The top three most heralded seniors in the state this past season get the top billing in the 5th annual Arkansas Sports Media High School Basketball Super Team, which was released this week.
Conway’s Chloe Clardy and Farmington’s Jenna Lawrence were the only two unanimous selections for the Girls’ Super Team while Blytheville’s Rashard Marshall was the lone unanimous pick on the Boys’ Super Team.
Clardy, who will be heading to California this fall to play college basketball at Stanford, is making her fourth appearance on the Super Team, becoming just the second player in the five-year history to do so.
Clardy was named the Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year for the second year in a row. As a senior she averaged 25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals a game. She finally led the Lady Wampus Cats to the state title her senior season and helped
Lawrence is a three-time member of the Super Team, the last two years while playing for Farmington. She began her career as a freshman for the Melbourne Lady Bearkatz where she was part of two Class 2A State Championship teams before moving to Farmington for her junior and senior seasons. She did play for a state championship all four years of her playing career and won her third ring with the Lady Cardinals last month. She was named MVP of the title game. Lawrence, who will remain in Northwest Arkansas to play for the Arkansas Razorbacks beginning in the fall, averaged 18.7 points and 7.1 rebounds a game her senior year.
Greenwood senior Mady Cartwright makes her second straight appearance on the Super Team after she led the Lady Bulldogs to their second straight Class 5A State Championship last week, and was named MVP of the title game. She finished with 1,573 points in her career at Greenwood which ranks fourth in school history. Cartwright, who is headed to Tulsa this fall, averaged 17.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game as a senior.
Bergman senior Maddi Holt also makes her second straight appearance on the Super Team. She finished up her career with the Lady Panthers as the state’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals made with 433, making 159 her senior year. She also finished with 3,078 total points, ranking her fourth on the all-time list in the state. She led the Lady Panthers to a perfect 43-0 record and the Class 3A State Championship as a junior. Holt, who has signed with Harding, averaged 24.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game as a senior.
Greenwood’s Anna Trusty, who is the only junior on the First Team, joins her teammate Cartwright among the state’s best fave after being named an honorable mention last season. Trusty has already scored 1,294 points so far in career, which fifth in Greenwood history, and needs 532 points next year to become all time leading scorer. Trusty, who already has an offer from Central Arkansas, averaged 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds 2.2 assists and 3.4 steals a game her junior season.
Viola senior AJ McCandlis is a 3-year member of the Super Team and is the only Super Team repeater on the second team. She finished her career with over 2,500 points and will be heading to Mississippi this fall to play for Delta State.
Morrilton senior Cheyanne Kemp had originally signed to play for Weber State in Colorado but got released from her commitment after five-year head coach Velaida Harris resigned on March 10. Kemp has reopened her recruitment.
North Little Rock senior April Edwards has signed to play for Pittburg State in Kansas. As a senior she averaged 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists per game.
Mount Vernon-Enola junior Dessie McCarty led her team to the Class 2a State Championship last month and had the best single performance all weekend. She was named the MVP after scoring 36 points and pulling down 18 rebounds in the title game.
Salem junior Marleigh Sellars led the Lady Greyhounds to the Class 3A State Championship last month where she was named the title game’s MVP. She averaged 19.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3.3 steals her junior year.
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Marshall did not end his career with the Blytheville Chickasaws the way he wanted but they did take home the Class 4A runner-up trophy the last two years. He makes his second Super Team first team appearance this season after averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2 steals per game his senior season. Marshall has signed with Ole Miss and was the only senior named to the first team.
Little Rock Central junior Annor Boateng was named the Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year He averaged 15.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He currently has offers from Arkansas, Auburn, UAPB, Mississippi State and Georgia.
Little Rock junior Landren Blocker stole Marshall’s thunder in the 4A title game when he led the Warriors to the championship. He already has offers from UAPB, UCA, Creighton, Missouri and Ole Miss He averaged 15.8 points and 8.9 rebounds a game during the regular season but 21.3 and 13.3 rebounds in the state tournament, fishing it off with 32 points and eight rebounds in the title game.
Pine Bluff junior Courtney Crutchfield has offers from Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Memphis, Iowa State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and UAPB. However they are all for football. He not only excels in basketball and football, he also plays baseball and runs track. He helped lead the Zebras to the Class 5A State Championship last month and averaged 20.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.4 steals per game as a junior.
Farmington junior Layne Taylor was a Super Team second team selection last year as a sophomore. He averaged 26 points, 5.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds as a junior and has already scored 2,404 points in his career and will most likely become just the fourth player ever in the state’s history to score over 3,000 career points. Taylor has been a starter for the Cardinals since he was a freshman and has led them to a 68-3 record the last three years. He currently has offers from UAPB and UA-Monticello.
Leading off the second team is Jonesboro senior Deion Buford-Wesson who helped lead the Hurricane to their third straight state championship last month. He averaged 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.5 steals per game his senior season. Buford-Wesson has committed to play for Link Academy’s post-grad national team.
Bentonville West senior Tucker Anderson averaged 21.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as he helped lead the Wolverines to a 26-4 record and the 6A-West Conference championship. He has committed to play for the UCA Bears.
Bergman senior Walker Patton averaged 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game and led the Panthers to the Class 3A State Championship game. He currently has an offer from Randall University.
Lake Hamilton junior Ty Robinson helped lead the Wolves to the Class 5A title game last month as he averaged 23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists per game. He has offers from Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas, but is also receiving interest from Central Arkansas, Elon, and Loyola Chicago.
Little Rock Episcopal sophomore Kellen Robinson is the only underclassman named to either boys or girls Super Team. He led the state in scoring by averaging 35 points per game, along with 7.5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Robinson even scored 61 points in a game in early January, which is tied for ninth-best all-time in state history.
ASM Super Team
Following are the selections for the 5th annual Arkansas Sports Media High School Basketball Super Team as voted on by a panel of sportswriters, sportscasters and other sports media from around the state for the 2022-23 high school basketball season:
GIRLS
FIRST TEAM
Madi Cartwright, Greenwood F 5-10 Sr
n Chloe Clardy, Conway G 5-10 Sr
Maddi Holt, Bergman G 5-8 Sr
n Jenna Lawrence, Farmington F 6-3 Sr
Anna Trusty, Greenwood G 5-10 Jr
SECOND TEAM
April Edwards, North Little Rock G 5-9 Sr
Cheyanne Kemp, Morrilton G 5-8 Sr
AJ McCandlis, Viola G 5-7 Sr
Dessie McCarty, Mount Vernon-Enola P 6-0 Jr
Marleigh Sellars, Salem G 5-8 Jr
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Bree McCrotty, Hector, Pacious McDaniel, Springdale Har-Ber, Kori Sanders, Lamar, Kyleigh Scoggins, Nashville, Brynn Washam, Mammoth Spring, Josie Williams, Conway Christian
BOYS
FIRST TEAM
Annor Boateng, LR Central F 6-5 Jr
Landren Blocker, LR Christian F 6-5 Jr
Courtney Crutchfield, Pine Bluff G 6-3 Jr
n Rashaud Marshall, Blytheville P 6-9 Sr
Layne Taylor, Farmington G 5-11 Jr
SECOND TEAM
Tucker Anderson, Bentonville West F 6-8 Sr
Deion Buford-Wesson, Jonesboro G 5-11 Sr
Walker Patton, Bergman G 5-10 Sr
Kellen Robinson, Episcopal G 6-2 So
Ty Robinson, Lake Hamilton G 6-3 Jr
HONORABLE MENTIONS
JJ Andrews. LR Christian, Andrae Milum, County Line, Courtland Muldrew, Springdale, Brayden Nunnally, Manila, Bennet Wilson, Bigelow
n – Denotes unanimous selection