The Spring Garden Lady Panthers, Sand Rock Wildcats and Piedmont Bulldogs were among the best basketball teams the area had to offer during the 2009-10 season. All three made their way to the state tournament in Birmingham.

Now, several of those teams’ players and coaches have earned top honors from the Alabama Sportswriters Association.

The ASWA released its annual All-State Basketball Team on Sunday. Nine players and one coach earned recognition from the Cherokee County area.

Leading the area selections is a pair of juniors in Spring Garden forward/guard Tara Mullinax and Sand Rock guard Brannon Burt. Both earned first-team selections in their respective classes.

Piedmont boys basketball coach Tommy Lewis was selected the Class 3A Coach of the Year. This season, Piedmont (23-8) made only its fifth state tournament appearance in school history. The other years the Bulldogs made the state tournament were1935, 1936, 1961 and 1971.

Mullinax (5-foot-11) led the Lady Panthers (22-10) by averaging 19.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and an assist per game. She connected on 64 percent of her shots from the floor, helping Spring Garden reach the Class 1A state tournament for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

Meanwhile, Burt (5-9) averaged 16 points, 3.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals for the Wildcats (28-4), who reached the Class 2A state semifinals for the second straight season.

Burt is joined by eighth-grade teammate Riley Norris. The 6-5 forward garnered a second-team selection after averaging 12 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 1.6 assists and 1.4 blocks for the Wildcats.

Cedar Bluff’s Tyric Scales was also a second-team selection on the Class 1A Boys Team. Scales, a 6-3 junior guard, averaged 20.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.2 assists for the Tigers (23-4), who made the Northeast Regional Tournament for the first time in the past 12 seasons. Scales has scored over 1,500 points for his career.

Fellow guard and teammate Marcus Reese garnered an honorable mention on the 1A Team. The 6-1 junior averaged 15.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.7 steals for the Tigers this season.

Cedar Bluff also had an honorable mention on the Class 1A Girls Team in 5-5 senior guard Jessica Brannon. Brannon averaged 16.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.9 steals and1.8 assists for the Lady Tigers (15-12) this season. She’s also scored over 1,500 points for her varsity career.

Piedmont senior guard Matt Craig earned an honorable mention on the Class 3A Boys Team. Craig (5-10) averaged 14 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals for the Bulldogs this season.

On the Class 3A Girls Team, Piedmont 5-9 senior guard Raven Prater also earned an honorable mention. She averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals for the Lady Bulldogs (16-12). For her career, Prater scored 1,386 points and had 530 rebounds.

Cherokee County High School’s Coty Blanchard earned an honorable mention on the Class 4A Boys Team. Blanchard, a 6-1 senior guard, averaged 18 points, four rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists for the Warriors (15-10), who made the Class 4A Northeast Regional Tournament this season.

Blanchard, who’s signed to play both baseball and football at Jacksonville State, scored over 2,000 points in his varsity basketball career.