Dunklin County's All-State and All-District honorees for Class 1-3

The Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) announced the All-State and All-District honorees for Class 1 through Class 3.

Multiple Dunklin County basketball players and coaches were recognized, including Risco’s Owen Fortner and Sammy Smith. The two Tigers earned Class 1 All-State honors after leading their team to a District title and making a State Quarterfinals appearance.

For Risco head coach Brandon Blankenship, their selection wasn’t a surprise because he knows how hard Fortner and Smith have worked this season.

“They’ve always had ability,” Blankenship said. “They work hard on their game, even outside of the season, not just the two hours or so we spend at practice every day. It takes a lot of individual attention and it really starts with character and work ethic.”

According to Blankenship, the whole foundation of his basketball program at Risco is based on building character.

This motto has granted Blankenship to grab 351 wins with the Tigers during his reign as head coach. He said the wins don’t come from a culture of winning, rather it comes from a culture of building a better all-around person.

“It starts with asking what is your definition of success,” Blankenship said. “Is it just defined by wins and losses? To me, as a coach, my definition should be helping students grow in their character. Making them good citizens and good people, because that’s going to be the foundation of success no matter what they do. If you can hit those things, that work ethic and grit and resilience, all those character traits are the things that will make you successful.”

The Tigers closed out their season only losing three games. Their 27-3 season was one of the best records in school history, which included a 5th place showing at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, a Tri-County Conference regular season and tournament championship and the Class 1 District 1 title.

Fortner and Smith along with junior Eli Rodgers each earned All-District awards as well. Smith would go on to win the Class 1 District 1 Player of the Year.

Through Risco’s success this season, Blankenship was awarded the Class 1 District 1 Coach of the Year.

Even with this award, Blankenship takes none of the credit for himself. He said he was only able to win this award with the hard work and dedication his players put in this year.

“It is nice to be recognized by your peers because the coaches vote on that,” Blankenship said. “Really, at the end of the day, it’s based on your team’s success. It’s how well the players do, so any coaching award I get, I owe to the players. That just means they are responding, buying in and doing the thing they need to do. You’re not going to win a coach of the year award and your team not be successful.”

Along with Blankenship and his Risco team, Campbell head coach Steve Fowler won coach of the year for Class 2 District 1.

He led the Camels to a 21-6 season, the best record since Campbell went 25-4 and won the State title in 2021.

Even though they fell short of their goal, winning another district championship, Steve Fowler had two players earn All-District honors in; Drew Fowler and Layden Kellum.

Kellum is a senior who led the Camels in a lot of different categories. He averaged over 19 points per game, was a top rebounder and a leader in assists.

Drew Fowler, son of Steve Fowler, also averaged 19 points in his junior campaign. He shot the ball right around 40% from the three-point line and 80% in free throws.

“Both of them were very deserving and played a vital part in our team’s success this year,” Steve Fowler said. “They are high-character kids, they work really hard and always try and do things the right way.”

Much like Blankenship, Steve Fowler bases his Coach of the Year award on the success of his players.

The team won their home Campbell Tournament to start the season, got first in the Senath-Hornersville District Tournament and was the Bootheel Conference Regular Season Champions.

Even though they didn’t make it back to the state tournament, he is still proud of how his team played this year and glad they were able to get some recognition with these awards.

“Obviously, it didn’t end the way we want, but you don’t see too many teams have their seasons finish the way they want,” Steve Fowler said. “We finished a little bit too early this year, but we had a great season. The kids worked hard, came in every day and did everything we asked of them. We had a really good year and we have a lot of really good coaches in the Bootheel and in our District and I appreciate that they selected me for this award.”

For the girl's Class 2 District 1 selections, Holcomb’s Alexa Stockton earned the Coach of the Year Award while adding two players to the All-District Team.

After Katelyn Danley graduated, Stockton wasn’t sure how this season would go without their top scorer of the past three years. However, even though no one stepped up to fill her Danely’s shoes as an individual, she noticed the team as a whole step up this season.

As a result, Ava Gurley and Gabi Harmon both earned All-District recognition.

“I was extremely proud to have them recognized this year,” Stockton said. “Especially Ava, because the past two years we haven’t been able to get her on an All-Conference or All-District team, even though she had two really good seasons her freshman and sophomore year. I thought they were both well deserving, they both had really good seasons and were both a huge part of any success we had this year.”

The Holcomb Hornets received a Bye in the first round of Districts as the No. 2 seed. However, while missing a key part of their offense from an injured Chloe Hendrix, they would end up falling to No. 3 South Pemiscot.

Still, Stockton managed to battle through a rough start in the first half of the season to gain the No. 2 seed and the Coach of the Year award.

“I was happy and super exciting for me,” Stockton said. “Obviously, I didn’t expect that at all. There were a couple of coaches that were probably more deserving. Personally, I thought Tye Miller would get it because he did such a fantastic job with the Malden girls. Robert Farmer also did a great job over the year with the South Pemiscot group, but I was super grateful to get that.”

Tye Miller, in his first year as head coach, took the Green Wave to their first District title in 40 years as they finished with a 17-9 record. He was still able to get four of his players on the All-District team.

The full list of All-District and All-State selections from the Dunklin County area can be found below.

Each coach is excited to return members of these All-District teams next season and continue growing their respective basketball programs.

Blankenship knows his Risco program is going to take a hit, but for him, the mission doesn’t change.

“We are losing six seniors,” Blankenship said. “This has been a great senior class and they have had a lot of success. We’re definitely going to miss them and their leadership, they are all great kids, but we are excited for sure for what we have coming back. If people think the Risco Tigers are going to be down, they should think again.”

All-State Class 1

Owen Fortner, Risco

Sammy Smith, Risco

All-District Class 1 District 1

Caleb Redden, Clarkton

C.J. Wallace, Delta C-7

Drake Montgomery, Gideon

Jacob Plunkett, Gideon

Owen Fortner, Risco

Eli Rodgers, Risco

Sammy Smith, Risco

Braylan Cox, Southland

Trace Gibson, Southland

Player of the Year: Sammy Smith, Risco

Coach of the Year: Brandon Blankenship, Risco

All-District Class 2 District 1

Drew Fowler, Campbell

Layden Kellum, Campbell

Zion Bell, Malden

Adyn “Spencer” Goff, Senath-Honrersville

Jamarious White, Senath-Hornersville

Coach of the Year: Steve Fowler, Campbell

Gabbie Townsend, Campbell

Ava Gurley, Holcomb

Gabi Harmon, Holcomb

Carsyn Cohen, Malden

Hestania Jackson, Malden

Mariah Loya, Malden

Mynena Thornton, Malden

Halle Jamerson, Senath-Hornersville

Coach of the Year: Alexa Stockton, Holcomb

Note: This list only depicts athletes and coaches from the Delta Dunklin Democrat coverage area, not the entire list of All-State and All-District selections.