Honor roll: Eidsmoe, Bessler named to AP All-State Honorable Mention list

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

March 10, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

One's a forward, the other a guard.

One's a senior, the other a junior.

But what they have in common is not only their impressive offensive and defensive numbers, but a spot on the Associated Press' All-State Girls' Basketball team.

Both Heather Eidsmoe of Cass Lake-Bena and Melissa Bessler of Laporte were picked as Honorable Mention recipients Monday by the state's media.

Recipients of the award are first nominated by their respective coaches, and then selective media throughout the state vote on their player of the year, first team selections, second team selections and honorable mention players.

Interestingly, although the two are now teammates on the All-State list, the two clashed recently in the Section 6A East championship with Laporte winning 39-18 in a defensive struggle.

Neither posted numbers indicative of their talent with Eidsmoe scoring eight of her team's 18 points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field. And Bessler, not faring much better, scored nine points on 3-of-10 shooting.

That fateful championship ended the career of Eidsmoe, who will graduate from school this spring, while Bessler will attempt to add to better that championship next year. She is only a junior.

End of a career

Eidsmoe finished her basketball career third on the Panthers' girls' all-time scoring and rebounding lists, scoring 1,196 points and grabbing 849 rebounds.

But she also placed 16th overall with 102 assists and 13th win 142 steals.

Also an honorable mention pick on AP's All-State list last year, Eidsmoe has earned a small resume of awards in her time.

As a four-year starter, Eidsmoe has helped lead the Panthers to an 82-16 record in that period -- an impressive record in anyone's book.

"She is a talented player who is willing to listen and learn," Panthers coach Rod Benson said of Eidsmoe. "She's a quiet leader, who led by example. She enjoys playing the game and worked hard on improving her game."

This year, Eidsmoe helped lead the Panthers to a 15-9 record, while amassing 349 points (16.6 points per game) and 213 rebounds (10.2 rpg).

Because of her efforts, she was named the Northwoods Conference's most valuable player.

"She's received some honors ... deservedly so. And she was fortunate enough to be chosen for (the AP All-State team)," Benson said. "Heather was a practice player, a game player, a valuable asset to our team."

Eidsmoe was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

One more year

Bessler, on the contrary, has one year left to add to her staggering figures -- and to get to the state tournament, she is quick to add.

"I always try to improve my stats as a personal goal," she said, "but a big team goal is to make it to state (next year) and go somewhere at state."

Bessler -- probably known best for her scoring ability -- had 416 points (16.4 ppg) this season to bring her school record total to 1,270 points in her career.

But, ironically, she has been an excellent defensive player for five years and just recently developed into an offensive weapon.

"I've played varsity since eighth grade," she said. "Then I was scared to death to play offense. So I concentrated on defense. It's always been the easier part."

Her stats attest to that fact.

This year alone, she stole 134 balls, grabbed 134 rebounds and had 23 blocked shots.

"She had a nice year, but it all starts on defense," Wildcats coach Jeff Dudley said. "She's a fine defensive player."

Dudley added that at times, Bessler drew the attention of two or three defenders to open up many offensive opportunities for the Wildcats.

"I've seen a lot of games where they forgot about the rest of the team," he said.