FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. -- Incoming Drake men's basketball recruit Aaron Hawley was named the most valuable player of the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star Week.
Hawley, a 6-foot 7-inch forward who graduated as the all-time leading scorer at Rogers High School, was named the MVP after scoring 11 points, including nine in the second half, to lead the West to a 101-88 victory past the East at Bud Walton Arena Saturday night.
Hawley teamed up with northwest Arkansas standouts Fred Gulley, Cable Hogue, and Coleson Rakestraw - who had all played together as kids on an AAU team - with Dardanelle point guard Kendell Pinkney to lead the West.
That bunch was primarily responsible for turning a three-point halftime lead into a romp to keep the West undefeated during this year's Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star Week.
"It was real fun," said Hawley, who was a two-time Arkansas Class 7A all-state choice. "We've all played together before and it was just fun to get out there and do the same thing again tonight. We play well together and we showed that."
That group played spread out through the West's lineup during the first three periods and began to come together in the second half.
The second half started with an alley oop from Hawley to Fred Gulley (Fayetteville) who will play at Oklahoma State.
"We kind of ran that in practice and right before the inbounds he kind of looked at me and winked at me and I knew what was up," added Hawley who was the leading vote getter on the Arkansas Class 7A all-state team after guiding Rogers to a runner-up finish in the Arkansas state tournament.
Hawley followed with a jumper and Gulley added a three-pointer to push the West lead to 60-52.
Hawley knocked down a three-pointer as time ran out in the fourth period and the East bench yelled "Don't leave him open."
Hogue (Fayetteville) scored to open the fifth period before Hawley hit back-to-back shots and Pinkney knocked down a trey for an 86-75 lead.
Hawley led Rogers to a 24-6 record ? the second best season in school history ? while averaging a team high 17.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
