Justine Raterman
Nearly four years ago, at a high school some 45 miles northwest of Dayton, coach Jacki Stonebraker made a difficult decision that laid the foundation for her team to make a run this year at an unbeaten season and Ohio state championship. At the time, not only placing two freshman on the Versailles varsity, but playing them extensively, was a move that attracted controversy like nails to a magnet.
"It helped that they were very talented and deserved the right to play," Stonebraker said. "Other people didn't take it as easily. The girls accepted them, but I had to let a lot of comments from the outside roll off my shoulders."
The freshmen, Emily Bohman and Justine Raterman, would prove their worth, but it wasn't easy for many to swallow.
All's well that ends well, however. With three games left on its regular-season schedule, Versailles is 17-0 and ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press in Ohio's Division III.
Though 6-1, Justine Raterman is solid on
the perimeter
The Tigers are talented but young, and held together by its two well-seasoned seniors - Bohman and Raterman. A Dayton signee, Raterman is 6 feet 1, strong but polished on the perimeter, and ranked 35th in the 2008 class by HoopGurlz.com. She is fundamentally strong, the kind of player people would say plays like a coach's daughter.
They'd be wrong about Raterman. She plays like a coach's sister. Stonebraker, see, is her high-school coach's married name. When Stonebraker played at Versailles, she was Jacki Raterman and Justine was her baby sister.
That's what made the decision four years ago so complicated. Nothing laces the whispering winds in high-school halls like charges of nepotism.
"It was tough, but I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn't because of (being sisters)," Stonebraker said. "I think it was tougher on Justine. She's the one who had to hear what other kids were saying in the locker room. She had to listen to her peers talking."
Raterman recalls, "I knew I had to prove myself," but her memories are dominated by the time she has been able to spend with her sister, and the bond they've shared via basketball.
"It's gone really fast," Raterman said. "I want to make this the best year we've had, so there are a lot of memories from it."
In a large way, all the genes and athletic experience of the Raterman family were dumped into little sister Justine to make her the player she's become. Stonebraker went on to play for Bowling Green, where she still ranks high on the school's career scoring list. She was 6 feet and a power inside player. Julie Raterman, who also played at Versailles, went to West Liberty State in West Virginia. She was a 5-10 defensive specialist. Joe, the second-oldest of the Raterman siblings, also played and now is a volunteer assistant for Stonebraker at Versailles.
Stonebraker sometimes has to jump into scrimmages and the natural matchup is against Raterman. The younger sister says, generously, that her coach still has some tricks. But Stonebraker knows what time it is.
Justine Raterman can make an impression
inside
"Oh, she's 10 times better," she said of Raterman. "She has a more consistent shot from the outside. I'll stop her inside, but she'll go right around me outside."
Knowing exactly what you're going to get from your star player is a situation for which every coach yearns. What Stonebraker has with Raterman goes beyond that. It's a sister thing.
"Sometimes I just look at her," Raterman said of Stonebraker, "and I can see what she's thinking or know what she wants to do."
Last year, late in a sectional playoff against Miami East, Stonebraker said she knew she needed Raterman on the low box. She yelled to Raterman for the postup, only to see she already was there. Another game, Versaille had the ball out of bound with no timeouts. Raterman quickly called a play and got it in. "Oh yeah," Stonebraker said she thought at the time, "we do have that play."
Now, as the precious time ticks down, Raterman remembers things like not knowing she'd made varsity as a freshman until Stonebraker handed her a jersey.
Stonebraker is thinking more like a coach than a sister, taking one minute, practice and game at a time, leaving the sentiment for later.
"There are times I've looked out there and said to myself, 'That's my sister; this doesn't happen every day,' " Stonebraker said. "But I probably won't think about it a lot until it's over. It's a problem I have - I don't know what I have until I don't have it anymore."
One time, some four years ago, Jacki Stonebraker defied that tendency. She knew exactly what she had in younger sister Justine. And, because of that, they are enjoying one, final season together that is far sweeter than they or their one-time critics dared to dream.
