Smith, Wetmore named state players of year

Burly Kentwood center Joshua Smith and shifty Auburn Riverside guard Mercedes Wetmore were named the 2010 Associated Press Washington prep basketball players of the year Thursday.

The winners are chosen by sports editors and writers around the state.

Smith missed part of the season while recovering from a torn patellar tendon. When he got on the floor, his talent was impossible to ignore. The 6-foot-9 center is bound for UCLA next year.

Wetmore concluded her career as one of the most successful players in recent history. She led the Ravens to three state championships and won 104 games in her career at Auburn Riverside.

Wetmore will play next year at Washington.

Three players: Colfax's Kayla Johnson, Colton's Kelsey Moser and Chelan's Joe Harris were repeat honorees as players of the year in their respective classes.

Wetmore concluded her stellar career helping the Ravens to a 56-52 overtime victory over Mead in the Class 4A title game last month. The Ravens ended the season at 29-0 with Wetmore being named the Gatorade state player of the year and the Class 4A state tournament MVP. She concluded her four-year run at AR with a 104-14 record.

Smith led the Conquerers to the Class 4A title with a victory over Jackson in the title game. It was during the state tournament that Smith showed off all of his talent, averaging 23.2 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. Smith also played in the McDonald's All-American game on Wednesday night at Ohio State's Value City Arena and scored 10 points in the West's victory.

Both Wetmore and Smith were honored as the Class 4A players of the year as well. Joining Smith on the Class 4A first-team is Jackson sharpshooter Brent Kingma, Walla Walla's Gary Winston, Federal Way's Cole Dickerson and Ryan Nicholas of Gonzaga Prep.

Along with Wetmore, the Class 4A first-team included teammate Kat Cooper, Pasco's Danielle Walter, Mead's Jazmine Redmon and Kentwood's Kylie Huerta.

In Class 3A, Lakes' star Andre Winston Jr., and Enumclaw's Riley Carel shared state player of the year honors. Ephrata's scoring machine Patrick Simon, headed to Washington State, was named the Class 2A player of the year, while the Virginia-bound Harris was the Class 1A player of the year for a second straight season. Harris was also named the Gatorade state player of the year.

Hank Robinson of state champion Pe Ell was the 2B player of the year, while Cody Flett from Wellpinit was voted the 1A player of the year.

On the girls side, junior Cheyenne Wilson was voted the 3A player of the year after helping Cleveland's run to a surprising state title. Prosser junior Tamara Jones was voted the 2A player of the year, while Korina Baker of Freeman was honored in Class 1A after helping the Scotties to the state title where she was voted the tournament MVP.

Johnson of state champion Colfax was the 2B player of the year for a second consecutive year, while Moser shared the award in 2009 and took it herself this year after helping Colton to the 1B championship.