The Ohio Crossover Athletics Best Defensive Player Award is given to a player who exemplifies excellence on the defensive end of the court. This player through effort, hard work, and ability is able to disrupt the opposing team and take them out of their offense by shutting down his opponent one-on-one or contributing to his team's success with great help side defense. I am proud to announce that the winner of the 2017 OCA 8th Grade Boys (Moore) Best Defensive Player Award is Theisen Lee from Nagel Middle School!

Theisen was able to dominate games (and a couple tournaments) by effectively shutting down the opposing team's best player. Also, when his teammates would pressure their man, Theisen played the passing lanes perfectly. There were times his man would catch the ball only to have Theisen steal the ball back as he ran by with one hand. Whether it was with a defensive rebound or a steal, Theisen was able to fuel our transition offense by turning good defense into easy offense. Theisen is an extremely hard worker and I'm excited to see him continue to grow as a basketball player. Congratulations Theisen!