So you want to try and pick a 2009 All-Western New York boys basketball team?
Here's your chance.
Below is a semi-unscientific list of players under consideration for All-WNY honors, listed league-by-league. As you can see, we tried to err on the side of having too many names rather than too few.
We pick the top 20 players divided into four five-member teams: First team, second team, third team, fourth team. We then pick around 30 honorable mentions. That sounds like a lot of spots to fill. But start going down the list and you'll see how things get very difficult.
Here's the list:
YALE CUP
East - Dallas Gary 12 (SMALL SCHOOL LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR), Domonique Jackson 11, Henry Mingo 12
McKinley - Mansa Habeeb 12 (08 FIRST TEAM, LARGE SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE YEAR), Kevin Chillis 12, Terri Lowe 12, Shaquille Holman 12, Nicyle Holman 12, C.J. Hunter 12
Riverside - Isaiah Jefferson 11, Sheldon Brown 12, Ira Watkins 12
Middle College - Justin Stokes 11, Darale Young 11, Davon Alexander 10
Lafayette - Steve Hall 12
Grover Cleveland
- Kenyon Edwards 12, Chris Holland 10
City Honors - Clark Tritto 11
Seneca - Eric Hall 11
Hutch-Tech - Justin Hawkins 12, Dejon Moore 12, Wayne Williams 12, Kenny Bulls 12
South Park - Roman Brown 12
Bennett - D.J. Stuckey 12
Burgard - Rafiq Barnes 12, Keon Paris 10
Emerson - Tishir Allen 11
MONSIGNOR MARTIN ASSOCIATION (no player of the year selected, fyi)
Nichols - Will Regan 11 (08 FIRST TEAM), Ronald Canestro 11 (08 FOURTH TEAM), Andrew MacKinnon 11
Canisius - Blair Helton 11, Sean Brady 12
St. Joe's - Kyle Wojciechowski 11, Matthew Dyrek 11
St. Mary's - Vince Kazmierczak 11, Dan McFarland 12
Timon/St. Jude - Justin Mitchell 12
St. Francis - Delano Fabor 12
Cardinal O'Hara - Reginald Martin 12
Niagara Catholic - Lorenzo Joseph 11
ECIC I
Jamestown - Carlos Rivera 11 (08 HM), Ben Cecchini 12
Frontier - Jason Norsen 12 (08 THIRD TEAM), Mike Grundtisch 12
Clarence - David Hill 10
Orchard Park - Tom Comfort 12, Troy Nowak 11, Kyle Perla 12
Williamsville North - Alex Barth 12 (OVERALL ECIC PLAYER OF THE YEAR, LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR), Stephen Barth 12, Jerome Fields 12, Mark Balsom 12
ECIC II
Sweet Home - Keron Briggs 11 (LEAGUE CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR), Donald Watkins 12, D.J. Nettles 11
Williamsville South - Mark Coppola 11 (LEAGUE CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR, 08 HM), Phil Stasiak 10, Joe Licata 10
Williamsville East - Mark Rutecki 12
Lake Shore - Erik Marx 11, Sean Bellomo 11
ECIC III
Depew - Anthony Battaglia 12, Tyler Stevens 12, Jacob Maryniewski 11, Zach Zmich 12
Maryvale - Brooks Estarfaa 12, Andre Davis 11, Bryce Shepard 11
Pioneer - Lucas Haskell 12 (LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, 08 HM), Mike Malicki 12
East Aurora - Thad Wier 12, Stan Wier 9, Isaac Allen 12, Ryan Sweet 12
Cheektowaga - Damond Rainey 12
ECIC IV
Lackawanna - Darren Cleveland 12 (LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, 08 HM), Dondre Alexander 10, Dwayne Bennett 12, Dwight Barber 12
Alden - Christian Barczykowski 11, Matt Schwartz 11, Will Peel 12
Holland - Pat McNerney 12
Cleveland Hill - Curtis Hairston 12
NIAGARA FRONTIER LEAGUE (no player of the year selected, fyi)
Niagara Falls - Kelvin Agee 12 (08 THIRD TEAM), Davon Marshall 11, Mike Crumpton 12, Kenny Stokes 10, Jordon Street 10, Wayne Ollison 12, C.J. Cox 11
Kenmore West - Scott Grandits 12
Grand Island - Jonas Stalyga 11, Greg Feathers 12, Alex Neutz 12
North Tonawanda - Aaron Davis 11 (08 HM)
Lew-Port - Rob Seyler 12 (08 HM)
Niagara-Wheatfield - Carl Graff 12
NIAGARA-ORLEANS (no player of the year selected, fyi)
Newfane - Adam Bailey 12
Akron - J.C. Tretter 12 (08 HM), Trevor Short 11, Alec Short 11
Wilson - Ethan Baker 11 (08 HM), Brennan Moxham 10
Medina - Levi Pace 11, Nick Peterson 12
Albion - Russell Craft 11
Barker - Ray Paul 12
CCAA I
Olean - Joe Palumbo 11, Ryan Carney 11, Alex Moore 11, James Chatmon 12
Fredonia - Cody Eichelberger 12, Richard Swanson 12
Allegany-Limestone - Matt Domboski 12, Marcus Aiello 11
Gowanda - Aaron Benton 12
Dunkirk - Robert Nalepa 12
Southwestern - Brock Thomas 12 (LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR), Levi Bursch 11
CCAA II
Randolph - Chris Erdmann 12 (EAST LEAGUE MVP), Ashton Brown 12
Westfield - Marcus Cuevas 12 (WEST LEAGUE MVP), Mike Bova 10
Cassadaga Valley - Barry Mason 11
Frewsburg - Joe Bowman 11
CCAA III
Maple Grove - Chris Secky 11 (08 SECOND TEAM, WEST LEAGUE MVP), Joe Caporale 12, Dan Rivas 12
West Valley -
Jeff Engels (EAST LEAGUE MVP)
IAC
St. Mary's School for the Deaf - Michael Lumley 12
Independents
Maritime Charter - Stephen Cordova 12, Kilfoni Williams 11
If anyone thinks there's a player who is not listed who deserves legitimate consideration for the All-WNY team, just comment below and poof! He's under consideration.
And be sure to be RESPECTFUL of the players you are discussing. Thanks.
We've got a good amount of time for some fun debating and discussion. The News' team, along with all the all-stars, the Player of the Year and the final polls, will be published later this month.
Here's a link to last year's post (and, of course, the comments) that preceding the selection of the 2008 team.
---Keith McShea
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