Negaunee's Gretel Johnson works with the ball during a high school girls basketball game played against Westwood at the Patriots’ gym on Jan. 16. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

PLYMOUTH — The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan is the leading organization of high school and college basketball coaches in the state.

Among its multitude of activities is a quite comprehensive listing of annual awards that started coming out in April.

It includes not only the typical all-state teams based on athletic ability and accomplishment, but also awards for top academically performing players and teams, the best team players and coaching awards.

Only those schools whose coaches are members of the organization are eligible for their awards; however, a large number of area schools, including all high schools in Marquette and Baraga counties, along with Munising, are members.

That’s according to a membership list available on the BCAM site at bcam.org and listed as last being updated in mid-February.

Ishpeming’s Mya Hemmer, left, and Jenessa Eagle, right, double team Bark River-Harris ball handler Emma Zawada as she goes up for a shot during their game played at the Hematites gym in Ishpeming on Feb. 24. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

There are at least seven distinct categories of BCAM’s awards for high school players and coaches, separately for boys and girls. They include BCAM’s Best, Individual Academic All-State, Team Academic All-State, Top Shooters (including an all-time listing), Team First Award, Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete Award and Coaches of the Year, both regional and statewide.

Today we’ll take a look at the girls listing for BCAM’s Best, basically an all-state player listing, with a number of other stories to follow in the coming days and possibly weeks to complete a look at all the various honors handed out by the coaches’ group.

Seven area girls and a dozen from elsewhere around the Upper Peninsula are found on the BCAM Best lists.

That includes four area girls who made the Division 4 BCAM Best — the Michigan Sports Writers’ Player of the Year Jenessa Eagle of Ishpeming, along with her teammate Mya Hemmer, and also Kara Roberts of Baraga.

Those three are all seniors, with the fourth being sophomore Addie Bowerman of Munising.

Westwood’s Lyn Magnuson, left, reaches in attempting to get the ball from Negaunee’s Gretel Johnson during their game played at the Patriots’ gym on Jan. 16. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

The other BCAM Best honoree is junior Gretel Johnson of Negaunee in Division 2.

Two more girls made the BCAM Best honorable mention lists, freshman Avery Osborne of Marquette in Division 1 and sophomore Mya Hendrickson of Baraga in Division 4.

Osborne was one of just 20 freshmen to make any of these lists.

In addition to a BCAM Best of the Best top 10 for the state regardless of division, there were 20 players listed in each division under BCAM Best, with anywhere from 39 to 49 additional players making honorable mention in each division.

One U.P. player reached that Best of the Best pinnacle to be considered one of the 10 best players in the state — senior Lillie Johnson of Gladstone, who was also voted Miss U.P. Basketball by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in March.

The only non-area U.P. players to be named to the BCAM Best were in Division 4. Senior Emma Besonen and sophomore Bree Besonen, sisters from Ewen-Trout Creek, were joined by sophomore Katie Halberg of St. Ignace.

Several more made honorable mention lists — juniors Ellie Hainault and Ruby Zawada of Houghton, junior Piper Bell of Sault Ste. Marie and sophomore Aubrie Moore of Kingsford in Division 2; senior Jaelyn Novascone of Ironwood in Division 3; and seniors Irelynd McGeshick of E-TC, Avery Visnaw of St. Ignace and Elsie Williams of Forest Park in Division 4.

Story contents based on an examination of the