Northwest basketball standouts picked for East-West All-Stars

By: Mason Linker | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: June 12, 2008

Three boys basketball players from Northwest N.C. schools, including two from Forsyth County, have accepted invitations to play in the East-West All-Star basketball game next month at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Kendall Smith, a 6-8 forward from Glenn, and Marcus Wright, a 6-1 point guard from Winston-Salem Prep, will join Victor Davila of Starmount on the West squad when the game is played July 21.

The East squad will feature Ty Walker, a 7-1 center from Wilmington New Hanover who has signed with Wake Forest and Justin Watts, a 6-5 guard from Durham Jordan who has signed with North Carolina, as well as two players -- Michael Bonner and LaMar Monger -- who have signed with Winston-Salem State.

Davila, a 6-9 center who has signed with Virginia Tech, won the Winston-Salem Journal's Frank Spencer Award as the top boys basketball player in Northwest N.C. in each of the past two seasons. He averaged 20 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6 blocked shots a game last season.

Smith averaged 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds for Glenn last season, and he led his team to the Class 3-A Western Regional final. Smith turned down a basketball scholarship to UNC Asheville after winning an academic scholarship to attend N.C. State, where he plans to walk on to the basketball team, according to Lee Reavis, his high-school coach.

Wright was a four-year starter for W-S Prep and this spring helped lead the team to the Class 1-A championship. Wright, who has signed with Appalachian State, averaged 21.3 points and 5.1 assists last season.

Walker, who set the state record for blocked shots in a season (235) and career (543) was The Associated Press' co-player of the year along with Bo Ingram of Kinston, a 6-5 guard who will also play on the East team.

Joining those two on the East team will be the two Winston-Salem State signees. Bonner is a 6-5 forward from Perquimans High who averaged 16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season and was the Albemarle 1-A Conference player of the year. Monger, a 6-0 point guard from Hertford County, was a three-time All-Northeastern Coastal 3-A Conference player.

The West leads the all-time series 30-29.

■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.