SEATTLE — Port Angeles senior Jessica Madison finished her career as the Roughriders’ all-time leading scorer.
Now, she may very well be the first Port Angeles girls basketball player to be named to The Associated Press All-State team two years in a row.
Madison was one of six players selected to the Class 2A All-State first team in voting conducted by sports writers and editors from around the state and announced Thursday.
It was the second straight season she was given all-state recognition, having been voted to the 3A team following her junior year in 2009-10.
“It’s well deserved,” Port Angeles girls basketball coach Mike Knowles said. “She’s worked hard to get to where she’s been and where she is.
“Every year she’s a scorer, she plays good defense and is a team leader.
“Our team would not have got to the point we were this year if we didn’t have her stepping up and playing like she did.”
Neah Bay senior Drexler Doherty was named to the 1B boys All-State first team after finishing second on the Red Devils all-time scoring list at 1,449 points.
The 5-foot-10 guard led his team to the brink of a 1B title this winter with a 31-point performance in the championship game.
Neah Bay eventually lost that game 55-50 to Sunnyside Christian and eventual 1B player of the year Steven Broersma.
The Red Devils’ second-place finish was the highest in school history.
Doherty averaged 22.2 points, 3.0 steals and 2.8 assists his senior year and was named a first-team All-North Olympic League player.
“He was definitely the cornerstone of our team,” Neah Bay head coach Gerrad Brooks said.
“His presence on defense and his offensive ability and also creating shots for others was invaluable.”
Madison also left her mark on the Port Angeles program.
Scoring 1,896 points as a four-year varsity starter, the 5-foot-9 shooting guard surpassed every scorer in the history of Rider basketball, boys or girls.
She was named the Olympic League MVP for the third year in a row after averaging 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals per game as a senior.
She also helped Port Angeles win its first West Central District title since 1999.
Before last season, that was also the last time a Rider girls basketball player (Kelley Berglund) was named to the All-State team.
Madison will play on scholarship for Division II University of Alaska-Anchorage next winter.
“I think she’s got the talents to play there,” Knowles said. “She’s got to get stronger and bigger, and I think that’s one of the things they’ll start working on.
“As she develops stronger and gets more physical in that way, then those talents she already has are going to flourish.”
High-scoring Kentridge guard Gary Bell and Holy Names’ Erika Johnson were voted the state players of the year.
Bell edged out Garfield’s Tony Wrotten Jr., and Gonzaga Prep’s Chris Sarbaugh for state player of the year honors.
Bell averaged 28.5 points and eight rebounds for the Chargers.
Johnson was a near-unanimous selection on the girls’ side after helping Holy Names to the Class 3A title.
The California-bound senior averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds and nearly five assists leading Holy Names to an undefeated season.
Among the boys players repeating on the All-State first teams from a year ago were Kingma, Cody Shackett of Cascade Christian, Concrete’s Tyler Clark, Ben Servatius of Asotin and Broersma.
Repeat honorees on the girls’ side besides Madison were Cooper; West Valley of Spokane’s Shaniqua Nilles, La Salle’s Savannah Bonny and Lynden Christian’s Jasmine Hommes.
