News Release from AHSAA –
MONTGOMERY – Pisgah
High School senior guard Annie Hughes and Mountain Brook senior forward Trendon
Watford were named Miss and Mr. Basketball, respectively, at the Alabama
Sportswriters Association (ASWA) luncheon Tuesday at the Montgomery Renaissance
Hotel and Convention Center. AHSAA corporate partner ALFA Insurance sponsored
the luncheon which is hosted by the Alabama High School Athletic Directors &
Coaches Association (AHSADCA).
Hughes, an Auburn signee, was also named the
Class 3A Girls’ Player of the Year by the ASWA and was recently named the
Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year and Al.com Girls’ Player of the Year. She
led Pisgah, coached by Carey Ellison, to the 2018 and 2019 Class 3A state
titles, earning state Tourney MVP each year. She averaged 21.4 points, 7.0
rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.5 steals as a senior.
Pisgah went 65-2 over the past two seasons.
Hughes is the first player from a school in a classification smaller than 5A to
win Miss Basketball since Hayden Hamby of 3A West Morgan in 2011. Hughes is
also the first Jackson County player to win in the 32-year history of the
award.
The 6-foot-9 Watford, also named the Class 7A Boys’ Player
of the Year by the ASWA, was selected to participate in the McDonald’s
All-America Game March 27 and was unable to attend Tuesday’s luncheon. He led
the Spartans to three straight Class 7A state basketball championships –
earning MVP honors all three years.
He averaged 23.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a
senior. He finished his career as the AHSAA career rebounding leader with 1,909
and had 3,783 career points. He also had 285 career blocked shots and had 155
career 3-pointers.
Emily Westlake accepted for Watford. The annual awards
banquet was presented by ALFA Insurance.
Watford, who is still uncommitted, became just the
fourth repeat winner of the ASWA Mr. Basketball Award. The others are John
Petty of Butler (2016) and Mae Jemison (2017) high schools; Trevor Lacey of
Butler (2010 and 2011); and Ronald Steele of John Carroll Catholic (2003 and
2004).
Hughes gathered 52 points in the Miss Basketball
balloting of the ASWA All-State Committee. Finishing second was Spain Park’s
Barker (46), followed by Pleasant Home’s Baldwin (45), Joiya Maddox of Hoover
(10) and Hazel Green’s Snodgrass (9). These five comprise the ASWA Super 5
All-State Team for 2019.
Watford led the ASWA Boys’ Super 5 All-State Team with 11 first-place
votes and 66 total points. Rounding out Top 5 were Kobe Brown of Lee-Huntsville
(27), Demond Robinson of Lee-Montgomery (27), Kam Woods, Pinson Valley (20) and
Jaykwon Walton of Carver-Montgomery (19).
The ASWA named a player of the year for boys and girls in each of
the AHSAA’s seven classifications and the AISA. Those recipients included:
ASWA Class Boys’ Players of the Year
Class 7A: Trendon Watford, Mountain Brook
Class 6A: Kameron Woods, Pinson Valley
Class 5A: Cameron Tucker, Wenonah
Class 4A: Kobe Simmons, Talladega
Class 3A: Auston Leslie, Westminster Christian
Class 2A: Jayden Stone, Sacred Heart Catholic
Class 1A: Noah Boler, Decatur Heritage
AISA: Gunnar Henderson, Morgan Academy
ASWA Girls Class ’ Players of the Year
Class 7A: Sarah Ashlee Barker, Spain Park
Class 6A: Marisa Snodgrass, Hazel Green
Class 5A: Quintasia Leatherwood, Central-Tuscaloosa
Class 4A: Kathleen Wheeler, Priceville
Class 3A: Annie Hughes, Pisgah
Class 2A: Elizabeth Hill, Cold Springs
Class 1A: River Baldwin, Pleasant Home
AISA: Kelsey Curry, Tuscaloosa Academy
