Find out who made The Herald’s 2020 All-Area basketball teams here

An abnormally eventful month has passed since the Great Falls boys’ basketball team earned its 11th state title in program history — and the team’s near picture-perfect season still doesn’t seem real.

Just look at the season had by The Herald’s All-Area boys’ basketball Player of the Year, Kelton Talford.

With Talford in the lineup, the Red Devils didn’t lose. At all. Talford missed a chunk of the beginning of the season because of an injury — but after that, the bouncy, 6-7 forward helped lead his team to 22 straight victories. His team didn’t lose to a 1A school all season.

As a senior, Talford averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and what seemed like a dozen dunks per game. The Winthrop signee ended his career as a four-time all-region player, as a three-time region player of the year and as a three-time all-state player. He finished with over 1,500 points scored.

Talford was a co-captain under the direction of first-year head coach Alex Fair, this year’s All-Area Coach of the Year.

While Talford concluded his career as a Red Devil with a state title, Fair began his career with one. Fair, a Newberry College alum who began this basketball season as an assistant coach at Northwestern High School, took the Great Falls head coaching job less than a week before the team’s first game — and he made history despite that.

The girls’ basketball All-Area Coach and Player of the Year — unlike their male counterparts — have won their respective accolades before. Clover junior guard Aylesha Wade (POY) and South Pointe coach Stephanie Butler-Graham (COY) are repeat winners.

And they both deserve to be.

Wade, a 5-6 point guard, averaged 20.5 points, 3.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game and led her team to an Upper State title. She earned an All-State selection (her third) and was named to the All-Region 3-5A team for a fourth consecutive time — and even won Region Player of the Year for a second consecutive time.

Wade, who has college basketball offers from College of Charleston, Charlotte, Appalachian State, Wofford and North Greenville University, is now Clover’s all-time scoring leader. And she still has a season to build on that total.

Butler-Graham led South Pointe to a 27-3 overall record and an 8-2 mark in region. The Stallions won a second consecutive Upper State championship in the 2019-20 season.

Talford, Wade, Fair and Butler-Graham are just a few of the many standouts recognized in this year’s All-Area rosters.

Find the rest of the selections below. Pertinent statistics were provided by the schools.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL SELECTIONS

Player of the Year: Aylesha Wade, Clover

Coach of the Year: Stephanie Butler-Graham, South Pointe

First team

Jamia Blake, South Pointe: The 5-8 senior point guard averaged 12.5 points, five assists and 5.5 rebounds in her final season as a Stallion. She ended her career as South Pointe’s all-time scoring leader, a four-time All Region 3-4A selection and a two-time 4A Upper State champion. Blake has several offers to play college basketball, including one from Winthrop University.

Aylesha Wade, Clover

Randi Neal, South Pointe: The 5-9 senior combo guard finished her season averaging 17.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 steals. She’s the 2020 Region 3-4A Player of the Year and an SCBCA All-State selection. Neal has committed to play college ball at Johnson C. Smith.

Jada Jones, Rock Hill: Jones, an All Region 3-5A selection, averaged 13.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 steals as a sophomore. A relentless defender, the 5-6 guard also forced 22 five-second calls and drew 15 charges this season.

Kelci Adams, Nation Ford: The 5-9 senior guard averaged 22 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and four assists per game this season, leading her team to a 14-12 season. Adams, who was also an All-State team selection, will play at UNC Pembroke next season.

Second team

Trinity Adams, South Pointe: The 5-8 junior guard averaged 13 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 steals this season. She also earned all-region honors and finished as an Upper State champion two years in a row.

Mariana Ballard, Clover: Ballard is a two time all-region selection, and she averaged 9.5 points, 3.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game last season. She’s committed to playing at Johnson and Wales next season.

Janelle Carter, Clover: Carter, an important post-player for the Upper State Champion Blue Eagles, averaged 9.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in her junior season. She also was an All-Region selection and earned an offer from Morris College.

A’Myra Wise, Rock Hill: The 5-10 forward earned All Region 3-5A honors as a senior, averaging 10.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. She signed to play at Spartanburg Methodist College this season.

Tamia Watkins, Andrew Jackson: Watkins, a seventh grader, averaged 10.2 points and 8.9 rebounds according to MaxPreps and started on a Volunteers team that won 22 games and went perfect in region play. The lefty post player dropped 31 points in the second round of the state playoffs.

Honorable mention

• Carrigan McCloud, Indian Land

• Osha Black, Andrew Jackson

• Calli Wells, Fort Mill

• Izzy Giarrizzi, Fort Mill

• Gracie Wilson, Rock Hill

BOYS’ BASKETBALL SELECTIONS

Player of the Year: Kelton Talford, Great Falls

Coach of the Year: Alex Fair, Great Falls

First team

Demetric Hardin, Lewisville: Hardin, a 6-2 senior guard from Lewisville, was named to the 2A All-State team and was also the Region 4-2A Player of the Year for a second consecutive season. Per head coach Mike McCray, Hardin was a significant reason why the Lions were able to turn their season around and make the 2020 state playoffs.

DJ Adams, Great Falls: This season, the senior earned the steal to give the Red Devils their first state championship since 2012. He averaged 15 points and six rebounds per game as a senior — and for his career, Adams ended with 1,000-plus career points and finished as a two-time all-region and all-state selection.

Mason Grigg, Northwestern: The 6-2 senior guard averaged 16.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and three assists per game — which was enough to earn him All-State honors. Grigg, a 1,000-point scorer, has committed as a preferred walk-on to Coastal Carolina.

Kelton Talford, Great Falls

Destin Clark, Indian Land: The 6-2 senior averaged 21 points, five steals and eight assists in his final season en route to earning All-State and Lancaster County Player of the Year honors. Clark, a Wingate University signee, finished as the second-leading scorer in Indian Land history with 1,435 points.

Second team

AJ Thompson, Northwestern: The 5-8 junior point guard was the engine to Northwestern’s fast-paced attack this season and averaged 16.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Thompson was named Region 3-5A’s Player of the Year.

Kell Brown, Great Falls: Brown ended his high school career as the point guard and sharpshooter on a state championship team. He is a two-time all-region player of the year and averaged 11 points, six assists and four rebounds per game.

Kory Davis, York Prep: Davis, a sophomore, was the emotional leader of a young York Prep team, per his coach, and led the Patriots in scoring (14.8 points), assists (4.1) and steals (3.1). Davis has been offered by Washington State and East Tennessee State.

Keyan Mims, Fort Mill: The 6-5 guard averaged 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game — shooting over 50 percent from the field on the season. Mims, a senior, was also an All-Region 3-5A selection.

Markus Nastase, Clover: Nastase shot 40 percent from three and 83 percent from the free throw line in his senior season — averaging 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. The 6-2 senior was a two-time All-Region 3-5A player and a four-year varsity player.

Honorable mention

• Shane Blakeney, Rock Hill

• Kendall Davis, York Prep

• Jordan Hermann, Fort Mill

• Donavon Fitzgerald, Clover

• Jameel Brooks, York

• Malik Proctor, York

• Jalen Robinson, Andrew Jackson

• DJ Ealey, Andrew Jackson

• Carter Hendrick, Catawba Ridge

• Quan Peterson, South Pointe

• Qua Allison, Northwestern

• Ger-Cari Caldwell, Northwestern

• Petey Tuipulotu, Nation Ford

• Jahseem Felton, Westminster Catawba

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 9:54 AM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.