Many basketball coaches will tell you that the true impact of a player doesn’t always show up on a stat sheet or in a box score.

That would describe Ottawa senior guard Mary Stisser.

While Stisser - the 2026 Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year - averaged 9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals, all solid numbers, it was all of the little things she did that, outside of just the numbers, helped the Pirates finish with an overall record of 20-10 and capture a second consecutive Class 3A regional championship.

She was voted to the Ottawa Girls Holiday All-Tournament Team, was an Interstate 8 All-Conference honoree and a unanimous Times All-Area first team selection.

“I played a little on varsity as a freshman, but sophomore year, Marlie Orlandi got hurt, and I moved into the starting point guard spot,” Stisser said. “I felt like I made a big jump that season. Last year, I felt that I made more progress and continued to get better. Then this year, I moved to the shooting guard spot, which was different. I’ve always, for the most part, guarded the other team’s best player or physical, but this year it was still that and being asked to contribute more offensively.

“I’ve always felt like I could be a good scorer, but that hadn’t been my role the past couple of years. This year it was, and I think I did pretty good filling that added role. I also had a bigger role as a leader, and I feel like I grew into that role better and better as the season went along. At some point last summer, the younger girls started calling me ‘Meemaw Mary.’ I hated it at first, like, ‘I’m not a grandma’, but I ended up loving it.”

Stisser said her love for basketball started from her very first time she took to the court.

“My first ever basketball experience was playing in city rec in second grade, Stisser said. “I just loved it, and the game has been my thing since. I just found out this year that my parents debated on letting me play basketball. My parents didn’t grow up playing sports, so weren’t really into them. Now we watch some sort of sport on television every night. I’m glad they decided way back when to let me try it.”

When asked what has kept basketball her number one sport, Stisser was quick to answer.

“I’m a perfectionist to a fault in everything I do,” she said. “Every aspect of basketball continues to give me something to reach perfection in. There is always something I can work to get better at, and that’s the drive.

“There is also being around teammates and coaches, all of us working on trying to reach the same goals. It’s a challenge, and for me, challenges are fun. I don’t like failing, but sometimes the failures are a big help in driving you to get better. I feel like as a team this season we faced a lot of challenges, but we more often than not figured out ways to overcome them. I feel like we all played for one another, and that’s what made the season as fun as it was.”

Stisser says she has so many great memories of her time playing basketball for Ottawa, but admits topping Sterling for the regional championship is at the top of the list.

“Winning the regional title will always be a great memory,” said Stisser, who had eight points, nine rebounds and four assists in the 33-27 win over the Golden Warriors. “We won [a regional title in 2025], but being my senior year, I really wanted that to happen. Sterling was a very tough team, and we knew it was going to be a tough game, but we just wanted it.”

Ottawa coach Brent Moore said Stisser was, without a doubt, the heart and soul of this year’s team.

“She was the definition of what our team was this year. Toughness and grinding out wins,” Moore said. She never came off the floor, and her investment level was so big that she could have coached the team. She knew every team’s scout as well as every girl’s position on our team.

“We’ll have to try next season, but there really isn’t a way to replace a player like Mary.”

Stisser will be continuing her basketball playing at Black Hawk College in Moline next year while also starting to work toward a major in physical education. She said she might also like to get into coaching.