Bath sharpshooters bound to play hoops in MAC

BATH TOWNSHIP - If you're a premier shooter, there's a chance you can play at the college level.

The Bath Wildkittens proved that theory Wednesday when they had three seniors sign to play Division I basketball in the Mid-American Conference.

Guard Nicki Hopkins signed to play at Buffalo, while twins Rachel Mauk and Stefanie Mauk both signed to play at Central Michigan.

All three played a huge part in the Wildkittens' 24-2 season last year in which they reached the Division II state semifinals. Bath also set a state single-season record with 241 3-pointers.

"It is unusual and rare to have one (Division I player)," Bath coach Greg Mauk said. "For us to have three is quite unique. ... We did have AuBree Hamilton (Miami, Ohio), Sherry Kahle (Bowling Green), Teresa Kahle (Toledo) and Laura Best (Troy State) on the same team, but not in the same class, in '96.

"These three kids have made every commitment to make themselves better in the offseason and certainly during the season. They've done all the things from the time they were in the junior high program to make themselves quality basketball players."

Stefanie Mauk, a 5-foot-10 swing player, averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds last year. She hit 61 3-pointers. Rachel Mauk, also a 5-10 guard-forward, averaged 16.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and hit 59 3-pointers.

The twins decided a while back they would attend the same college.

"It would be so hard to be without her, since I'd been with her for 18 years," Rachel said. "The farthest we've been away is a week and that was hard, so we had to go together no matter what."

Michigan State was quickly eliminated by the Mauks when the Spartans made only one scholarship available for the twins. The final decision came down to Central Michigan, Akron, Buffalo and Ball State.

"Michigan State only offered one and that was out of the question to us," Rachel Mauk said. "The coaches and players are awesome (at Central Michigan) and they're starting to play the (uptempo) style that we play in high school. Also, it's a small town (Mount Pleasant) and we didn't want to go to a big city, so it's a home away from home.

"I wanted to go to Central after we visited there right after basketball season was over. They went all out for us. Stefanie didn't know and thought it was too far away, but I said we won't be able to come home much because of basketball. ... I talked her into it."

Stefanie added, "I'm so glad I did (decide on Central). It's a huge relief to have it out of the way before basketball season even starts."

Both twins felt they owed a lot to their aunt, Vicki Mauk, who coached the Elida girls basketball team to the 1997 state championship. Mauk succumbed to cancer in 2000 at the age of 42.

"I went to her camps and I know she'd be really proud right now," Rachel Mauk said.

Stefanie added, "She was a huge impact on why I started playing basketball. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be playing basketball today."

The 5-foot-6 Hopkins averaged 7.9 points last year and hit 59 3-pointers. She's hit 155 career 3-pointers, which stands second on Bath's all-time list behind Emili McCluer's 171.

Hopkins selected Buffalo over Baldwin-Wallace and Gannon.

"Buffalo was the right fit," Hopkins said. "It was Division I, that's been my dream, and they have a great business program. Since I was a little girl and watched it on TV, that was something I wanted to do one day and now we get to.

"Coach Mauk told me that Buffalo was looking at me and I didn't believe him. Then, they did offer me and it was like a dream."