Hilliard, Cannon, Abdur-Rahkman, Fortune earn all-state honors

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Liberty's Darrun Hilliard (seen below) has repeated as a Class 4A all-state first team selection. The Associated Press just released the list of honorees late Monday afternoon.

I participated in a statewide conference call of writers last week to help select the team.

Hilliard is The Morning Call's co-player of the after averaging 19.7 points per game.

Showing no letup after committing to a full scholarship offer from Villanova in August, Hilliard registered 573 points. He also had 181 rebounds, 82 assists, 44 steals and 54 3-pointers. He shot 55.3 percent from the field, 75 percent from the line.

Allen senior Jalen Cannon, who shared Morning Call player of the year honors with Hilliard, made the 4A's second team.

Cannon, who, like Hilliard is listed at 6-foot-5, compiled 550 points and 289 rebounds, averaging 19.6 and 10.3 per game. Cannon is headed to St. Francis of Brooklyn.

Central Catholic's Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman became the first freshman from the area to receive all-state honors.

Abdur-Rahkman was a second-team selection in Class 3A.

He averaged 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists per game for the team that won the District 11 3A title. He had 27 3-pointers, 28 steals and 15 blocks.

Pocono Mountain West's Tynell Fortune was a Class 4A third team selection.

Fortune averaged 20 points, 4.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He has accepted an offer from California of Pennsylvania.

As for the rest of the rest of the top honorees at the 4A and 3A level, here's the Associated Press story:

The Philadelphia region rules Pennsylvania high school basketball.

Athletes from Philly-area schools swept player-of-the-year awards Monday in all four classifications more than a week after Philly-area teams swept all four PIAA titles at Penn State's Jordan Center.

Overall, Philadelphia-area players claimed 35 of the 80 spots available, stamping an indelible imprint on the 2010-11 all-state boys' basketball team selected by a panel of Pennsylvania sports writers.

Chester (AAAA), Neumann-Goretti (AAA), Imhotep Charter (AA) and Math, Civics & Sciences (A) claimed the four championships contested by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, but players from non-PIAA schools also were eligible for selection.

Plymouth-Whitemarsh's Jaylen Bond, a 6-7 senior forward who averaged 19.0 points per game for a Colonials club that lost to Chester in the state semifinals, was named Class AAAA player of the year. He is the second consecutive P-W player so honored, following C.J. Aiken.

A first-team all-state selection for the second consecutive year, Bond recently declared his intentions toDarrun attend prep school. He previously committed to the University of Pittsburgh.

Bond was rejoined on the first team by Penn Wood senior Aaron Brown and senior Darrun Hilliard of Bethlehem's Liberty High School. Other first-team selections included York senior Kelvin Parker, junior Ryan Arcidiacono of Neshaminy and Central Dauphin junior Devin Thomas.

Larry Yarbray, who piloted Chester (31-1) to its record-tying seventh state championship, was named Class AAAA coach of the year.

Juan'ya Green of Radnor Archbishop Carroll, a 6-3 senior guard ticketed for Niagara University, was named Class AAA player of the year. Green, a first-team choice last year and a third-team selection in 2009 as a sophomore, averaged nearly 21 points per game.

Neumann-Goretti senior Lamin Fulton, South Fayette senior Mike Lamberti, Highlands junior Micah Mason, Eastern York senior Andrew Nicholas and senior Jerrell Wright of Philadelphia's Dobbins Tech were Class AAA's other first-team selections.

Montour's Adam Kaufman, who directed the Spartans (23-8) to the state championship game, was tagged Class AAA coach of the year.

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