WILLOW WOOD — The GPA was a bigger deal than the PPG.

In basketball, the PPG — points per game — is the key statistics in many people’s eyes. But Symmes Valley Lady Vikings head coach Lisa Bryant liked her team’s GPA or grade point average.

The Lady Vikings top nine players posted a 3.94 GPA this past season and were awarded the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association honor as the top All-Ohio All-Academic team for all four divisions.

“This is such an honor for our girls and our school district,” Bryant said. “As a coach this is special, but as a teacher I am overwhelmed with excitement and pride. Our entire school district can also share this pride including our teachers from K-12.”

The girls honored for their academic achievements were seniors Aida Aguinaga, Rebecca Capper, Megan Coomes, Amanda Provens, Jessica Neal, Brigette Thompson and Ashley Wilson, juniors Tiffany Bryant and Kayla Saunders and sophomore Emily Bowling.

“These young ladies are the hardest working student-athletes that I have ever been around and it has been a joy being their coach and teacher,” coach Bryant said.

The top five teams are honored each season and the Lady Vikings were sixth during the 2004-05 season.

The academic award comes on the heels of the team posting back-to-back winning seasons and finished runner-up in the Southern Ohio Conference each year.

“These kids have worked their way from the bottom of the league to the top in the past four years,” coach Bryant said.

The school paid tribute to the accomplishment recently with an assembly and the coaches association rewarded the girls with a pizza party.