All-Area high school girls basketball teams

By David Morrison
High School Sports Reporter
Published: March 30, 2009

And that’s for the whole area, not just a neighborhood or two.

That smiling Warrior at the top is Lee-Scott’s Jessie Washington, perhaps the most frequent sight at the top of my page since I’ve been here.

So, the OA News’ All-Area girls basketball team came out in today’s paper, and the aforementioned Washignton was Player of the Year. It was kind of a no-brainer: she was the best player on the state champion Warriors and earned AISA girls Player of the Year by the ASWA. (Enough abbreviations for you? I could probably throw some more in there if you want…)

Read my story here. Please?

Her coach, Chad Prewett won AISA girls Coach of the Year and the OA News’ girls Coach of the Year award as well, which I’m sure was the one he was really going for. He won it because he worked 1800 hours a week during basketball season coaching the Warriors’ boys and girls to a 51-8 combined record and two appearances in the state Final Four. The boys bowed out in the semifinals, but the girls won the state title, if you haven’t heard.

Read my story about him here. C’mon, you’ll like it. And it’ll only take like 5 minutes.

Here are the rest of the players that joined Washington and Prewett on the team. We decided to split the team into small (AISA-2A) and large (3A-6A) school teams this year, so we could honor more players. And everyone loves pictures, right?

So here is the OA News’ first- and second-team All-Area selections for this year:

Player of the Year: Jessie Washington, Sr., G, 5-3, Lee-Scott.
Coach of the Year: Chad Prewett, Lee-Scott

Small School First Team
Washington. Averaged 20.7 points, and made 127 3s, for the state champion Warriors. AISA girls Player of the Year; O-A News girls Player of the Year.
Melissa Maddox, Jr., G, 5-4, Lee-Scott. Averaged 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.2 steals for the state champion Warriors. First-team All-State in the AISA.
Mercedes Scott, Sr., G, 5-6, Reeltown. Averaged 15.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals for the Rebels.
Chantal Hall, Jr., F, 5-9, Loachapoka. Averaged 23.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 6.0 steals for the 15-12 Indians. Honorable mention All-State in 1A.
Cortney Sims, Jr., F, 6-0, Lanett. Averaged 12.0 points and 16.7 rebounds for the 22-8 Panthers. Honorable mention All-State in 2A.

Large School First Team
Amilia Boone, Jr., G, 5-6, Dadeville. Averaged 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 steals for the 16-12 Tigers. Honorable mention All-State in 3A.
Valeeta Bellamy, So., F, 5-7, Beauregard. Averaged 14.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists for the 13-11 Hornets. Honorable mention All-State in 5A.
Carman Freeman, Jr., G, 5-7, BTW. Averaged 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9.0 assists for the 16-7 Golden Eagles. Honorable mention All-State in 5A.
DeJah Heard, Sr., G, 5-7, Smiths Station. Averaged 15.0 points, 7.4 assists and 3.0 steals for the state semifinalist Panthers.
Erika Jones, Jr., C, 6-2, Smiths Station. Averaged 13.0 points, 17.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks for the state semifinalist Panthers. Second-team All-State in 6A.

Small School Second Team
DeSharte Edwards, So., G, 5-8, Edward Bell. 15.2 ppg, 8 rpg, 4 apg, 3 spg.
Jennifer Finley, Sr., G, 5-6, Loachapoka. 11 ppg, 7 rpg, 6 apg, 7 spg.
Shamiya Hicks, Jr., G, 5-10, Lanett. 15 ppg, 8 rpg.
Olivia Maddox, Sr., G, 5-3, Lee-Scott. 9.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.4 spg.
Maya O’Neal, So., G, 5-6, Reeltown: 12.6 ppg, 11 rpg, 5.4 apg.

Large School Second Team
Jasmine Cannon, Sr., G, 5-11, Opelika. 12.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.2 spg.
Monique Jackson, So., C, 6-1, Central. 15.7 ppg, 12.5 rpg.
Cynteria Jones, Sr., C, 5-10, Dadeville. 13.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.9 spg.
Vannessa Peterson, Sr., F, 5-11, Smiths Station. 10 ppg, 13 rpg, 3 apg.
Tarnesha Stephens, Sr., G, 5-8, Auburn. 12.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3 spg.

For those who care, this would have been the All-Area team had we considered all classes together: (Yeah, I did it. It’s almost like I have a lot of time on my hands or something…)

First Team
Bellamy, Beauregard
Hall, Loachapoka
Jones, Smiths Station
M. Maddox, Lee-Scott
Washington, Lee-Scott

Second Team
Boone, Dadeville
Freeman, BTW
Heard, Smiths Station
Sims, Lanett
Stephens, Auburn

Third Team
Cannon, Opelika
Hicks, Lanett
Jackson, Central
O. Maddox, Lee-Scott
Scott, Reeltown

So there you have it. Hope it is acceptable to all and pleasing to some. Look out for the boys team in tomorrow’s paper. Here’s a hint: there’s a couple of Loachpoka guys on it.