VaPreps 1A All-State Hoops Teams for 2015-16

VirginiaPreps.com is proud to release our 8th Annual All-State Basketball Teams.

There are a total of 12 honors with six players, including a Player of the Year, for First Team and six more on the Second Team.

So what are the factors that go into the choices that are made? All selections are made by me with no consultation of the coaches simply because that’s what the VHSCA Teams are designed for in my opinion. However, we try to study individual statistics (some supplied by coaches upon request) as well as factor into the equation team success and overall impact.

Once everything is weighed, we try to blend it all together and make the best choices possible, even though there’s no such thing as a perfect team or right and wrong picks.

It’s never an easy process because there are always many deserving players who don’t get recognized on First or Second Team.

Without further ado, here’s the VirginiaPreps.com 1A All-State Basketball Teams for the 2015-16 campaign with bios on each player . . .

1A First Team:
Tanner Robinette - Honaker - Sr.
Blake Burdack - Radford - Sr.
Derrick Cusano - Eastside - Sr.
Justin Williams - Surry - Sr.
Malik Johnson - George Wythe - Jr.
Marcus Finley - Radford - Sr.

Player of the Year: Tanner Robinette (Honaker)
Coach of the Year: Rick Cormany (Radford)

1A Second Team:
Nelson Dews - Altavista - Sr.
Darrian Doggett - Lancaster - Sr.
Josh Good - Luray - Sr.
Marquez Holmes - Middlesex - Sr.
Josh McClure - Altavista - Jr.
Chase Rosenbaum - George Wythe - Sr.

The 6-foot-8 center for the Tigers gave a glimpse of what he was capable of as a junior when averaging 22.1 points and 15.5 rebounds per game to pick up Player of the Year honors at the district, conference and regional levels as Honaker reeled off 27 consecutive victories to reach the 1A Championship game. Believe it or not, his senior season was even better - and by a mile.

Robinette averaged 27.8 points, 16.6 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per game for a Honaker team that got off to a 27-0 start, practically staying in the #1 spot in 1A all season. Though it didn't culminate with the program's first state title since 1924 as the Tigers suffered three straight playoff losses to end the season, consider that the big fella was one of just two seniors on the entire roster.

In the Crooked Road Conference 47 Tournament Championship game, Robinette dazzled with a school-record 53 points on 19-of-22 shooting from the field and 15-of-25 at the foul line in an 83-67 win over Twin Valley. He closed out his stellar career with 2001 points and 1333 rebounds.

A 6-foot-8 newcomer to Radford from Australia, Burdack was a bit of an unknown to basketball fans when the 2015-16 campaign began. By season's end though, he was remembered as the go-to guy for a Bobcats bunch that Bobcats bunch that brought home the school's third state title since 2009.

Burdack averaged 14.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for a Radford squad that closed the season on a 27-game winning streak. He displayed pretty respectable touch away from the basket, too, shooting 76% from the free-throw line (98-of-129) and 46.5% from the field (153-of-329) to go with 24 made three-pointers. Burdack was also chosen as 1A-West Region Player of the Year as well as State Player of the Year by the VHSCA and the VHSL.

A three-time All-Cumberland Conference First Team selection, Cusano repeated as Player of the Year in Conference 48 and led the Spartans to a 76-74 regional semifinal win over a Honaker team that was 27-0. In that game, the 6-foot-4 senior guard put up 31 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. He was the cornerstone as Eastside went 19-9 overall and won conference regular season and tourney titles.

Named Coalfield Winter Sports Leadership Male Athlete of the Year, Cusano averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Besides scoring 28 points in the team's State Tournament quarterfinal loss to Lancaster, he also finished his career with over 1600 points scored. All that mixed together made him a no-brainer All-Region First Team selection.

Selected as the 1A-East Region Player of the Year by the coaches, Williams averaged 19.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game during his senior season with the Cougars. Without him, it's highly doubtful that Surry earns a third consecutive State Tournament Final Four, which they were able to do under the direction of first-year Head Coach James Pope.

Not only did Williams rise to the occasion in the Cougars' do-or-die opening round regional playoff victory over Luray where he sank the game-winning free-throws, but the 6-foot-1 guard put up 37 points in a win over 3A State Playoff qualifier Park View-South Hill and had 21 points in his team's State Tournament loss to George Wythe. He finished a storied career at Surry with 1279 points, solidifying himself as one of the finest players to ever come through the program.

The lone junior to be named First Team All-State in 1A here on VaPreps, Johnson was the cornerstone for a George Wythe team that got to the State Tournament Final Four for the first time since 2008. That came after a sophomore year in which he put up 16.8 points, 6.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game to earn Hogoheegee District Player of the Year honors.

A fractured ankle forced Johnson to miss the first five games of the season, but once he returned the Maroons went on a 20-game winning streak. Johnson, who went over 1000 career points in a regional consolation win over Honaker, averaged 17.5 points per game en route to First Team All-Region honors. During the State Tournament, he averaged 16 points, five boards and three assists a contest, highlighted by his 25 points, seven boards and six assists in a quarterfinal win over Surry.

It's rare for a player to bookend his career with state titles, but that's what Finley did, winning one as the freshman starting point guard in 2013 and then moving off the ball to allow another ninth grader (Quinton Morton-Robertson) to handle the PG duties while he won his second ring as a senior in 2015-16. That sacrifice along with his veteran leadership were critical in the Bobcats posting a 29-1 overall record.

In one of Radford's biggest regular season victories, a 52-49 triumph over 2A State Champ Martinsville, Finley scored 25 points. For the season, he averaged 9.8 points per game while posting a 63-23 assist-to-turnover ratio, grabbing 71 rebounds, leading the team in steals with 69 and shooting 41% from the field (113-of-258) as well as 37% from long distance (46-125 on 3's).

Coach Cormany has now won four State Championships as the Head Coach at Radford. Throw in his coaching stops at Rocky Gap and Grayson County, the man is sitting at 609 wins. His Bobcats finished 29-1 overall, losing only to Group 2A State Champ Martinsville, who they later beat in a re-match in January.

This season's run was a special one for Cormany from the standpoint of they won it all with a freshman point guard and having to replace their leading scorer from the last two seasons, Nate Jones, who's now at Bucknell. Radford won all eight of its playoff games by double-figures and got it done with defense, holding foes to just 40PPG in the State Tournament. Cormany has now gone 78-7 over the past 85 contests.

One can argue that nobody meant more to the surprising success the Colonels had than Dews. After replacing five starters and ushering in a new Head Coach from a team that won its third consecutive state title, he became the senior lead of a squad with a bunch of new faces, yet managed to win another regional crown and get to the State Tournament Final Four.

Dews averaged 11.8 points per game during the regular season and earned First Team All-State honors by the VHSCA. However, in the playoffs he raised his play, beginning with 17 points, seven boards, six assists and six steals in their Conference 44 Tournament Championship victory over Luray. The 5-foot-11 guard averaged 16.5 points and 2.5 steals per game in the State Tournament, providing the Colonels with 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point land in their semifinal loss to Lancaster.

Doggett tallied 15 of his game-high 27 points in the second half of the Red Devils' Conference 43 Tournament Championship win over Northumberland. That was part of a stretch where he scored in double-figures in six straight postseason games for a Lancaster team that made its first State Championship game appearance since 2012.

With three of the Red Devils' top scorers from a season ago gone, it was imperative that Doggett raise his offensive game. He was able to do that, nearly doubling his scoring average from 9.6 to 16 a contest. The First Team All-Region performer was steady down the stretch in games, a key why Lancaster notched five playoff victories by seven points or less.

Named the Shenandoah District Player of the Year and First Team All-Region, Good compiled some numbers not comparable to too many seniors at the 1A level. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 19.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, both team-highs, and also was second on the squad in assists (1.8 a contest) and tops in blocks (0.8 per game).

To put in perspective how much Good meant to Luray, consider that he recorded nine double-doubles and no one else on the team even achieved one. Furthermore, he shot 59% inside the arc (171-of-289), 57% from the field (184-for-324) and hit on 111-of-166 free-throws (67%). His best game was scoring 34 points against Group 3A Skyline.

Following up a junior season in which he averaged 15.7 points per game and shot 82% from the foul line to earn Second Team All-State honors, Holmes was equally productive in his senior campaign with the Chargers. The 5-foot-11 guard posted 15.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 3.2 assists per game earned a second straight berth in the 1A-East Region Tournament.

A three-year starter, Holmes is widely considered one of the best athletes to come out of Middlesex as he was named Second Team All-State in football as well, plus won the Group 1A State long jump and triple jump in track and field a year ago. Led by this First Team All-Region performer, the Chargers' basketball team finished 16-9 overall.

A 6-foot-3 forward who played sparingly as a backup when Altavista capped a third straight state title in 2014-15, McClure stepped into a larger role during his junior year. He came through 20 points on his 17th birthday and nine rebounds during a 70-58 victory over Luray in the Conference 44 Tournament Championship.

Chosen as the Conference 44 Player of the Year, McClure was integral in Altavista winning the regional crown and earning their fourth consecutive State Tournament Final Four berth. He was selected First Team All-State by the VHSL and showed he can do more than just score with 6.5 rebounds a game during the State Playoffs.

A three-sport standout who also played football and baseball at George Wythe, Rosenbaum proved to be a matchup problem in the front-court all season long for the Maroons' opponents. He proved to be a beast on the boards with one of his standout performances coming when he grabbed 16 rebounds in win over Giles at the Chance Harman Classic.

Rosenbaum averaged 10.2 points per game during the season to earn Second Team All-State honors by both the VHSCA and VHSL along with First Team All-Region from the coaches. The 6-foot-5 senior had a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds in a State Tournament quarterfinal victory over Surry. He was a perfect 11-of-11 at the foul line in the State Playoffs.

Matthew Hatfield serves as State Basketball Analyst for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield's Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don't forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.