CIRCLEVILLE — Positive results often come from hard work and dedication and that was the case this season for Xander Rink as he was named the 73rd winner of the Bob Bowsher Award as Pickaway County’s most outstanding senior basketball player.
The New Hope senior had thoughts of the award motivating him as he worked to prepare for his final season on the hardwood.
“It means a lot because of how much hard work I put in during the offseason and in season. It’s a great testimony to how hard work pays off,” Rink said. “I’d get up 5 a.m., 5:30 (to shoot) on summer days just thinking about it and competing for it, and the state championship, too.”
The two-year team captain averaged just under 18 points a game this season with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in helping the Statesmen to a 21-5 record and their third consecutive Ohio Christian School Athletic Association championship.
“Our chemistry was off the charts. That was the best group of guys I’ve ever played with,” Rink said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team. I wouldn’t have gotten this award or the three state championships the past three years without those guys around me.
“I’m just so grateful and so blessed for them.”
“Probably the thing that has meant the most is that he’s been a great leader,” New Hope coach Shane Roese said. “Most people that watch Xander play, realize that he plays at a very high intensity. He’s got a very, very high motor when he’s competing. What I’d like for people to know is Friday night that motor is like that, but Monday in practice that motor stays the same. He doesn’t have an off switch.”
Rink closed out the season with one of the best games of his career in scoring 24 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and making nine steals with six assists in the OCSAA title game.
“He stole everything but popcorn from the stands that night,” Roese said. “I don’t know that he had his best game in the semifinal game. But he played at a different level in that championship game. I could see it in his eyes when he walked in that there was just a different look to him. He had a huge night scoring the basketball, but he was the biggest threat defensively.”
Part of Rink’s development came from him taking a look back.
“I looked at film from past years and I was a big liability on offense. I had to step it up for myself and the team,” he said.
So, he spent the offseason working.
“I’d get shots up. I’d run my butt off. I’d just go shoot, shoot, shoot and run,” Rink said. “I really needed to develop a shot, especially mid-range.”
Mainly leaving three-point shooting to his teammates, Rink did his damage inside the arc where he converted 59 percent of his shots from the field and took care of business at the free throw line, as well, hitting 73 percent of those shots.
While compiling those numbers, Rink and his teammates took on a schedule that included a district champion, two regional finalists and a state semi-finalist in Minford.
“It’s exciting to travel and play new teams and new faces – like Minford, those guys were tough,” Rink said. “Playing those guys and those schools really helped build our team chemistry and skills and helped us play the best we can.”
Along with joining New Hope alumni Isaac Roese (2018) and Clayton Rhyne (2023) on the trophy, Rink also joins his coach who won the award in 1988 playing for Teays Valley.
“It’s special,” Roese said. “That’s something that was always held to a very high standard in my house and community for what Bob Bowsher stood for as a man. It meant the world to me at that time.”
Roese said he has talked about the award with his teams and let them know the opportunity was there but that it was going to take a lot of hard work.
“It’s OK to have individual goals outside of the team concept because I think if you focus on your individual game that’s going to help your team,” Roese said. “Some of the conversations we’ve had, they transferred over to Xander, and he wanted it.He had a high desire for it.
“It’s rewarding as a coach to see a kid work as hard as he has and be rewarded for it.”
Bob Bowsher Memorial Trophy winners
1948 — James Picklesimer, Williamsport
1949 — Robert Pontius, Walnut
1950 — William Rowley, Darby
1951 — Lester Sanders, Monroe
1952 — Harley Evans, Atlanta
1953 — William Evans, Pickaway
1954 — Kenneth Kirk, New Holland
1955 — Harold Gerhardt, Atlanta
1956 — Gene Stonerock, Williamsport
1957 — Dave Smith, Pickaway
1958 — Richard Hoover, Ashville
1959 — Gary Valentine, Saltcreek
1960 — Robert Hoover, Ashville
1961 — Robert Eitel, Jackson
1962 — Thomas Rathburn, Ashville
1963 — Rick Pond, Williamsport
1964 — Tom Seeley, Monroe
1965 — Bill Fortner, Teays Valley
1966 — Neil Coleman, Westfall
1967 — Russ Merrin, Logan Elm
1968 — Charles Palmer, Westfall
1969 — Tom Lightle, Westfall
1970 — Dale Lambert, Teays Valley
1971 — Mark Knece, Logan Elm
1972 — Terry Morrison, Circleville
1973 — Tom Sykes, Logan Elm
1974 — Craig Pontius, Teays Valley
1975 — Perry Hoskins, Circleville
1976 — Biff Bumgarner, Circleville
1977 — Chuck Cave, Logan Elm
1978 — Toren Bensonhaver, Circleville
1979 — Terry Wright, Logan Elm
1980 — John Sanders, Teays Valley
1981 — Jerry Mowery, Westfall
1982 — Brad Rivers, Westfall
1983 — Doug Hoover, Teays Valley
1984 — Luke McConnell, Circleville
1985 — Marc Gothard, Teays Valley
1986 — Kyle Wolfe, Westfall
1987 — Trond Smith, Logan Elm
1988 — Shane Roese, Teays Valley
1989 — Mike Miller, Teays Valley
1990 — Donn Rathburn, Teays Valley
1991 — Chris Strawser, Circleville
1992 — Ashley Hoskins, Circleville
1993 — Brian Dollison, Westfall
1994 — Brandon Lambert, Teays Valley
1995 — Tony Picklesimer, Westfall
1996 — Trevor Younkin, Teays Valley
1997 — Thom Patete, Westfall
1998 — Lee Gunn, Logan Elm
1999 — Brad Brooks, Logan Elm
2000 — Tyler Schleich, Westfall
2001 — Adam Stewart, Teays Valley
2002 — Matt Fosnaugh, Teays Valley
2003 — Craig Stewart, Circleville
2004 — Drew Shaw, Westfall
2005 — Tyler Evans, Logan Elm
2006 — Evan Blake, Logan Elm
2007 — Cory Cooper, Circleville
2008 — Steve Largent, Logan Elm
2009 — Tim Congrove, Logan Elm
2010 — Adam Blake, Logan Elm
2011 — Nate Anderson, Teays Valley
2012 — Nathan Moats, Circleville
2013 — Alek Stonerock, Westfall
2014 — Dillon Young, Logan Elm
2015 — Preston Gothard, Teays Valley
2016 — Michael Camp, Circleville
2017 — Ridge Young, Logan Elm
2018 — Isaac Roese, New Hope
2019 — Ryan Wolfe, Teays Valley
2020 — Jay Wyman, Westfall
2021 — Isaac Ward, Logan Elm
2022 — Cameron Dyas-Rogers, Teays Valley
2023 — Clayton Rhyne, New Hope
2024 — Briley Cramer, Circleville
2025 — Xander Rink, New Hope
— Bob Bowsher was an outstanding student-athlete who graduated from Circleville High School in 1940. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in November of 1942 and was serving in France where he was twice wounded in action — the second leading to his death on July 14, 1944. The award was created in 1948 and was initially presented to the most outstanding player in the county tournament.