Three local high school basketball players have received the highest honor in the state for a hoops star, as Winfield-Mount Union’s Cam Buffington, Keota’s Sawyer Stout and Highland’s Sarah Burton have all been voted all-state in Class 1A by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association.
Buffington is the lone first-team selection after a dominant final season where he was named the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Player of the Year. The WMU senior averaged nearly 19 points, seven-and-a-half rebounds and three-and-a-half assists per game during a 21-win season.
Buffington helped the Wolves go undefeated in Super Conference North play on their way to a conference championship and their first trip to the state tournament since 1996, where they reached the Class 1A semis and Buffington earned all-tournament honors.
The other Super Conference North Player of the Year also makes all-state in girls’ basketball. In her final season at Highland, Burton earns a second straight second-team selection after posting almost 16 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two-and-a-half blocked shots per contest in helping the Huskies go 14-7.
Stout makes the 1A boys’ second team after piling up just under 21 points a game in his senior season at Keota. The Eagles reached the number-six ranking in the state and won a South Iowa Cedar League title, going 23-0 before losing in the District 11 finals.