In its 41st year celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade has announced Lynn’s Bella Owumi of Tilton School as the 2025-26 Gatorade New Hampshire Girls Basketball Player of the Year. 

Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics, and community. The award recognizes Owumi as New Hampshire’s best high school girls basketball player. She joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes and coaches to CEOs, such as Candace Parker (2002-03 & 2003-04, Naperville Central High School, IL) Paige Bueckers (2020-21, Hopkins High School, MN) and Aaliyah Chavez (2024-25, Monterey High School, TX). 

The 6-foot junior guard led the Rams to a 25-4 record and a trip to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council  Class 3A semifinals. Owumi averaged 14.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists through 29 games, including averaging 18  points and 10 rebounds in Tilton’s two Class 3A postseason games. A three-time Massachusetts state champion with St.  Mary’s High School (Lynn) before transferring to Tilton, she is ranked as the nation’s No. 30 prospect in the Class of 2027 by ESPN. 

A peer counselor and tutor, Owumi has volunteered locally with Meals for Hope, a non-profit that fights food insecurity. She has also donated her time in association with her Catholic youth center and has also served as a dorm proctor at Tilton in addition to serving as an instructor at youth basketball clinics. 

“Owumi plays with incredible intensity,” said Gregor Mackechnie, head coach at Proctor Academy. “She is an efficient scorer at three levels. She’s fluid in transition, tenacious defensively, and competitively driven with a will to win.” 

Owumi has maintained an ‘A’ average in the classroom. She will begin her senior year of high school this fall. 

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C. in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is  administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.