By Shawn Stinson
FRANKLIN – Two members of the Pendleton County boys basketball team and one from the Pendleton girls squad were named to the Class A all-state basketball team.
Clayton Kisamore, Tanner Townsend and Ana Young received all-state honors. The squads were selected by members of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
Kisamore, a junior, was named to the all-state second team and Townsend, a senior, was an honorable mention selection. The pair helped guide the Wildcats to a 19-4 record and an appearance in the state tournament as the No. 6 seed.
Kisamore averaged a team-leading 15.9 points. He added 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Townsend was second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.9 ppg. He led the Wildcats with 3.6 assists per game and chipped in with three rebounds a contest.
Eli Allen from state champion James Monroe was selected as the first team captain. Allen averaged 20.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game as a junior.
Trevor Beresford from Cameron, Caleb Blevins from Man, Rye Gadd from Webster, Jesse Muncy from Huntington St. Joe’s, Shad Sauvage from James Monroe, Kaden Smallwood from Greater Beckley and Caleb Strode from Tyler Consolidated were also named to the all-state first team.
Chase McClung of Greenbrier West was selected as the captain of the second team. Joining Kisamore and McClung on the second team were Kendrick Wilson from Greater Beckley, Jeremiah Harless from Man, Matt Amaismeier from Madonna, Ashton Lycliter from Tucker County, Garrett Gibson from Tygarts Valley and Zavian Johnson from Huntington St. Joe’s.
The honorable mention selections were Tony Bailey of Mount View, Haygen Baker of Tyler Consolidated, Evan Bone of Madonna, Trey Brown of Man, Cole Burkett of Cameron, Josh Burks of James Monroe, Riley Clevenger of Webster County, Ethan Colegrove of Tug Valley, Gavin Derby of Valley-Wetzel, Josh Lipscomb of Gilmer County, Aden Martin of Man, Brayden McClung of Greenbrier West, Dalton Rollo of Sherman, John Rose of Greater Beckley, Brayden Spencer of Richwood, Cameron Thomas of James Monroe, Jamie Vandevender of Pocahontas County and Sawyer VanMatre of Wahama.
Young, a junior, was selected as an honorable mention selection to the Class A girls basketball team. Young averaged 19.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Lady Wildcats this season.
Young helped lead Pendleton to an 8-12 overall record. Pendleton captured a sectional title but lost in the regional co-championship to Union.
Ashlynn Van Tassell from Cameron was selected as the captain of the first team. She averaged 18.3 points and 14 rebounds a game for the state champions. Joining Van Tassell on the first team were Sydney Baird from Webster County, Kaylea Baisden from Tug Valley, Aby McDonough from Doddridge County, Malaysia Morgan from Gilmer County, Kadie Colebank from Tucker County, Josie Montgomery from Calhoun County and Trinity Bancroft from Gilmer County.
Amya Damron of St. Joseph topped the all-state second team as captain. Adyson Hines of James Monroe, Kenzie Clutter of Cameron, Autumn Block of Tolsia, Savannah Cunningham of Calhoun County, Haylie Payne of River View, Carrah Ferguson of Gilmer County and Alivia Ammons of Clay-Battelle joined Damron on the second team.
In addition to Young, Vanessa Alatis from Madonna, Olivia Bomboy from Union, Audrey Evans from Tug Valley, Emily Gola from Doddridge County, Autumn Hall from Tug Valley, Macy Helmick from Tucker County, Haley Hunnicutt from James Monroe, Bridgett Knapp from Union, Jaydenn Kuhn from Tucker County, Trista Lester from River View, Carrie Lloyd from Doddridge County, Mary Beth Meadows from James Monroe, Ali Morgan from River View, Maci Neely from Cameron, Holly Perrine from Webster County, Caleigh Phillips from Tyler Consolidated, Kerrigan Salmons from Tolsia, Hailea Skeens from Sherman, Emma Taylor from Gilmer County, McKenzie Thomas from Paden City, Brooklyn Tinnell from East Hardy, Preslee Treadway from Greenbrier West, Olivia Vandevender from Pocahontas County and Joselynn Yeager from Calhoun County were tabbed as honorable mention all-state selections.