ALL-NWADG DIVISION I BASKETBALL TEAM
Girls
Player of the Year
JASMINE FRANKLIN
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Junior
HEIGHT 6-1
THE SCOOP Helped Fayetteville win its second state title in the past three seasons ... Hit a whopping 67 percent of her field goal attempts, including 85 percent in the fourth quarter. ... Averaged 11.0 points, a team-high 9.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. ... Was 5-of-7 from the floor to finish with 13 points in a 49-40 win over Little Rock Central in the state semifinals. Had 19 rebounds, including 11 of team's 22 offensive boards, in only 20 minutes of action. ... One of three Lady Bulldogs named to the all-state and all-state tournament teams ... Reports scholarship offers from Abilene Christian, Kansas, Houston, Texas-El Paso and Weber State. ... Named All-NWADG Newcomer of the Year as a sophomore.
DID YOU KNOW Fayetteville, the No. 13 team in the latest MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, knocked off Texas powerhouse Duncanville, the then-No. 2 team in the nation, during the Sandra Meadows Classic in Duncanville, Texas., over the holiday break. Duncanville went on to win the Texas Class 6A state title.
QUOTABLE "When we beat that No. 2 team in the nation, we knew," Franklin said. "We had a lot of confidence coming back to Fayetteville and the 7A in general. Just to know that we beat them, it brought us the confidence to say 'boo!,' we got this.
"The expectations are going to be really high next year even though we had such a big class of seniors this year. We're losing a lot of talent and assets and we needed every player's talent to win state. But we know there will be some pressure because of who all we have coming back, so we know we've got to work even harder to live up to those expectations."
Newcomer of the Year
SASHA GOFORTH
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Freshman
HEIGHT 6-1
THE SCOOP Led Lady Bulldogs with a team-high 13.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. ... Averaged 16.3 points per game during three state tournament games. ... Was named state tournament MVP after scoring 19 points with 5 steals, 4 assists and 3 rebounds in a 59-49 win against North Little Rock in the state championship game. ... Helped Fayetteville win its final 22 consecutive games and finish perfect in the 7A-West Conference. ... One of only two Class of 2020 prospects in the state reporting a scholarship offer from Arkansas. ... First freshman to be named All-NWADG Newcomer of the Year. ... Grew an inch during the regular season. ... Turned 15 on Jan. 31. ... Daughter of Calvin Goforth. ... Plays AAU for the Arkansas Banshees.
DID YOU KNOW The Arkansas Razorbacks were Goforth's lone scholarship offer before the state finals. Since then, she's added offers from Kansas, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, SMU and Texas.
QUOTABLE "When I make a mistake, I try to make up for it right away," Goforth said. "I try not to get down on myself because that can lead to another mistake. I try to make up for it by D-ing up and going to make the next play, so we can get the ball back and go score.
"I'm just going to remember how fun this season was and how good of an experience it was to play with all the seniors and what good mentors they were to us. We just really had a good time this year. It wasn't like there was a lot of stress. It was all fun."
Coach of the Year
BRAD JOHNSON
SCHOOL Farmington
THE SCOOP Guided Lady Cardinals to a surprising run to the state semifinals after entering the tourney as the third seed from the 5A-West. ... Posted a 24-7 record, nearly tripling last season's win total of nine. ... Defeated Hot Springs, the top seed from the 5A-South, 58-55 in the quarterfinals behind nine 3-pointers. ... Johnson credited his team with winning tight games by making plays late as seven of the Lady Cardinals' nine conference wins were by seven points or less. ... Two underslassmen -- sophomore shooter Madisyn Pense and freshman scorer Makenna Vanzant -- spearheaded the effort along with senior post Kaylee Brown, a Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College signee who recovered from two knee surgeries. ... Johnson is in his eighth season at Farmington after serving as an assistant at Springdale Har-Ber.
DID YOU KNOW Johnson has led the Lady Cardinals to the state semifinals or better in three of the past four seasons, and four of the past six. This was the program's first state semifinals appearance since moving up to Class 5A two seasons ago.
QUOTABLE "It was such a unique and special group," Johnson said. "I think the thing that I'm most proud of is the cohesiveness of the team. They did such a good job of playing together. We had such a good mix of senior leadership and we had an infusion of young, talented kids. You look at our end-of-the-season roster, and I think we had 12-14 kids that were all sophomores or younger. And to play at the level that they did, it was just special.
"One of the turning points was when we went out to a Mountain Home tourney and we had a tough loss in the first round. Our kids really responded well and played really well after that. In my mind, they really answered the bell. And we obviously played our best basketball when we wanted to, which was in March."
First Team
PLAYER^SCHOOL^HT^CLASS^NOTABLE
Marquesha Davis^Springdale High^6-0^So.^Averaged 15 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, leading the Lady Red'Dogs to a state tournament win and quarterfinals appearance.
Topazia Hawkins^Fort Smith Northside^5-9^Sr.^Helped Lady Grizzlies reach 7A state quarterfinals by leading the team with 16.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.
Jamilyn Kinney^Van Buren^5-7^Jr.^Belmont University commitment averaged a team-best 15.2 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds per game for the 7A state semifinalists.
Elise Randels^Rogers High^5-10^Sr.^Averaged a team-high 14.8 points with 6.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. Shot 51 percent from the floor and 75 percent from the free-throw line.
Makenna Vanzant^Farmington^5-6^Fr.^Point guard averaged team-high 15.5 points to go along with 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Second Team
Sierra Bailey^Alma^5-10^Jr.^Named to all-state and all-state tournament teams after averaging 13.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals, 2 assists and 1.5 blocks per game.
Krista Clark, Bentonville^5-10^Sr.^All-state selection averaged 12.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1 block per game. Signed with Missouri Southern.
Maya Mayberry^Fayetteville^5-7^Sr.^Averaged 7.9 points and 2.1 assists per game and was named to the 7A all-state and all-state tournament teams.
Brylie Parker^Harrison^So.^5-8^Helped Lady Goblins win the 5A-West and reach 5A state quarterfinals with a 20-7 record. Named to all-state and all-state tournament teams. Averaged 14.6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals per game.
Lani Snowden^Van Buren^5-8^Sr.^Henderson State commitment averaged 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game to help Lady Pointers reach state semifinals.
Boys
Player of the Year
TEVIN BREWER
SCHOOL Fort Smith Northside
CLASS Senior
HEIGHT 5-7
THE SCOOP The senior guard led the Grizzlies to their 10th overall state championship and just the second since 1974. Brewer was explosive offensively in his final season, averaging 19.9 points per game. ... Dating back to his junior season, Brewer averaged 31 points in his final four state tournament games, including a 42-point game against Van Buren in 2016 and a 38-point night vs. Springdale Har-Ber in the 2017 state semifinals. ... Brewer, though, sealed Northside's state championship with a steal in the final seconds against North Little Rock, scuffing his shoulder as he dove into the scorer's table.
DID YOU KNOW During his junior year, Brewer was involved in an accident in which his car was hit by a train in Fort Smith. He was uninjured, but shaken. Now, Brewer is exploring his options with the hopes of fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing Division I basketball. The guard is receiving interest from the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and a number of junior colleges including Independence Community College (Kansas). Brewer was previously committed to the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.
QUOTABLE "I didn't imagine (a state title) coming down to that -- getting a defensive stop," Brewer said. "I knew it was going to be a close game, but didn't imagine it coming down to that.
"In the biggest moments I just had to step up and be the leader and put the team on my back."
Newcomer of the Year
CARL FITCH
SCHOOL Springdale High
CLASS Junior
HEIGHT 6-4
THE SCOOP The forward led Springdale in scoring, rebounding and blocks as a junior despite entering the season without prior varsity basketball experience. ... Fitch averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game in 7A-West play this season, scoring in double figures in 13 of 14 games -- nine straight to end season -- with a high of 22 points. He scored 20-plus points twice (at Springdale Har-Ber, vs. Bentonville High) and 15 or more five times while shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor. ... Fitch battled an ankle injury during the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic that sidelined him for the better part of two games, but returned to score 14 points, grab nine rebounds and block four shots in the Red'Dogs' league-opening win vs. Rogers Heritage.
DID YOU KNOW Fitch, for at least 30 minutes of each Springdale practice during the season, worked out with longtime Springdale coach Steve Price on footwork and low-post moves and, has occasionally since the end of Springdale's season. Fitch also enjoys hiking.
QUOTABLE "I felt like I maybe could have done more to get us further than we went because we missed the state playoffs, but next year that's definitely the goal," Fitch said. "I'm working on better post moves and just more variety. I think teams gave more attention to me (in the second half of conference). But we've got to learn to start games fast and finish games."
Coach of the Year
ERIC BURNETT
SCHOOL Fort Smith Northside
THE SCOOP Led the Grizzlies to the Class 7A state championship with 50-49 victory over North Little Rock. The win was the first state championship for Northside since 2007 and came this year after two close losses to North Little Rock during the regular season. ... Graduated in 1989 from Fort Smith Northside, where he was an all-state basketball player. ... Graduated in 1994 from Arkansas Tech, where he is the school's all-time leader in made 3-pointers with 354. Also, sixth in career scoring (1,981 points) and fifth in rebounding (775). ... Was head coach at Fort Smith Southside from 2001-2005 and Springdale Har-Ber from 2006-2010. ... Led Har-Ber to 24-6 record and second-place finish in the Class 7A state tournament in 2007. ... Took over as head coach at Northside from Johnny Mason, who retired. ... Grew up at Ragon Courts in Fort Smith and credits his involvement in the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club for helping him steer clear of trouble.
DID YOU KNOW Burnett was an NAIA All-American at Arkansas Tech, which won 83 games during his four-year career and the AIC championship in 1993.
QUOTABLE "It was a big relief and I was so excited," Burnett said after winning his first state championship as a player or coach. "To come back to Northside, my school, and win a state championship is something I'll always remember. There was a lot of joy there for me, the community, and especially those kids, who got along well and didn't put any one player over the program.
"I really, really enjoyed coaching them."
First Team
Jordan Hemphill^6-5^Sr.^Bentonville^All-state selection averaged 17.6 points and 5.4 rebounds during conference play. Verbally committed last week to sign with Central Oklahoma.
Isaiah Joe^Fort Smith Northside^6-4^Jr.^All-state selection averaged 18.8 points per game while shooting 58 percent from the field, including 44 percent from 3-point range.
Tylor Perry^Springdale Har-Ber^5-10^So.^Averaged 15.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4 assists to lead the Wildcats to a 22-8 season and a semifinals appearance. Scored 16.1 points per game and shot 47 percent from 3 in conference play.
Seth Stanley^Rogers Heritage^6-5^Jr.^All-stater averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists per game. Shot 84 percent from the free-throw line and 31 percent from 3-point range.
Matt Wilson^Farmington^6-2^Sr.^Helped Cardinals more than double last season's win total by averaging a state-best and school-record 29.1 points per game with 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.2 assists per game.
Second Team
Trevor Atwell^Harrison^6-5^Jr.^Led Goblins to a perfect record in 5A-West and to the 5A state quarterfinals. Named to all-state and all-state tournament teams. Averaged 16 points, 4 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.
Beau Beckner^Van Buren^6-3^Sr.^Put up 13.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.3 assists per game and was named to all-state and all-state tournament teams.
Tanner Curry^Harrison^5-11^Sr.^All-state selection averaged 13.2 points, 5.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.
Tyler Garrett Springdale Har-Ber 6-2^Jr.^Averaged 11.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in Har-Ber's quarterfinal win against Cabot.
Tyler Roth^Fayetteville^6-1^Sr.^Named to all-state and all-state tournament teams after averaging 13.5 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Sports on 03/26/2017