VaPreps 6A 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 6A All-State Basketball Teams for the 2015-16 campaign with bios on each player . . .

6A First Team:
Tyler Scanlon - Westfield - Sr.
Donald Hicks - Oscar Smith - Sr.
Chris Orlina - Woodside - Sr.
Blake Francis - Westfield - Sr.
James Butler - Lake Braddock - Sr.
Keaton Simmons - Stonewall Jackson - Sr.

Player of the Year: Tyler Scanlon (Westfield)
Coach of the Year: Doug Ewell (Westfield)

6A Second Team:
Jerry Carter - C.D. Hylton - Sr.
Blake Pagon - Battlefield - Sr.
Tyland Crawford - C.D. Hylton - Sr.
Desmian Devane - Oscar Smith - Sr.
Devante Carter - Woodside - Sr.
Lewis Djonkam - West Springfield - Sr.

A First Team All-State selection by VaPreps a season ago, Scanlon was even better during his senior year in leading the Bulldogs to their first ever State Championship in basketball. That came just three months after helping Westfield win a State Championship on the football field.

Also tabbed VHSL 6A State Player of the Year, Scanlon averaged a team-high 23.4 points per game with 33 makes from three-point land and shot 73.8% at the foul line (141-of-191). The Boston University recruit averaged 20.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game in the State Tournament, shining brightest on the biggest stage.

Need any further evidence that Scanlon was POY material? Just see his game-winner in the State Semis vs. Woodside, followed by a near triple-double with 22 points, 11 rebounds and eights assists in the 74-56 Championship triumph over Oscar Smith.

Signed to play College Basketball at Radford, Hicks averaged 18.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game for a Tigers team that reached the State Playoffs for the first time in school history. Also, Oscar Smith's 24 wins in 29 contests set a new school-record, breaking the mark of 21 victories the season before.

Hicks, the 6A-South Region Player of the Year, had a flair for making the big shot down the stretch, which included his game-winner in the Tigers' 47-45 triumph over Landstown in the Eighth Annual VaPreps Classic. He also scored 22 points in their State Tournament semifinal win over Battlefield.

This 6-foot-7 forward accepted the role of coming off the bench late in the season and it led to Woodside winning seven in a row at one point, which included their first regional title since 2005. Orlina averaged team-highs of 20.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game to go along with 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per contest while shooting 74% from the foul line.

After spending his junior year at Captiol Christian in Maryland, Orlina returned to the Newport News school that he helped win 22 games as a sophomore. His efficiency, inside-outside versatility and ability to make an impact in a variety of ways were all instrumental in Woodside reaching the State Playoffs for the first time in 11 years.

The 5-foot-11 floor general was indispensable for the Bulldogs in their State Championship run. As good as he was in the regular season, Francis played even better during the postseason by averaging 19.7 points per game in the State tournament. That was capped by a game-high 23 points in a 74-56 Championship victory over Oscar Smith, where he shot a perfect 14-of-14 at the foul line.

Named First Team All-Region and Second Team All-State by the VHSL, Francis averaged 19.5 points per game and made a team-best 58 three-pointers while sinking 115-of-151 free-throws (76.2%) as the Bulldogs finished 26-3 overall.

Nobody in all of Group 6A averaged more points per game than Butler, who put up 27.5 per contest and reached in double-figures every time out. The 6-foot-6 forward headed to the Naval Academy never scored less than 13 in any game and hit for 40-plus on two occasions, which included in his team's 83-76 loss to Stonewall Jackson in the 6A-North Region Tournament.

Butler, who also recorded 18 double-doubles and made 213-of-276 free-throws (77.2%), was rewarded for his efforts by being named 6A-North Region Player of the Year and First Team All-State by the VHSL.

Named co-Player of the Year in Conference 8 alongside Battlefield's Blake Pagon, Simmons had one of the most impressive playoff performances when he scored 46 in an overtime victory over Osbourn. That came in the Conference 8 Tournament semifinals. Every game he played, he scored in double-figures with his lowest output being 13 against Westfield in the 6A-North Region Tournament quarterfinals.

Simmons averaged 24.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.5 assists per game. The 5-foot-11 senior guard drained 69 three-pointers and only twice failed to connect from long distance in a game as the Raiders finished 15-8 overall.

A 1990 graduate of Chantilly High School, Ewell arrived as Westfield's Head Coach in 2004, replacing Bob McKeag. Through six seasons, he posted a record of 99-47. However, his last two have raised the bar, culminating in the Bulldogs' first State Championship this past March.

Ewell has led Westfield to a 53-5 record over the last two seasons with consecutive trips to the State Championship game. That included a winning streak of 25 games in 2014-15 and a 22-game winning streak in the season that followed, where the Bulldogs were able to recover from losing the 6A-North Region Championship with three impressive victories in the State Playoffs.

The 6-foot-4 senior wing headed to Mount Olive (D-2 in North Carolina) to play his College Basketball averaged 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game for a Bulldogs team that earned a trip to the State Tournament. Chosen First Team All-Region and Conference 4 Player of the Year, Carter also sank a team-high 63 three-pointers to follow up a junior campaign in which he made 50 treys.

Against a Woodside team that began and ended the season ranked #2 in the state in Group 6A, Carter scorched the nets for 29 points with seven three-pointers during a 75-59 victory on December 22nd during the Showcase at the Wood.

Sharing Conference 8 Player of the Year honors with the aforementioned Keaton Simmons of Stonewall Jackson, Pagon was as gritty a player as you can find in all of Group 6A. The 6-foot-4 senior forward earned First Team All-Region recognition and was extremely valuable in Battlefield winning its first regional title and making the State Tournament Final Four.

Not only did Pagon score a team-high 503 points - an average of 17.3 per contest - but he also grabbed 248 rebounds (8.6 per contest) and made 49 steals (1.7 per game). Those were tops on the Bobcats as well.

Named First Team All-Region and Second Team All-State by the VHSL, Crawford averaged a team-best 15.2 points per game on a C.D. Hylton squad that finished 22-5 overall. He also put up a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game and converted 73% of his free-throws (90-of-123).

Crawford was a model of consistency in many ways for the Bulldogs as he scored in double-figures in each of their first 18 games, highlighted by a 24-point effort against Stonewall Jackson and 23-point performance vs. Woodbridge; two regional playoff qualifiers.

The 6-foot-3 senior shooting guard often played the Robin to Donald Hicks' Batman for Oscar Smith, but that shouldn't diminish his talents or value to the Tigers' most successful season in school history. A First Team All-Region selection, Devane averaged 16 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for the Chesapeake program that enjoyed its first trip to the State Championship game in basketball.

With his team trailing Battlefield by seven in the third quarter, Devane helped lead a comeback with 22 points on 4-of-5 shooting from long distance in the 72-62 win during the State Tournament semifinals.

Though a sprained ankle forced him to miss seven games, the 6-foot-4 Carter did things uncommon to most point guards around the state. He averaged 14.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game as Woodside won its first regional title since 2005 that was accompanied by a State Tournament berth.

While he was chosen only Second Team All-Conference by the coaches, Carter was easily one of the best players on the floor in the Wolverines' 52-50 semifinal loss to Westfield in the State Playoffs with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and three steals.

A 6-foot-9 center that came to West Springfield from Bishop O'Connell midway through his junior year, Djonkam was the central force for the program's resurgence as he earned First Team All-Region honors and Second Team All-State recognition by the VHSL. His 14.4 points, 12 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game were tops for a West Springfield squad that went 23-6 overall with a trip to the State Playoffs.

In his team's final game, a 48-41 loss to Oscar Smith at Old Dominion University in the State Tournament quarterfinals, Djonkam was the lone Spartans player to score in double-figures with 13 points.

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.