"Verdana","sans-serif"'>VirginiaPreps.com is proud to release our fifth annual

Group AAA All-State Basketball Teams - - First, Second, Third Team and

Honorable Mention selections - - for the 2012-13 campaign.

style=> In fact, it'll be the last AAA All-State

Basketball Teams for us or anyone given that there will be no Group AAA next

year with the VHSL going to a new conference re-alignment plan next year.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>So what are the factors that go into the selections

that are made? All are made by me with

no consultation of the coaches simply because that's what the VHSCA team is for

in my opinion. We study individual

statistics, team success, and overall impact.

Once everything is weighed, we try to blend it together and make the

best choices possible, even though we know there's no perfect team or right and

wrong picks.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>This is no easy process because there are SEVERAL

really fine players that didn't get recognized on First Team, Second Team,

Third Team or even Honorable Mention. A

lot of difficult picks had to be made, especially on the Player of the Year

front as there was no clear-cut favorite this year with a few individuals

sticking out. There was a lot of going

back-and-forth on those names before ultimately arriving at a decision.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Here's how the choices are broken up.

style=> We select five players on First Team, five on

Second Team, five on Third Team and five for Honorable Mention, making it a

total of 20. Below is the complete list

with bios.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>

Marcus Evans - - Great Bridge - - Jr. G (PLAYER

OF THE YEAR)

Rajay Bullock - - Kecoughtan

- - Sr. F

Troy Caupain - - Cosby - - Sr. G

Timmy Jones - - Henrico - - Sr. G

Anthony 'Cat' Barber - - Hampton - - Sr. G

Brian

White - - John Marshall - - Sr. F

Ramone Snowden - - Kellam -

- Sr. F

Will Ferguson - - Herndon - - Sr. G

J.R. Washington - - Stonewall Jackson - - Sr. G/F

Lucas Brown - - Mountain View - - Jr. G

font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Khory

10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> Moore - -

Wakefield - - Sr. G

Tavon Mealy - - Armstrong - - Sr. F

Eric Bowles - - W.T. Woodson - - Soph. G

Kenny Williams - - L.C. Bird - - Soph. G/F

Marvin Smith Jr. - - Henrico - - Sr. F

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>

Jordon Talley - - Henrico - - Sr. G

Malique Trent - - Norcom -

- Sr. G

Zach Fong - - Gar-Field - - Sr. G

Marcus Banks - - Patrick Henry-Roanoke - - Sr. G

Ahmad Thomas - - GW-Danville - - Sr. G/F

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In his first and only season with the Justices after

playing at SportsQuest, White made an immediate

impact for John Marshall and was the horse in the front-court they rode all the

way to the Central Region Championship game and Group AAA State Final, both

being losses to Henrico. The 6-foot-7

forward effectively did damage in the high post, low block and made plays

whether it was in the half-court or transition.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Signed to play his College Basketball at The Citadel,

White was chosen as the Colonial District Player of the Year and First Team

All-Central Region. On the year, he

averaged 19.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 68.2% from the

field and 79% from the foul line.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the State Playoffs, White's averages increased to

21PPG, 11.3RPG and 2.6 rejections a contest, connecting on 90% from the foul

line. He had a monster game of 33 points

and 13 boards in the State Tournament quarterfinals in helping the Justices

eliminate Eastern Region Champ Great Bridge.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Most any other years, Snowden would've likely been

selected First Team All-State, except the Eastern Region this year featured a

couple of nationally-ranked senior prospects and a junior who beat them both in

taking his team to State's for the first time in 55 years.

style=> What the 6-foot-5 wing has done for the

Knights though since he entered the school as a ninth grader has been rather

remarkable.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the four seasons Snowden has started at

class=SpellE>Kellam, the Knights have gone 76-26 with a pair of Beach

District regular season titles, one that they shared with Landstown,

and two district tournament crowns. They

made it to regional semifinals his sophomore year, got back to the region

playoffs this past season and won 20 of their first 25 games overall.

style=> During his senior year he averaged some gaudy

numbers of 22 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals per

game.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Snowden finished with 22 double-doubles, playing an

average of 25 minutes a contest and shooting 56% from the field, 37% from

three-point range. A couple of his

monster games included scoring 36 in the opener vs. Landstown

and filling the stat sheet with 22 points, 19 boards, six assists, three blocks

and three steals against Green Run in the Beach District Tournament

Championship.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Playing his first full season at the point with the

Hornets, Ferguson transferred from Bishop O'Connell to Herndon midway through

his junior year. As a senior, he took

control of games, even ones where they didn't come up on the winning side

because the other team they faced might've been well-rounded and deeper from

top to bottom.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>A great example of that came in the Ronald Curry

Classic Championship game, where the Hornets fell to W.T. Woodson by two in a

game where Ferguson scored 31 of his 37 points in the second half.

style=> Super quick and able to get to the basket at

will, Ferguson was named the Concorde District and Northern Region Player of

the Year and also tabbed Second Team All-State by the VHSCA.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Statistically, Ferguson was nothing short of superb and

did so without a ton of help around him.

He averaged 22.4 points per game, drained 45 three-pointers and made

140-of-178 attempts from the free-throw line (78.7%).

style=> Herndon ended up capturing the Concorde

District regular season title and finishing 18-7 overall, losing at home to

W.T. Woodson by 11 in the regional quarterfinals.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>A two-sport athlete that excelled at football in

addition to basketball, Washington did all he could to carry the Raiders to a

perfect mark, both regular season and tournament, in the Cedar Run

District. His play certainly got

noticed, earning Cedar Run District Player of the Year honors and All-Northwest

Region First Team for a Raiders squad that finished a victory shy of the State

Playoffs.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>It was in late December right after Christmas that

Washington got the attention of the whole state.

style=> In a win over Freedom-Woodbridge at a holiday

tournament, he poured in a school-record 61 points, one of the highest totals

ever recorded in a contest in Northwest Region history.

style=> When his jumper was falling from the start,

opponents got headaches.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For the year, Washington averaged 23.8 points, 7.1

rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 43% from the

field, 80% at the foul line (152-190FT's) and drained 62 three-pointers.

style=> Having him made life easier for Stonewall

Jackson on its way to a 19-7 overall mark and appearance in the Northwest

Region semifinals, where they were knocked out by Mountain View.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Following up a 19-8 record during his sophomore season,

Brown was out to show the doubters in his junior year that he's more than just

the Head Coach's son and was a point guard with the skills necessary to lead a

team to a Championship. Lucas passed

that test with flying colors as Mountain View reeled off 24 consecutive wins en

route to a Northwest Region Championship, plus a perfect record, regular season

and tournament, in the Commonwealth District.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Mountain View's 26-3 overall record gave them the

second highest winning percentage behind only Henrico among all Group AAA

schools in Virginia in 2012-13. Brown

played at a great pace and proved to be the consummate facilitator, putting up

11.7 points, 6.5 assists and 3.2 steals per game.

style=> His turnover total stayed low and his poise

was high.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>As the Wildcats punched its ticket to the State

Tournament, Brown got chosen the Northwest Region Player of the Year.

style=> He left the court in a loss to Wakefield

having played his tail off with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and six assists

in the quarterfinals of the State Playoffs.