BASKETBALL: Federal Way’s Walton named state 4A Player of the Year, Smith earns first-team honors for Decatur

By Casey Olson • March 31, 2011 7:44 pm
Federal Way High School senior Talia Walton was named the AP Class 4A Player of the Year Thursday after leading the Eagles to the championship game. Walton averaged 16.8 points and 11.8 rebounds a game.
Federal Way High School senior Talia Walton was named the AP Class 4A Player of the Year Thursday after leading the Eagles to the championship game. Walton averaged 16.8 points and 11.8 rebounds a game.

The postseason honors continue to pour in for Federal Way High School senior Talia Walton and Decatur senior Jerron Smith.

Walton was voted the Associated Press Class 4A Washington Prep Girls Basketball Player of the Year after leading the Eagles into the state title game Thursday. Smith was named to the Class 3A All-State Boys Basketball First Team. The AP All-State Teams were voted on by sports writers and editors from around the state.

Walton has had quite a senior year at Federal Way. The 6-foot-2 wing signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Washington in November, then led the Eagles into the Class 4A state championship game, where they lost to Lewis & Clark.

Walton was also named the South Puget Sound League’s South Division Most Valuable Player, Seattle Times’ Star Times All-Area, The News Tribune’s All-Area Player of the Year and the Mirror’s All-City Player of the Year.

Walton led the Eagles to a perfect 16-0 record in the SPSL South and to the West Central/Southwest District championship, while averaging 17 points and close to 13 rebounds per game. It was the third-straight season that Federal Way has played at the Class 4A State Girls Basketball Tournament.

She also led the SPSL in rebounding during the regular season by grabbing 11.8 per game. Walton also led the league in blocked shots and was 10th in the league in steals (2.13 a game). She was a first-team, All-SPSL North selection for the third time.

Smith was just as impressive during his senior season at Decatur. The 6-foot-3 guard leaves the Gator program as its all-time leading scorer. He will play at Portland State University next season.

The numbers are staggering during his four seasons at Decatur. In that stretch, Smith started 113 games, including 33 in the postseason, won four West Central District Tournament trophies, played in four state tournaments and scored an eye-popping 2,034 points.

“Jerron has been the flagship of our program the past few years and is the definition of a student-athlete,” said Decatur head coach Kevin Olson.

Smith, who maintains a 3.8 grade-point average, averaged 27.5 points this season and was also named the Class 3A Player of the Year by the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association, All-Area by The News Tribune and the Mirror’s 2011 All-City Boys Player of the Year.

In the last three seasons, Smith was a scoring machine for the Gators. During that stretch, he scored in double figures in 84 of 87 games and tallied 30 or more points 16 times. He scored a career-high 44 during a win over Wenatchee on Dec. 22.

 

Associated Press all-state basketball teams


GIRLS BASKETBALL

Player of the year, all classifications — Erika Johnson, sr., Holy Names.

CLASS 4A

Player of the year — Talia Walton, sr., Federal Way.

First-team — Talia Walton, sr., Federal Way; Tia Presley, sr., Gonzaga Prep; Sarah Hartwell, sr. Bellarmine Prep; Kat Cooper, sr., Auburn Riverside; Devyn Galland, jr., Lewis and Clark.

Honorable mention — Jordan Loera, sr., Moses Lake; Kylie Huerta, sr., Kentwood; Deborah Anderson, sr., Mount Tahoma.

CLASS 3A

Player of the year — Erika Johnson, sr., Holy Names.

First-team — Erika Johnson, sr., Holy Names; Heather Corral, jr., Prairie; Claire Conricode, sr., Holy Names; Khadidja Toure, jr., Kamiakin; Airashay Rogers, jr., Hazen.

Honorable mention — Cheyenne Wilson, sr., Cleveland; Camille Williams, sr., Timberline; Riley Holsinger, sr., North Central.

 

BOYS BASKETBALL

Player of the year, all classes — Gary Bell, sr., Kentridge.

CLASS 4A

Player of the year — Gary Bell, sr., Kentridge

First-team — Gary Bell, sr., Kentridge; Tony Wroten, Jr., sr., Garfield; Brett Kingma, sr., Jackson; Chris Sarbaugh, sr., Gonzaga Prep; DaVonte Lacy, sr., Curtis.

Honorable mention — David Trimble, jr., Davis; Riley Stockton, sr., Ferris.

CLASS 3A

Player of the year — Issac Winston, sr., Lakes.

First-team — Issac Winston, sr., Lakes; Nate Sikma, sr., Bellevue; Mitch Brewe, jr., Seattle Prep; Jerron Smith, sr., Decatur; Case Rada, sr., Kamiakin.

Honorable mention — Dustin Watts, sr., O’Dea; Sekou Wiggs, jr., O’Dea.