COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ashley Morrissette's greatest gift is her ability to make her teammates even better.
Since she plays for arguably the best team in Ohio, it follows in logical progression she would be an easy pick as the 26th winner of The Associated Press Ms. Basketball award, emblematic of the top player in the state.
"I would say that I'm an all-around player," she says when asked to describe her game. "I can shoot if you leave me open, I can take it to the hole. I play really good defense and I'm also a distributor for my teammates. I like to make other players around me better."
Since her team, Twinsburg, has won the last two Division I state championships and enters this weekend's big-school state tournament at Value City Arena with a spotless 28-0 record and the AP's No. 1 ranking in the regular season, she must be pretty good at what she does.
Her coach, Julie Solis, also said that she lifts the level of the rest of the Tigers. But she said Morrissette is much, much more than just someone who pads her stats on a great team.
"She's the kid who hits big-time shots. She wants the ball in her hands," she said.
A 5-foot-9 senior, Morrissette averaged 19.1 points, 6.5 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field and 82 percent at the line.
Twinsburg plays Lewis Center Olentangy Orange in a state semifinal.
Few players ever get to step into the bright lights of a state tournament game. Morrissette appreciates that she's been surrounded by players and coaches who have helped her spend many glowing moments of her career there.
Of course, that draws the attention of everyone, from college scouts to other coaches and players.
"I really think that winning the second one and then to try and come and win the third one has really just been way harder than winning that first one," she said. "Because now people know and they scout and they're looking for your tendencies. It gets harder every game. They change up their defenses a lot and you just have to work around it."
Dozens of top college programs were after Morrissette's signature on a letter of intent. She eventually decided upon Purdue after consultation with her coach, friends and family. She has two younger brothers and an older sister. Her mom works in retail sales and her father is in the field of education.
Morrissette had 22 points and 8 rebounds in last year's state championship win over Kettering Fairmont. Late in that game, there was an ugly incident in which Morrissette tangled with a Fairmont player, who ended up on the floor. Morrissette was ejected from the game and was suspended, under Ohio High School Athletic Association rules, for the first two games of this season.
She sincerely regrets what happened. With Fairmont also returning to the state's final four, she knows that the incident won't go away.
"A lot of people have asked me about that now that we're coming up on our third one and, if and when we get there, it could be against Fairmont again," she said. "I really believe if I could go back in time I would definitely take that back."
Morrissette was selected by a media panel from around the state. Others considered included Columbus Northland's Alexis Peterson, Amanda Cahill of Clyde, Solon's Kristen Confroy and Karli Bonar of Shadyside.
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