Menominee's Axtell, Drifka bask in BCAM All-State honors

MENOMINEE — Anna Axtell and Hanna Drifka’s list of accolades grew one item longer on Thursday, as the two standouts for the Menominee girls basketball team collected All-State honors from the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan.

Axtell received BCAM Division 3 Honorable Mention after authoring a monster senior campaign for the Maroons in which she averaged 20 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 4.3 steals per game.

Axtell also became just the fourth Maroon girl to cross the 1,000-point threshold, finishing with 1,054 points for her career. She set the Menominee High School single-season scoring record with 520 points in 24 games and also broke Erin Barrette’s record for most steals in a season with 94.

Drifka, along with Axtell, both received the BCAM Outstanding Student-Athlete Award, which recognizes seniors who have played four years of high school basketball and have a cumulative grade point average above 3.8.

Axtell made the cut with a 3.96 GPA, while Drifka sports a perfect 4.0

Although she missed the majority of her senior season due to a torn ACL incurred in practice just days before Menominee’s first game, Drifka was a constant presence at every Maroon game this season, cheering on her teammates, before suiting up to score the first basket in a 59-53 victory over Gladstone on February 9.

Drifka was All-U.P. Honorable Mention and Second Team All-GNC as a junior.