach Doug Reynolds, who has guided both girls and boys basketball teams during his lengthy career.

Of all the girls he has coached, the gold standard was his own daughter — DiDi Reynolds — who starred at Hopewell-Loudon High School (1995 to 1999) before playing at Ohio State University.

That is a high standard, but Reynolds views Thrash to be on same level as his daughter was midway through her prep career.

DiDi Reynolds was 6-foot-1 and versatile, and at 6-foot-0, Thrash can play any position.

This season, Thrash, a wing, averaged 22.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 3.7 steals per game for the 16-10 Royals, who were 7-7 in the Northern Buckeye Conference.

She shot 57 percent from 2-point range, 32 percent on 3-pointers, and 79 percent (183 of 231) at the foul line.

In her sophomore year at Hopewell-Loudon, DiDi Reynolds averaged 23.1 points.

Thrash, who is adept at scoring both inside and outside, broke Zoe Shank’s single-game school record of 42 points by tallying 44 in a Feb.13 win over Fostoria. She also had 34 in a game versus Lake, 32 against Oak Harbor, and 30 versus Rossford, all wins.

Thrash first played basketball when she was in fifth grade at Elmwood Middle School, and it didn’t take long for a passion to take hold.

“It was just new to me and back then, and I didn’t really know what sport I would like the most,” Thrash said. “But, I just liked basketball ever since I started.”

That passion led Thrash to begin AAU basketball in seventh grade for the Toledo Thunder, where a teammate was current Notre Dame Academy All-Ohioan Grace VanSlooten. Thrash has played for the Midwest Power AAU team the past two summers and is set to join a new summer squad this year.

“I love it, and it’s the only thing [activity] that I really like to do,” Thrash said. “I think about basketball most of the time.

“I work out in the summer five days a week. I go the park, or I go to a barn and shoot. I work on driving to the basket, post moves, and outside shots.”

Doug Reynolds and his Royals have been the beneficiaries of Thrash’s offseason work.

“Her top strength is her scoring ability,” the Elmwood coach said. “She can score like no other. She is only a sophomore, and she is going to get better.

“She’s also a strong rebounder, and she also handles the ball very well. She can take a player off the dribble, and she can pull up and hit the 3-pointer. Defensively, she is very smart on anticipating where the pass is going and getting deflections and steals.”

Thrash had 12 steals in one game against Eastwood.

“Brooklyn is in the same category as DiDi was when she was coming up,” Doug Reynolds said. “There are a lot of similarities, just in what they did for their teams. Brooklyn is right there where DiDi was at that point.”

Through two seasons, Thrash, who also plays volleyball and runs track at Elmwood, has scored 947 points, including 593 this season.

“She loves the game of basketball, and it shows in the summer,” coach Reynolds said. “She’d play every night of the week if she could. AAU is huge for her, and I can’t think of a time when she’s ever missed anything [workouts] for me in the summer. She’ll be there in the morning and play AAU games at night.”

The ultimate quest for Thrash, who also carries a 3.8 grade-point average academically, is to earn a scholarship to a Division I college basketball program.

“She can do it all, and I want her to get better,” coach Reynolds said. “My goal as a coach is to make her the best player that she can be, because I know what it’s going to take for her to play major college basketball. That’s what we’re building toward.

“She’s blessed with extreme athletic ability, and not many people have that. But, she also works on her game. If she continues on this path that I expect her to, I think the sky’s the limit. I think she’ll definitely be a Big Ten-level player.

[zete]

The outstanding player of the night was Brooklyn Thrash, who finished with 32 points, and at least seven steals and five assists. Thrash was also perfect from the free throw line, going 16-of-16.

“I really like beating Eastwood. I just love the way we hustle and the way we play against them. It’s a really fun time,” Thrash said.

Reynolds spoke highly of the junior after her performance.

“You could tell she was ready for this game. She just comes out and she dictates the tempo and what she wants to do, and that puts a lot of pressure on the other team, because there always has to be two girls guarding her, and that opens somebody else up,” Reynolds said.

[Class of 61]

Has this young lady been offered/ signed w/ any team yet? Based on numbers, certainly seems like a D 1 player.

[FalconRollAlong]

She just signed with Canisus. Was hoping she would land at BG, but good luck to her next year!

[elmrfudd]

I was told she signed with Clemson.

[factman]

Canisus!

[bgbill]

Or, for those who can afford another letter, Canisius.

[threestooges]

FWIW, Canisius is coached by former BGSU assistant Sahar Nusseibeh.

[zete]

Brooklyn Thrash (Elmwood) was on the floor last night in a TSUN uniform. She most likely would have put a few hundred butts in seats over 4 years at BG....

[FalconRollAlong]

She was playing against TSUN, sadly they didn’t win.

[FalconRollAlong]

She has joined Eastern Michigan, so we’ll be seeing her more often.

[fredthefalcon]

She has joined Eastern Michigan, so we’ll be seeing her more often.

5 members of the Canisius WBB team have transferred to EMU for next season.

[BGFalconfromCincy]

FWIW, Canisius is coached by former BGSU assistant Sahar Nusseibeh.

She is the new HC at Eastern Michigan now for those who missed it. Hence the five Canisius to EMU transfers

[FalconRollAlong]

Makes sense, should we call them Eastern Canisius this year?