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T2 COVER STORY FOSTORIA REVIEW TIMES, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2010 DOUG CAMERON / for the Review Times VERONICA WONDERLY will lead the attack for Fostoria High School’s girls basketball team this season as a senior point guard who has played at the varsity level since her freshman year. Fostoria’s Veronica Wonderly has gone from cheering on the team to holding her own on the court By SCOTT COTTOS SPORTS EDITOR As a standout at Fostoria High School in the early 2000s, Elaine DiCesare had no idea that little Veronica Wonderly aspired to be just like her. “I really only knew her as Whitley’s little sister who always came to our games and cheered us on,” the former Lady Red All-Ohio point guard said, referring to former teammate Whitley Swartz. But as it turned out, DiCesare became a mentor to a girl who has gone on to become one of northwest Ohio’s top guards. “Elaine was my idol in girls basketball,” Wonderly, now an FHS senior, said. “Elaine was a point guard; I was a point guard. And she was the best point guard, so I was watching her.” As time went on, the instruction became personal. And Wonderly has learned well. Playing at the varsity level since her freshman year, the 5-foot-6 Wonderly has averaged 11.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.2 assists per game while earning All-Northern Ohio League and All-Northwest District honors. By averaging a little more than 12 points per game this season, she’ll finish with more than 1,000 for her career. All that’s been missing for her is a “... Any records I can break, I’m not going to say no to them. I’m not going to focus on them, but if it happens it happens and I’ll be happy with it.” winning season. And trying to change that is a priority for her as she closes out her high school career. “I’d like to reach 1,000 points and be the third one up there,” she said, referencing DiCesare and former teammate Aja Hall as FHS players to have reached that plateau. “And any records I can break, I’m not going to say no to them. I’m not going to focus on them, but if it happens it happens and I’ll be happy with it. “Mainly I would just like to come out with a winning season. Thirteen, 15 games won — I would just be thrilled.” In past years, Wonderly often looked to pass to Hall, who last season finished her career as Fostoria’s career leader in points with 1,565 and rebounds with 972. But while he doesn’t want Wonderly to feel pressured to carry this year’s Lady Red and being confident that she won’t have to, coach Mat Swortchek thinks his veteran guard will impress onlookers more than she already has. “She had to be a different player with Aja here,” he said. “Now she’ll get to show some of her other skills without Aja here. “One thing most people probably haven’t seen is she has the ability to VERONICA WONDERLY FOSTORIA GIRLS POINT GUARD See WONDER, Page T3
FOSTORIA REVIEW TIMES, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2010 COVER STORY T3 Wonder Continued from page T2 score a lot of points and do it quickly.” DiCesare, who now teaches in the iffin school system, could do that as a player, as well as handle other chores on the court. She’s since become able to see a similar type of player in red and black. “She reminds me a little bit of yself, though she’s a little more athetic and quicker,” DiCesare said. Wonderly said DiCesare had much to do with the development of her game. “When she was the JV coach my freshman year, we just clicked,” said Wonderly, who played mostly varsity but also contributed to the junior varsity cause in her first year of high school. “She was telling me stuff I needed to work on that she did when she was in high school. A lot of my moves came from Elaine. I’ve taken a lot from what she’s told me.” While coaching St. Wendelin’s junior varsity the next year, DiCesare didn’t see as much of Wonderly. Out of coaching last year, though, DiCesare again tutored her star pupil. “Every home game, she had this little notecard made up for me with the tasks or chores for that game,” Wonderly said. “They’d be like, ‘Do this: I want you to have five offensive rebounds; two, three, four or five steals; this many points; this many blocks; keep your head up,’ I always taped it on my water bottle and looked at it during timeouts. DOUG CAMERON / for the Review Times (ABOVE), FOSTORIA High School’s Veronica Wonderly drives against Bucyrus during sectional play. Wonderly, also pictured at right, will be a fourth-year varsity player this season. “She’s one of those players who would lift her game around better players. She’s such a hard worker, she’ll do whatever it takes to help the team.” “She pushed me. It was real nice. And we’re still in contact. Whenever I see her, I give her a hug.” Through the years, Wonderly ELAINE DiCESARE FORMER FOSTORIA ALL-OHIO POINT GUARD has developed an intense interest in basketball. Though she attends games of the Bowling Green State University women’s team and appreciates the considerable skills of Ohio State point guard Sammy Prahalis, she prefers to watch the “sweet moves” of NBA players. Her favorite performer is Denver Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups. In that she absorbs so much basketball-related information, it would seem to reasonably follow that “her basketball IQ is one of the highest I’ve ever seen,” Swortchek said. In addition to playing summer AAU ball, like a younger Prahalis she’s helped her game by playing against boys in the offseason. “Even the boys players who aren’t outstanding are still going to be better than you, so you’ve got to be able to push yourself to that level,” Wonderly said. “A lot of the boys here definitely will push me to that level — or push me to the floor, which they’ve done plenty of times because they get mad,” she added with a laugh. Wonderly, however, is a competitive sort who wants to improve. “(Some boys) are like, ‘Well, I don’t want to a block a girl, blah, blah, blah,’” Wonderly said. “I’m like, ‘Block me. It’s not going to get me better if you’re not being hard on me. Play like I’m a guy.’” While many players like to score, Wonderly most enjoys and takes particular pride in her defensive play, especially when it results in a steal. “And being able to take it down for a fast-break layup and make it — that’s even better,” she said. Wonderly hopes to play in college, and DiCesare thinks that’s where her game would most thrive. “She has a lot more room to grow as a player,” DiCesare said. “She’s one of those players who would lift her game around better players. She’s such a hard worker, she’ll do whatever it takes to help the team.” As for this year, she’d like to help what she called a closely knit group of Lady Red players reach a level not often reached in the FHS program. It is her last shot in high school, after all. “It’s overwhelming that I’m a senior,” she said. “It’s my last year, and I’d like to have a winning season. I’d like to do the sectional thing — I’d like to take down the net. Sectionals, league, whatever I can get — I want a piece of the net.” INSIDE Arcadia Bettsville Elmwood Findlay T8 T9 T10 T11 Fostoria T6-7 Hopewell-Loudon Lakota New Riegel Tiffin Calvert Tiffin Columbian T14 T15 T16 T17 T18 St. Wendelin T4-5 Van Buren Vanlue SPORTS EDITOR Scott Cottos STAFF WRITERS Jamie Baker Shannon Dove Joe Downs Dave Hanneman Ryan Swenar CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Doug Cameron Mark Deckard Shannon Dove Pat Gaietto Howard Moyer Randy Roberts T19 T20 COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Doug Cameron COVER DESIGN Jason Smith
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