A wiry, 6-footer Albert Lea senior Abbey Arends combines her speed and athleticism with a tenacity down low to make her a difficult player to stop on the court.

Arends was named to the Minnesota Basketball News Top 100 players list prior to the season and Owatonna head coach John Kuehn later said she was likely the best player in the Big Nine this season.

Arends can create her own shot, hit from the outside, rebound down low and post opponents up at a given time during a game, but she also possesses a sharp basketball knowledge that often found her discussing game plans with Tigers head coach Sean Gillam throughout the season.

In many ways Arends was like another coach on the floor, directing players and drawing up diagrams in the locker room in her senior year. Her versatility and value to the Albert Lea girls’ basketball team make her the 2009-10 Albert Lea Tribune All-Area girls’ basketball Player of the Year.

Arends averaged 16.5 points per game, reached her 1,000th career point and tied a school record for points in a game this season, but it’s not just those accomplishments that stick out. Arends didn’t play to reach those marks, she’d gladly trade them in for victories. Arends adapted to situations in the game and deferred to teammates when teams focused on stopping her.

Arends also took her leadership role seriously. She spent time with teammates talking about where the team could improve and offered teammates advice on their game all season long.

Arends led the team in assists with 40, finished second in rebounding at 6.5 per game, shot 38 percent from the field and made 78 percent of her free throws.

Arends led the Tigers in scoring last season and faced defenses geared toward stopping her and knew she’d face more of the same this season. Being the leading scorer can mean added pressure, but Arends didn’t feel any of that.

“I didn’t feel like I had a lot of pressure on myself,” Arends said. “I just felt like I needed to go out and play my game and see if I could have the best year I possibly could for me and my teammates.”

Even with team’s paying closer attention she scored more. In the first four games she averaged more than 20 points per game and went for 27 points twice in those four games.

Arends has spent most of her life honing her basketball skills, playing AAU basketball during the summer and attending camps and she wanted savor her final high school season, instead of worrying about extending her basketball career at the college level. Arends said she is still undecided about playing at the next level, but if she did decide to play it would be at a lower level.

“I’ve thought a lot about college basketball throughout the years and once it got to my senior year in high school I was undecided if I wanted to play or not, still am,” Arends said. “I just decided if it is my last year I just want to make the most of this year.”

Arends made the most of her senior season in many years. She became just the third player in school history to reach 1,000 career points and put up 37 points against Faribault. Arends also helped Albert Lea to a upset victory over Owatonna late in the season. The victory over the Huskies gave the Tigers a three-game winning streak, which they pushed to four. But Arends caught mono late in the season and Albert Lea lost its final four games.

Arends had one personal goal this season to reach 1,000 career points and reaching that mark put her in rare company at Albert Lea.

“It’s nice to go down as one of the few players who actually accomplished that and I hope I go down as maybe one of the most talented players here,” Arends said. “It is a nice feeling like you left something behind at a high school, especially now that I’m senior.”