4 are among all-state finalists
Two, by this point, can be considered cagey veterans. The other two are first-time babes in the proverbial woods.
Maybe, by the time the Alabama Sports Writers Association basketball awards banquet rolls around next month, the two already knowledgeable in the proceedings can explain the situation to the rookies.
Maybe they will help each other out. Maybe.
Four Shoals stars are on the lists for major All-State awards with Mars Hill sophomore Belle Hill and Deshler junior Reece Davis already familiar with the situation.
But Deshler senior Garrett Reid and Red Bay sophomore Khalil Luster may need to be schooled.
There are three finalists in each AHSAA classification and the AISA — three from each gender, too — from which one will win their division’s player of the year.
From the players of the year, one will be named Mr. Basketball and one will be named Miss Basketball.
Also, from the finalists will come the five-player Super All-State boys and girls teams.
Hill needs no refresher course, based on the longstanding runs she’s had to and from the All-State banquet, which will be at the Montgomery Renaissance on April 14.
She’s a three-time player of the year and was part of last year’s Super All-State girls team.
Hill is a four-time All-State player and is one of three of last season’s players of the year back for this year’s festivities. The others are 7A girls player of the year Lani Smallwood of Albertville and 4A boys player of the year Milton Jones Jr. of Fairfield.
Hill and Smallwood are also the only returnees from last year’s Super All-State teams.
Davis certainly should remember how the awards banquet works. She was a finalist for 4A player of the year as a freshman and, as a junior, is now a threetime All-Stater. The two close friends — and heated rivals? — already have or will have prominent places in the history of their schools.
Hill is already Mars Hill’s all-time leading scorer and already ranks among the Top 25 scorers in AHSAA history. Davis is closing in on Deshler’s career scoring mark, much to the chagrin of current record holder Chloe Siegel.
Reid and Luster are ranging into — for their programs — nearly unchartered waters.
Reid is just the second Deshler boys basketball player in 22 years to be an ASWA finalist. Before him, KJ Anderson made the banquet trip in 2023. Before Anderson, it was Quinn Beckwith in both 2003 and 2004.
The Deshler girls are old hands at the experience. Those Tigers, starting with 1999, have had 18 finalists with seven winners.
Luster is the first Red Bay boys basketball finalist since at least the 20th century. The Tigers have had three other finalists in that time — one in football and two in girls basketball.
Brilliant’s Hadlee Sanderson is a finalist for a second straight season for 1A player of the year. Last year, she was the first basketball finalist this century from the Tigers.
CLASS 7A GIRLS
Khloe Ford, Hoover, Sr., C, 6-3 Lani Smallwood, Albertville, Sr., G, 5-9 Ja’Kyah Smith, Bob Jones, Sr., G, 5-10
CLASS 6A GIRLS
Zimri Craig, Fort Payne, Jr., G, 5-11 Kristen Johnson, Hazel Green, Sr., G, 5-8 Maliyah Meeks, Park Crossing, Sr., C, 6-2
CLASS 5A GIRLS
Kenna’D Buie, Guntersville, 8th, G, 5-7 Caia Campbell, Charles Henderson, Jr., G, 5-9 Serenity Rutledge, Moody, So., G, 5-6
CLASS 4A GIRLS
Reece Davis, Deshler, Jr., G, 5-7 Sawyer Kate Hulgan, Plainview, Jr., G, 5-9 Hannah Smith, Catholic-Montgomery, Sr., F, 6-2
CLASS 3A GIRLS
Natalie Barton, St. James, Jr., G, 5-8 Belle Hill, Mars Hill Bible, So., G, 6-1 Kamiya Webb, Midfield, Jr., C
CLASS 2A GIRLS
Campbell Barron, Pisgah, Sr., G, 5-9 Ella Dickerson, Cold Springs, Sr., G, 5-10 Kayden Reyes, North Sand Mountain, Sr., G, 5-5
CLASS 1A GIRLS
Katelyn Brown, Winterboro, Sr., G, 5-6 Hadlee Sanderson, Brilliant, Sr., F, 5-11 Makinley Traylor, Ider, Sr., G, 5-4
AISA GIRLS
Diamond Chankio, North River, Jr., F, 5-10 Tori Patillo, Springwood, Sr., G, 5-10 Jamya Powell, Macon-East, Sr., F, 5-10
CLASS 7A BOYS
Diggy Coleman, Dothan, Sr., G, 6-0 Jackson Sheffield, Hoover, Sr., F/C, 6-10 Evan Toms, Huntsville, Jr., F, 6-9
CLASS 6A BOYS
Jaylen Alexander, Oxford, Sr., G, 6-2 Sam Dorough, Cullman, Sr., G, 6-5 JaKobi Sharp, Gadsden City, Sr., G, 6-3
CLASS 5A BOYS
Corien Coleman, Williamson, Sr., G, 6-5 Brendon Davis, Wenonah, Jr., G, 6-4 Kobe Johnson, St. Paul’s, Sr., F, 6-5
CLASS 4A BOYS
Milton Jones Jr., Fairfield, Sr., F, 6-5 JB Potter, Ashville, Sr., G, 6-2 Garrett Reid, Deshler, Sr., G, 6-1
CLASS 3A BOYS
Braylen Alexander, Glenwood, Fr., G, 6-4 Braden Gordon, Montgomery Academy, Jr., G, 6-3 Gage Mayfield, Hale Co., Sr., F, 6-8
CLASS 2A BOYS
Pearce Boone, Providence Christian, Sr., F, 6-5 Jake Cloud, Section, So., G, 5-11 Khalil Luster, Red Bay, So., F, 6-7
CLASS 1A BOYS
Noah Lee, Jacksonville Christian, Sr., F, 6-4 Devin Melton, Brantley, Fr., F, 6-9 Kane Rushing, Hubbertville, Jr., G, 6-1
AISA BOYS
Ahmod Billins, Abbeville Christian, Sr., G, 6-2 Jayden Buckhannon, Abbeville Christian, Sr., G, 6-1 Kori Key, Springwood, Sr., G, 6-3
