Class AA All-State First-Team Breakdown

<em><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Photo: North Marion’s [player_tooltip player_id="153284" first="Taylor" last="Buonamici"] (5) passes the ball to the top of the key during the Huskies’ overtime win over Bridgeport in a state tournament quarterfinal against Bridgeport. </span></em> It was an extremely strong year in the Mountain State’s middle classification. This year’s All-State race was a free-for-all down the stretch as great players turned in great performances. Three players on the first team averaged over 20 points per game and two averaged a double-double. Here is an in-depth look at the eight players who earned top honors in Class AA. <strong><span style="color: #00ccff;">Star Power</span></strong> <span style="color: #000000;">North Marion’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153284" first="Taylor" last="Buonamici"]</strong> (2020), Nitro’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153322" first="Baylee" last="Goins"]</strong> (2021) and Fairmont Senior’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153370" first="Marley" last="Washenitz"]</strong> (2022) found themselves in the midst of the Mary Ostrowski Award race, given to the state’s player of the year. Figuring out a Class AA captain was just as difficult. In the end, Goins took home the honor after averaging 26 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game. Washenitz’s statline was equally impressive as the sophomore scored 24 points per contest to go with 10 rebounds. Buonamici scored at a 17.9-points-per-game clip to go with 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists while leading a Huskies squad ranked atop the Class AA rankings for most of the season. </span> <span style="color: #00ccff;"><strong>The Long Road Back</strong></span> Winfield’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153301" first="ZZ" last="Russell"]</strong> (2020) made a huge splash on the state scene as a freshman, leading the Generals to the state semifinals and earning first-team, All-State honors along the way. In the two years since, it hasn’t gone as smoothly for Russell or Winfield but in her last hurrah, the sophomore point guard made it count. The Generals reached the semifinals again before the tournament was put on hold due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and her 41-point effort in a quarterfinal against Westside marked a new single-game, Class AA, state-tournament record. In averaging 18.9 points per game, Russell finally made her way back to the All-State first team. <strong><span style="color: #00ccff;">Laken’s Statement</span></strong> PikeView flew a bit under the radar with eight losses, though six of those were to Class AAA competition. At the center of the attack -- literally and figuratively -- for the Panthers was 6-foot-2 post player [player_tooltip player_id="153294" first="Laken" last="McKinney"] (2020), who averaged 17.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. PikeView got hot late, rolling into the state tournament and upsetting No. 3 Fairmont Senior in the quarterfinals to earn a matchup with Winfield in the semis. McKinney scored 25 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in the win over the Polar Bears. <strong><span style="color: #00ccff;">Last But Certainly Not Least</span></strong> <span style="color: #000000;">Rounding out the Class AA first team was Herbert Hoover’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153296" first="Allison" last="Dunbar"]</strong> (2020), Wyoming East’s [player_tooltip player_id="153325" first="Skylar" last="Davidson"] (2021) and Lincoln’s [player_tooltip player_id="153334" first="Victoria" last="Sturm"] (2021). Dunbar became the all-time leading scorer on either the boys or girls side for the Huskies this year, averaging 22.5 points per game in her senior season. She will continue her career at Concord next season. Davidson and Sturm each have another year to make a collegiate decision. Davidson averaged 8.5 assists to go with 14.7 points per game while Sturm led the Cougars with a 15.9-points-per-game average.</span>