OSKALOOSA — Three Herald-area basketball players were honored as all-staters by the Iowa Newspaper Association on Tuesday.
Pella Christian’s Kyle Nikkel was named to the second team in Class 2A on the front line while Pella’s Nathan Buchheit and Montezuma’s Damon Bryan were third-team, front line selections in Class 3A and 1A respectively.
Named as Mr. Basketball was Ames High School senior Harrison Barnes.
A 6-foot-8, 209-pound senior who is committed to the University of North Carolina, Barnes finished his high school career as Ames’ leading scorer with 1,787 points. The Little Cyclones defeated Southeast Polk on Saturday for the 4A state championship continuing their 2-year undefeated run. Barnes was named MVP of the entire boys’ tournament and captain of the Class 4A all-tournament team.
Barnes is also the all-time leader in rebounds at Ames. He averaged 26.1 points and 10.9 rebounds this year. He was named a McDonald’s All-American, Sporting News Prep Athlete of the Year and the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. He is considered by many analysts to be the top-ranked player in the 2010 class.
Nikkel led the Eagles in scoring at 13.9 points per game and grabbed 9.5 rebounds per contest. He shot 64.6 percent from the fieldand had nine double-doubles this season.
Buchheit led the Little Dutch to a 22-4 record and a runner-up finish at the state tournament, losing to Sioux City Heelan 50-45 in the championship game. He averaged 12.2 points and 4.5 rebound a game this season. He grabbed 117 total rebounds and added 62 assists and 38 steals for Pella.
Bryan averaged a double-double for the 14-10 Braves, scoring 17.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. He also had a team-high 48 blocks, 13 assists and 17 steals.
