Amber asks a great question, Junior is a really good player. It's like anything, somebody gets left off a list and there's bound to be discussion. Seattle U was at his last game, I don't think there's a doubt he'll play in college. Really had a great finish to the year too, if it wasn't for a fantastic Zach Pederson hook, Shorecrest moves on to play Beach.
I've seen Terrace and Jackson play. If they played each other, I think Terrace wins by 8 or so because they're so good defensively as a team. Fun to talk about, both coaches do a nice job with their teams. Shannon has great timing, it's hard to score on him.
I regret not seeing Zach Taylor play, like many of us we read about kids in the Herald. His stats were always crazy, and another junior. Look at the above kids coming back? Wow!
Hoop Knowledge is right, it's time to support all these teams, AND the ladies too. Look at what Lake Stevens, Jackson, Stanwood, GP and Shorecrest are doing. It's great for the communities, good luck to all.
Amber - 12 years ago
Why isn't Emmanuel Chibuogwu Jr. on this list?? He averaged 19 points a game and is better than quite a few of these guys.
bz - 12 years ago
If you want to talk about the total team player then look at Todd. Look at what he has done for his team, not all about points. He is a Forward (not a guard) who has high numbers in every category and distributes the ball well. The fact that he is a forward and has more assists that a guard in Hamlin tells you all you need about him being a team player.
He makes his team better and is the only returning starter from last year, yet they still won the district championship
Hoop Knowledge - 12 years ago
This has been fun seeing all of the comments and insight that people have and it is great to see the excitment and passion each player and team has brought to their local schools and community. This is what high school sports are suppose to be about!
May all of these great players know that they had a wonderful year and now it is time to turn and show this same type of passion towards the teams that have made the state regionals, or better yet, The Sweet 16as they actually are.
Come out to Jackson tomorrow night to support MLT as they play and talented Decatur team, or to Bellevue CC to support Glacier Peak in their quests to get to the T-Dome.
Best of luck to Snohomish and Jackson as they venture south to play their games and by Saturday morning we hope the Herald sports page shows all four team advancing to the Tacoma Dome!
guest - 12 years ago
I would love to see Terrace vs Jackson. It would be interesting to see Shannon guard Todd. Terrace did beat Snohomish by a large margin.
Eastbay - 12 years ago
Luke will win it folks guaranteed. These online votes that the students/parents are putting up mean nothing. It's just to get people talking and on the website. The coaches and Herald writers will decide this, and Luke will win. Again, absolutely deserves it.
To say he "deserves this because he's put so much into basketball and works hard every day" is silly because every guy on this last has done that.
To suggest that "Dawn scored 25+ on Todd" is also a stretch. He scored those points vs. Jackson, just like Jackson had four guys in double figures vs. Arlington. Just like Todd didn't "hold Hamlin to 16", there are four other guys out there who play D as well. Dawn and Hamlin and any other good guard will use screens to their advantage, coaches will isolate them and let them do their thing. You're asking a 6'5" 16-year old to completely shut down Dawn, Hamlin? Won't happen, those guys are good.
It's a fun debate, you can see the support that GP, Cedarcrest and Arlington have for their guys - which is great.
But like a few people have said, it's not about stats. Well done Luke, and good luck to all of you guys coming back next year.
Snohomish!!!! - 12 years ago
I play with Luke Hamlin and he is the definition of a team player he deserves this more than anybody he has put so much into basketball and he works hard everyday, not to mention he is leading in points, has almost as many rebounds as Todd, the choice is obvious
HOPS - 12 years ago
Austin- watched the arlington v jackson game. Todd tried to guard Dawn.. Brown did the best and Dawn till scored over 25 pts. Agree ppg isn't the only tell all but do no rpg and apg were as good or better than the other gUards and forwards listed. At 16. Yrs., a great kid, and uniquely talented as the rest of the group.
HOPS - 12 years ago
Austin- watched the arlington v jackson game. Todd tried to guard Dawn.. Brown did the best and Dawn till scored over 25 pts. Agree ppg isn't the only tell all but do no rpg and apg were as good or better than the other gUards and forwards listed. At 16. Yrs., a great kid, and uniquely talented as the rest of the group.
People...quit looking at ppg and only the stats given. You gotta look at everything. If I purely went off of stats and had never seen any of these guys play (I've seen nearly all of them), I would go with Jason Todd.
Eastbay - 12 years ago
What's cool is that a lot of these guys are back next year. By default the POY will be Hamlin. Scores a lot of points, senior, team is still playing. Good kid, absolutely deserves it.
But ask me who I want to start a team with, regardless of what year he is. That would be Todd, the ultimate warrior. His team had one returning starter (him), they go 18-5, he leads Jackson is scoring, rebounding and assists, but more importantly, it's the way he plays. Flat out like his life depends on it. The kid is 16 years old. I give him the nod, despite his age.
Pederson is absolutely unstoppable in the paint, and he's a junior. Roberson and Dawn are great scorers, also juniors. Wow! Shannon was the enforcer Terrace needed, off to play at Montana St. Washington, a kid we don't see that much is off to Princeton.
What a great group of kids! Good luck to 'em all!
coachk - 12 years ago
Can't speak to some of the players on the list, but from what I've seen of Shannon's play, defensively he shuts people down (Hamlin), contained Pederson, several blocks per game and averages 10 rebounds per game in limited minutes in games that Terrace blows teams out. Offensively he is a 3 or 4 but is forced to play at the high post and there is no offense run for him, he doesn't force shots and lets the game come to him. He plays with two guards, Fernandez and Armstead that like to get their shots up, it's impressive that he gets the 10ppg. He is also a highly skilled passer. He doesn't need the limelight, very unselfish and knows what is most important, winning
bz - 12 years ago
You can't look at just head to head because while Jackson plays mostly man to man, both stanwood and snohomish play either a zone or a matchup zone so it is completely different (more difficult to score inside-but he still did). Also, you need to consider when someone scored their points in head to head. Look at how Hamlin did against Jackson/Todd...Below his average in the second game and got the majority of his points in the 4th quarter after jackson was already up by 20+.
Also, you are right in saying it's not about the best team it best player, but good players put their team in a position to win by doing more than just score points. Hard to argue that a team with a core of sophomores that lost 2 all league players from last year and won the district championship (again) doesn't have the best player or coach.
The person who said Roberson was "much better than Todd, Shannon, & Fernandez" lost credibility, sorry. Todd is the only soph on here and has the most complete game of any player. Roberson is good but to say he is much better than Todd, I just don't see it. Curious how some of these other guys stack up defensively since several of them play in a zone
guest - 12 years ago
I am surprized Marcus Armstead (Terrace) isn't on here.
basketball mom - 12 years ago
Zach Pederson has an amazing soft hook shot. He has 20+ points each game. He is given great assists by Jacob Davelaar & Austin Tarvin and those seniors rarely get props. They don't care, it's about the team. Glacier Peak is in it's 4th year as a school and they have been to state 3 times!! GO GRIZZLIES!!
hops - 12 years ago
Hoop Knowledge-a team and being part of a team making the playoffs is a great accomplishment esp this year, but for an individual player shouldn't be a make or break. Shannon knows that.
Hoop Knowledge - 12 years ago
Hey Hallaballa,
Pederson had a great year and congrats to GP for an exciting win against Shorecrest last night and making the regionals. Awesome!
But remember, this is not a popularity contest and who has the best school spirit, who cares about that, this is about what player(s) had the best year leading their respective teams to championships.
For all the others, you could score 30 points a game but if your team doesn't even make the playoffs then it is hard to realistically say your are the best player(s). Not being mean, just speaking the truth in how this works.
HOPS - 12 years ago
Speaking of Amazing players.. Terry Dawn.. This kid "scared" teams/coaches when he had the ball in his hands. Each game was guarded by 1 or 2 of the best defenders, still averaging 22 ppg. and at the minimum 8 rpg, 4 apg. In every game, you could see how hard he was working for his teammates and for the "out-coached". This league has many talented ball players and thanks to all players and coaches for many great games.
Hoop Knowledge - 12 years ago
One more thing about Shannon and Fernandez. Out of a 32 minute game, Shannon averaged 21 minutes and game and Fernandez a few more because their team was kicking peoples butts so bad, including when they played Snohomish and held Luke to 10 points.
If this is based on stats then lets base it on minutes played versus results and plus/minus stats when a player is on the floor in what they did in those terms.
If they both played as many minutes as Luke, Todd or Pederson their stats would have been very impressive!!
If you shoot 20 times a game you had better score a lot. Just saying....
Going purely off stats then (if you want individual player only), Todd deserves it. Nearly 20 points a game, the 2nd most assists in the group, and 8.5 rebs a game. Also he did this as a sophomore.
Blondie - 12 years ago
Notice this poll is about PLAYER of the year, not team. Luke all the way, SHS>
hallaballa - 12 years ago
when it comes down to it, glacier peak has the most school sprit and zach pedersons votes are going to sky rocket as soon as this gets around school. And he's a boss so obviously he's going to OWN these votes.
I'm with Hoop Knowledge. Don't forget, Luke is an amazing player, but he didn't exactly have another scorer (or several in the case of Fernandez and Shannon) on the team. Todd had Kingma, Brown, and others backing him up putting up nearly 10 a game. Props to Luke, and if he wins, it's perfectly deserving. But Fernandez and Shannon and Todd all had the opportunity to share the ball more, thus scoring less points.
p.s. This isn't calling Luke a ball hog, he did what was needed to get his team the win. But So did Fernandez, Todd, and Shannon, just not in the form of scoring.
Sparta - 12 years ago
Let's not forget Cannen Roberson. That kid dominated so many games it wasnt even funny. Much better than Todd, Shannon, and Fernandez. He didn't average as many points though because there were other assets on the team and he trusted he's fellow teammates with that ball. Vote Cannen.
Hoop Knowledge - 12 years ago
Let's look at head to head match-ups and see what team shut down the leaders scorers when they played each other and who help lead their TEAM to the best record and a championship...
Then it is down to Todd, Shannon and Fernandez and no others.
Love Luke but it is a team game.
micah - 12 years ago
Look at the stats. its obvious it should be Luke Hamlin leading points, and up there for the other two.
Zach Pederson is the man! GOGURT FRIDAY!!!!
Amber asks a great question, Junior is a really good player. It's like anything, somebody gets left off a list and there's bound to be discussion. Seattle U was at his last game, I don't think there's a doubt he'll play in college. Really had a great finish to the year too, if it wasn't for a fantastic Zach Pederson hook, Shorecrest moves on to play Beach.
I've seen Terrace and Jackson play. If they played each other, I think Terrace wins by 8 or so because they're so good defensively as a team. Fun to talk about, both coaches do a nice job with their teams. Shannon has great timing, it's hard to score on him.
I regret not seeing Zach Taylor play, like many of us we read about kids in the Herald. His stats were always crazy, and another junior. Look at the above kids coming back? Wow!
Hoop Knowledge is right, it's time to support all these teams, AND the ladies too. Look at what Lake Stevens, Jackson, Stanwood, GP and Shorecrest are doing. It's great for the communities, good luck to all.
Why isn't Emmanuel Chibuogwu Jr. on this list?? He averaged 19 points a game and is better than quite a few of these guys.
If you want to talk about the total team player then look at Todd. Look at what he has done for his team, not all about points. He is a Forward (not a guard) who has high numbers in every category and distributes the ball well. The fact that he is a forward and has more assists that a guard in Hamlin tells you all you need about him being a team player.
He makes his team better and is the only returning starter from last year, yet they still won the district championship
This has been fun seeing all of the comments and insight that people have and it is great to see the excitment and passion each player and team has brought to their local schools and community. This is what high school sports are suppose to be about!
May all of these great players know that they had a wonderful year and now it is time to turn and show this same type of passion towards the teams that have made the state regionals, or better yet, The Sweet 16as they actually are.
Come out to Jackson tomorrow night to support MLT as they play and talented Decatur team, or to Bellevue CC to support Glacier Peak in their quests to get to the T-Dome.
Best of luck to Snohomish and Jackson as they venture south to play their games and by Saturday morning we hope the Herald sports page shows all four team advancing to the Tacoma Dome!
I would love to see Terrace vs Jackson. It would be interesting to see Shannon guard Todd. Terrace did beat Snohomish by a large margin.
Luke will win it folks guaranteed. These online votes that the students/parents are putting up mean nothing. It's just to get people talking and on the website. The coaches and Herald writers will decide this, and Luke will win. Again, absolutely deserves it.
To say he "deserves this because he's put so much into basketball and works hard every day" is silly because every guy on this last has done that.
To suggest that "Dawn scored 25+ on Todd" is also a stretch. He scored those points vs. Jackson, just like Jackson had four guys in double figures vs. Arlington. Just like Todd didn't "hold Hamlin to 16", there are four other guys out there who play D as well. Dawn and Hamlin and any other good guard will use screens to their advantage, coaches will isolate them and let them do their thing. You're asking a 6'5" 16-year old to completely shut down Dawn, Hamlin? Won't happen, those guys are good.
It's a fun debate, you can see the support that GP, Cedarcrest and Arlington have for their guys - which is great.
But like a few people have said, it's not about stats. Well done Luke, and good luck to all of you guys coming back next year.
I play with Luke Hamlin and he is the definition of a team player he deserves this more than anybody he has put so much into basketball and he works hard everyday, not to mention he is leading in points, has almost as many rebounds as Todd, the choice is obvious
Austin- watched the arlington v jackson game. Todd tried to guard Dawn.. Brown did the best and Dawn till scored over 25 pts. Agree ppg isn't the only tell all but do no rpg and apg were as good or better than the other gUards and forwards listed. At 16. Yrs., a great kid, and uniquely talented as the rest of the group.
Austin- watched the arlington v jackson game. Todd tried to guard Dawn.. Brown did the best and Dawn till scored over 25 pts. Agree ppg isn't the only tell all but do no rpg and apg were as good or better than the other gUards and forwards listed. At 16. Yrs., a great kid, and uniquely talented as the rest of the group.
People...quit looking at ppg and only the stats given. You gotta look at everything. If I purely went off of stats and had never seen any of these guys play (I've seen nearly all of them), I would go with Jason Todd.
What's cool is that a lot of these guys are back next year. By default the POY will be Hamlin. Scores a lot of points, senior, team is still playing. Good kid, absolutely deserves it.
But ask me who I want to start a team with, regardless of what year he is. That would be Todd, the ultimate warrior. His team had one returning starter (him), they go 18-5, he leads Jackson is scoring, rebounding and assists, but more importantly, it's the way he plays. Flat out like his life depends on it. The kid is 16 years old. I give him the nod, despite his age.
Pederson is absolutely unstoppable in the paint, and he's a junior. Roberson and Dawn are great scorers, also juniors. Wow! Shannon was the enforcer Terrace needed, off to play at Montana St. Washington, a kid we don't see that much is off to Princeton.
What a great group of kids! Good luck to 'em all!
Can't speak to some of the players on the list, but from what I've seen of Shannon's play, defensively he shuts people down (Hamlin), contained Pederson, several blocks per game and averages 10 rebounds per game in limited minutes in games that Terrace blows teams out. Offensively he is a 3 or 4 but is forced to play at the high post and there is no offense run for him, he doesn't force shots and lets the game come to him. He plays with two guards, Fernandez and Armstead that like to get their shots up, it's impressive that he gets the 10ppg. He is also a highly skilled passer. He doesn't need the limelight, very unselfish and knows what is most important, winning
You can't look at just head to head because while Jackson plays mostly man to man, both stanwood and snohomish play either a zone or a matchup zone so it is completely different (more difficult to score inside-but he still did). Also, you need to consider when someone scored their points in head to head. Look at how Hamlin did against Jackson/Todd...Below his average in the second game and got the majority of his points in the 4th quarter after jackson was already up by 20+.
Also, you are right in saying it's not about the best team it best player, but good players put their team in a position to win by doing more than just score points. Hard to argue that a team with a core of sophomores that lost 2 all league players from last year and won the district championship (again) doesn't have the best player or coach.
The person who said Roberson was "much better than Todd, Shannon, & Fernandez" lost credibility, sorry. Todd is the only soph on here and has the most complete game of any player. Roberson is good but to say he is much better than Todd, I just don't see it. Curious how some of these other guys stack up defensively since several of them play in a zone
I am surprized Marcus Armstead (Terrace) isn't on here.
Zach Pederson has an amazing soft hook shot. He has 20+ points each game. He is given great assists by Jacob Davelaar & Austin Tarvin and those seniors rarely get props. They don't care, it's about the team. Glacier Peak is in it's 4th year as a school and they have been to state 3 times!! GO GRIZZLIES!!
Hoop Knowledge-a team and being part of a team making the playoffs is a great accomplishment esp this year, but for an individual player shouldn't be a make or break. Shannon knows that.
Hey Hallaballa,
Pederson had a great year and congrats to GP for an exciting win against Shorecrest last night and making the regionals. Awesome!
But remember, this is not a popularity contest and who has the best school spirit, who cares about that, this is about what player(s) had the best year leading their respective teams to championships.
For all the others, you could score 30 points a game but if your team doesn't even make the playoffs then it is hard to realistically say your are the best player(s). Not being mean, just speaking the truth in how this works.
Speaking of Amazing players.. Terry Dawn.. This kid "scared" teams/coaches when he had the ball in his hands. Each game was guarded by 1 or 2 of the best defenders, still averaging 22 ppg. and at the minimum 8 rpg, 4 apg. In every game, you could see how hard he was working for his teammates and for the "out-coached". This league has many talented ball players and thanks to all players and coaches for many great games.
One more thing about Shannon and Fernandez. Out of a 32 minute game, Shannon averaged 21 minutes and game and Fernandez a few more because their team was kicking peoples butts so bad, including when they played Snohomish and held Luke to 10 points.
If this is based on stats then lets base it on minutes played versus results and plus/minus stats when a player is on the floor in what they did in those terms.
If they both played as many minutes as Luke, Todd or Pederson their stats would have been very impressive!!
If you shoot 20 times a game you had better score a lot. Just saying....
Going purely off stats then (if you want individual player only), Todd deserves it. Nearly 20 points a game, the 2nd most assists in the group, and 8.5 rebs a game. Also he did this as a sophomore.
Notice this poll is about PLAYER of the year, not team. Luke all the way, SHS>
when it comes down to it, glacier peak has the most school sprit and zach pedersons votes are going to sky rocket as soon as this gets around school. And he's a boss so obviously he's going to OWN these votes.
I'm with Hoop Knowledge. Don't forget, Luke is an amazing player, but he didn't exactly have another scorer (or several in the case of Fernandez and Shannon) on the team. Todd had Kingma, Brown, and others backing him up putting up nearly 10 a game. Props to Luke, and if he wins, it's perfectly deserving. But Fernandez and Shannon and Todd all had the opportunity to share the ball more, thus scoring less points.
p.s. This isn't calling Luke a ball hog, he did what was needed to get his team the win. But So did Fernandez, Todd, and Shannon, just not in the form of scoring.
Let's not forget Cannen Roberson. That kid dominated so many games it wasnt even funny. Much better than Todd, Shannon, and Fernandez. He didn't average as many points though because there were other assets on the team and he trusted he's fellow teammates with that ball. Vote Cannen.
Let's look at head to head match-ups and see what team shut down the leaders scorers when they played each other and who help lead their TEAM to the best record and a championship...
Then it is down to Todd, Shannon and Fernandez and no others.
Love Luke but it is a team game.
Look at the stats. its obvious it should be Luke Hamlin leading points, and up there for the other two.