Betsy Knox, a captain and pivotal leader on the girls basketball team, was recently recognized for her role in the team’s title run, receiving the Buffalo Wild Wings student athlete of the month award for March.

“I was pretty surprised when I heard I won the award,” Knox said. “I’m not usually the one on the team to win awards, but it was great to be recognized.”

Despite not always being the center of the attention from the perspective of the fans, Knox’s crucial role in the team’s achievements this season was certainly recognized by coach Peter Kenah.

“You don’t find many vocal leaders oftentimes in high school,” Kenah said. “But she was such a key vocal leader, and that really transferred on the court. One of our keys to being such a good defensive team was her vocal leadership.”

Kenah added that Knox’s strong and selfless play promoted a critical balance on the team that helped power them to victories, and testified to how deserving the senior captain was of her recognition.

“I was really excited that she won this award with Buffalo Wild Wings, but even that really doesn’t do justice to how important she was,” he said. “You can’t have a team where everyone is just a scorer. She was our leader in charges taken, in rebounds, and was really a glue player for us. A team is like a puzzle; the pieces have to fit.”

The team received a variety of awards and recognition after becoming state champions, including all-met and all-state recognitions for several players.

These awards reflected the wide range of talent and cohesiveness of the team, and testified to how the team dynamic made every player better, Knox said.

“The awards this team won together and individually definitely reflect on our success this season,” she said. ”We worked so hard to win states together that in the process we made all the individual players look good.”

Guard Sophia Tompkins felt that Knox’s leadership extended beyond the court .

“She was a leader both on and off the court,” Tompkins said. “Betsy was always someone we could talk to about anything.”