GoodPlayers: The All-Metro team

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By Times staff | Friday, March 28, 2008 1:21 PM CDT | () comments

Moline’s Isiah Nunn, Davenport Central’s E.J. Hicks, Davenport West’s Lavione West, United Township’s Kannon Burrage, Davenport Central’s L.A. Pomlee(QUAD-CITY TIMES PHOTO ILLUSTRATION) Buy this Photo

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First team

Kannon Burrage, United Township, 6-1, Jr., guard

Came into his own after playing reserve role as sophomore; scored 20.8 points a game and pulled down 5 rebounds a game

“He really made a complete basketball player this year. ... We put pressure on him to be able to do more things than just score. He really bought into it.”

— Steve Yount, United Township coach

E.J. Hicks, Davenport Central, 6-3, Sr., guard

Two-time Player of Year in MAC; Scored 16.7 points a game, averaged 5 rebounds a game; made 47 3-pointers,

“He extended his range and surprised a lot of people and coaching staff as well. ... Some were shots that as a coach you wouldn't recommend a lot of the time, but when you have a player like that it’s tough. ... He pretty much had the green light.”

— Craig Wurdinger, Central coach

Lavione West, Davenport West, 6-6, Sr., forward

Led MAC in scoring and shot 55 percent from field; averaged 18.1 points and 6.5 rebounds a game

“His leadership is invaluable. ... He’s just so versatile. ... We struggled this year and, where some kids really get frustrated and become selfish, he really didn’t.”

— Mark Bigler, West coach

Isiah Nunn, Moline, 6-6, Sr., forward

Broke 32-year-old conference scoring record with 234 points in Big Six; scored 24.6 points a game averaged 8.2 rebounds

“Really made himself into a multi-dimensional player ... Mostly just a guy that had a one-dimensional game at 16 years old; now he’s hard to guard with a guard, hard to guard with a center. It’s tough.”

— Jon Nedelcoff, former Moline coach

L.A. Pomlee, Davenport Central, 6-8, Sr., center

Potential Division I recruit averaged 10.1 rebounds and 15.1 points a game

“His presence was the biggest factor this year. ... Having a player in the middle like him was crucial to this team. ... He came over and intimidated a lot of players in the paint.”

— Craig Wurdinger, Central coach

Second team

Player    School    Ht.    Year    Pos.    Points/game

Hal Bateman    Davenport Central    5-8    Jr.    G    14.3

Repeat pick on second team; school record-holder for single-season assists (154)

Brian Bell    United Township    6-4    Sr.    C    11.9

Iowa Central football recruit; also averaged 6.9 rebounds a game

John Lindstrom    Pleasant Valley    6-3    Jr.    F    15.3

Ranks seventh on team’s all-time scoring list; shot 80 percent from line;

averaged 5.6 rebounds a game

Troy Rorer    Bettendorf    6-1    Sr.    G    9.7

Led Bulldogs in points and rebounding (4.5 a game); also averaged 2.9 steals and 2.5 assists

Jacob Wagg    Muscatine    6-0    Sr.    G    16.0

Led MAC with 45 3-pointers; 78 percent shooter from line

Honorable mention

Pace Bennett, Sr. (Rock Island Alleman); Justin Blondell, Jr. (Moline); Brett Bueker, Sr. (Pleasant Valley); Ben Bush, Sr. (Davenport Assumption); Isiah Cunningham, Sr. (Galesburg); Joe Daniel, So. (Davenport Assumption); Ben Dittmer, Sr. (North Scott); Ryan Duyck, Sr. (Davenport West); Vince Ewald, Sr. (Rock Island Alleman); Sean Finn, So. (Davenport Assumption); Chris Ghess, Jr. (Rock Island); Romaro Houston, Sr. (Davenport Central); Ryan Humlick, Sr. (North Scott); Asa Klein, Sr. (Davenport Assumption); Matt Kraciun, Jr. (Pleasant Valley); Kyle Matheny, Sr. (Clinton); Matt Murphy, Jr. (Clinton); Tom Pettis, Sr. (Davenport Assumption); Chasson Randle, Fr. (Rock Island); Brance Rivera, Sr. (Muscatine); Michael Sampson, Sr. (Bettendorf); Ben Sparkman, Jr. (Rock Island); Ben Stecker, Jr. (Pleasant Valley); Michael Thompson, Sr. (Bettendorf); Seth VanDeest, Jr. (Bettendorf); Caleb Weaver, Jr. (Galesburg); Peter Wessels, Sr. (Bettendorf).