6A Returns Gifted Group of All-State Players

<p>It has been over four months since the nets were cut down at the Chiles Center, but I am still thinking about what a marvelous high school girls basketball season 2025-26 was. Perhaps the most exciting thing is that many of the brightest stars are back for this upcoming season — and some for even longer. Many of these players have had their recruitment take off after strong AAU seasons. Let's take a look at the returning players who made all-state in the top classification last year. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">6A First Team All-State</h2>    <p class="text-gray-700">There's not much more Buse could've done to win the No. 1 spot in the class of 2027 more convincingly. She is at the top because she led her team to the top, capturing West Linn's first-ever girls basketball state title. She is also there because of how she did it: with exemplary leadership, confidence, and a desire to improve that goes beyond most. Her game is a reflection of her maturity, predicated on quick decisions, full-court vision and a lack of wasted movement. Her handle is tight, but she only uses it to get to her spots efficiently. She led her [program_tooltip program_id='1035055' first='Northwest' last='Select'] P24 17U team in points, assists and blocks (as a 5'9 guard!). She also led the team in threes, showing her improvement as a shooter — once what many (herself included) considered her only real weakness. Her multiple Three Rivers League Defensive Player of the Year awards speak for themselves. Ranked No. 77 nationally in the SportsCenter NEXT 100, she has all the tools to thrive at the Power 4 level. Several programs are knocking on her door, including Oregon, Stanford, and most recently, Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks.</p>     <p>The Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year is an absolute highlight factory and playmaking wizard, but she also does the little things that separate the great players from the good ones. Best is a high-IQ defender who knows when to gamble for the ball and when not to. Both of her parents are former college point guards and current Enforcers coaches, and it shows in how she communicates with her teammates. She is known for her clutch shotmaking and ability to take over when needed, but she is highly unselfish. She shot the ball less as a sophomore for Tualatin than she did as a freshman, but she may be in scoring mode more often this upcoming season. Best's offers include power schools like Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Illinois and Alabama.</p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">6A Second Team All-State</h2>    <p class="text-gray-700">Dawkins is a slashing, bruising forward who is one of the best interior forces in the state. Her low-volume but high-efficiency three-point shooting makes her drives all the more dangerous. She is a worker on defense and often guards bigs down low for the Timberwolves. She started the AAU season strong, but unfortunately hurt her ankle during a hard-fought Power 24 tournament with the Enforcers. Her resume speaks for itself, though — an all-state selection and a state championship in her first two years is rare stuff. Dawkins recently received an offer from the Miami Hurricanes and should see more rolling in once she gets back on the court.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Webster is the only other senior on this list, and comfortably the top wing player in the class of 2027. Her calling card is scoring, and when it comes to mid-range bag work, no one in Oregon compares. Webster also has plenty of point guard skills and the height to see over the defense. She will now get a chance to be the unquestioned No. 1 option for the Nelson Hawks with Nevada-bound post Love Forde leaving for Florida-based DME Academy. Webster is polished, athletic and tough, and she showed it on the P24 circuit, where she made it all to the 17U championship game with Jason Kidd Select and defeated Buse's [program_tooltip program_id='1035055' first='Northwest' last='Select'] on the way there. She was previously committed to Utah, but recently reopened her recruitment and is sure to find a future home soon. She has interest from Northwestern, Loyola Marymount and Portland State, among others.</p>     <p>The post-scoring, ball-handling and shot-blocking big has been raking in offers recently — Oregon, Baylor, Indiana, Illinois and Boston College are only a handful. Lackey's skill is matched by few others at her size and age, and she was recently rewarded with a spot in the Team USA U16 AmeriCup tryouts. Lackey was the offensive and defensive anchor for a Benson team that finished third at the Chiles Center back in March. She can step out and hit 15-footers, face up and drive, or back you down and dropstep you to death. She has the foot speed to patrol the paint from all angles and rotate over to deter shots from the weak side. She works best as a play-finisher, but I believe we will get to see even more offensive creation this season, as she will now be one of the older and more experienced players on the championship-hungry Astros.</p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">6A Third Team All-State</h2>    <p>I was able to speak with Phillips's AAU coach Joy Best, and she had more glowing words to say about Kemara than anyone else on the squad. She has always had three-level scoring talent, but her strides as a defender and rebounder have made her into an absolute killer who can compete with the best in the nation. She didn't get as many shots as some of her teammates this club season, but with the intangibles she brought, Best said she "had to have her on the floor" and that there were many games they wouldn't have won without her. Phillips and Lackey built extra chemistry this summer that they will take into their next season together with Benson. With Samara Massey graduated, Phillips should assume the lead guard role and get plenty of opportunities to show off her scoring prowess.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Fancher spent the club season playing for [program_tooltip program_id='1035055' first='Northwest' last='Select']'s 16U team on the Power 24 stage. She has built quite the list of accomplishments — she earned 3A third-team all-state honors as a freshman at Corbett, and now at the 6A level as a sophomore, she earned the same recognition for scoring an absurd 23.8 points per game to go with 2.4 steals and a block. She is incredibly creative with the ball and knows how to create ample space for her shot, and her size is a plus for her position. She plays with a smile glued to her face and goes above and beyond for her teammates. In her free time between workouts, practices, and club ball, she has been training a sixth-grader who hopes to play at Barlow in the future. The only question for Fancher is how she will top her incredible sophomore season. I'm sure she will find a way.</p>

It has been over four months since the nets were cut down at the Chiles Center, but I am still thinking about what a marvelous high school girls basketball season 2025-26 was. Perhaps the most exciting thing is that many of the brightest stars are back for this upcoming season — and some for even longer. Many of these players have had their recruitment take off after strong AAU seasons. Let's take a look at the returning players who made all-state in the top classification last year.