Field High School girls basketball standout Delilah Rahe is averaging a double-double this season with 19.5 points and 12.4 rebounds per game.
Tom Nader/Portage Sports

By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

There are many ways to measure the success of a player.

Whichever way you want to do it, Delilah Rahe has it covered.

Statistically, the Field girls basketball standout leads the area in scoring and is among the top five all major statistical categories area-wide. On her team, she is in the top three.

Competitively, you will have a hard time finding a player that wants to win more.

Her head coach John Misenko described her as a coach’s dream because she works hard, is coachable, is a great teammate and excels in the classroom.

And she is humble, too.

In conversation with Rahe, you wouldn’t know anything listed above.

Not even a whisper.

Delilah Rahe is described as the “perfect student-athlete” by her head coach John Misenko because of her ability to shine in the classroom and on the court.
Tom Nader/Portage Sports

Rahe is coming off a career-high 34 points on Saturday, leading the Falcons to a non-league victory over Crestwood. The effort lifted her scoring average to 19.5 points per game as part one of her double-double average. Part two are her 12.4 rebounds per game.

Assists, steals, blocked shots?

Yeah, she does all of those things, too.

“Delilah is a fierce competitor who wants to win all the time,” Misenko said. “She plays hard and leaves it all on the court.”

In his first year leading the Falcons’ program, Rahe’s skill and work ethic immediately caught his attention.

“I have coached some great players in high school and AAU, but in high school, she is the most physically gifted athlete I have coached,” Misenko said. “On any given night, she may be the best athlete on the floor. She is very fast and jumps well, she can cause problems for teams.”

The Falcons’ opposition would absolutely agree.

The 5-foot-10 forward, who was also named to the All-Metro Athletic Conference soccer team, showcases a versatility that is rare for any player at any position — let alone a sophomore.

“She means a lot to our team, because she can shoot, score, handle the ball, rebound, pass, block shots and play defense,” Misenko said.

For Rahe, it is all part of just having fun.

She considers basketball her favorite sport and she has played since she was in third grade — with many of the sophomores that help make up the majority of the Falcons’ roster this season.

Rahe said that playing alongside some of her closest friends has allowed the chemistry they developed at the youth level to transition to high school.

“Playing together for as long as we have is something that is special,” Rahe said. “We know how to play together, and we know how we can talk to each other so that we know we are all just trying to work together instead of being critical.”

The Falcons’ sophomore class had multiple players, including Rahe, receive significant time on varsity last year and four of them were starters as freshmen.

Rahe finished last year with averages of 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.3 steals per game.

Even with those accomplished numbers, Rahe refused to simply rely on her athleticism as she bridged into her sophomore season.

She was hungry to improve and worked hard to get there, but she was not alone.

“We all wanted to play better this year,” said Rahe, who also said she wanted to “thank my parents, because they have always been my biggest supporters,” Rahe said, “and also my teammates, may coaches and all the coaches I have played for that have helped me become the player I am today.”

A player that is successful no matter how you measure it, including the fact that her final measurement still includes two-and-a-half-seasons with the Falcons.