Hart girls basketball spark plug caps memorable season with Player of Week honor

Mariana VanAgtmael may not have led Hart’s girls basketball team in scoring, rebounding and such, but the 5-foot-4 senior guard played a big role in the Pirates’ run to the state semifinals this season.

Even though Hart lost to a tough Hemlock squad in Thursday’s Division 3 semifinals at the Breslin Center, 57-26, VanAgtmael capped her season in a special way today (Friday, March 17). She is the winner of the CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Player of the Week fan poll.

Six winter sports athletes from the conference, who stood out in competitions March 6-11, 2023, were nominated for Player of the Week.

VanAgtmael finished first in the fan poll with 3,574 of 6,850 total votes. Runner-up in the poll was Whitehall senior basketball player Autumn Ferris, who amassed a strong 2,290 votes.

See voting totals for all six Player of the Week nominees at the bottom of this story.

This was the final Player of the Week fan poll for the 2022-23 winter sports season. It will return soon for the 2023 spring sports season in the West Michigan Conference.

VanAgtmael is typically not a big scorer, but she made a lot of winning plays for the Pirates (24-4) this season and during her career.

In last Tuesday’s 49-29 regional semifinals win over Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, VanAgtmael finished with five points and four rebounds. In Thursday’s 37-34 regional finals victory over Kent City, she preserved the win by blocking the potential game-tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds and also made a free throw that tied the game at 31 in the final minutes.

Additionally, VanAgtmael played a critical role in Hart knocking off top-ranked Buchanan, 45-41, in Tuesday’s state quarterfinals at Bangor. She scored a big 10 points in the victory.

In Thursday’s semifinals, VanAgtmael finished with four points, seven rebounds and two assists.