New Bloomfield senior guard Aaron Bedsworth - who helped spark the Wildcats' surprising run to a fourth-place finish in Class 2 - was a first-team pick on the area media's 2010-11 all-district boys' and girls' basketball teams.
Bedsworth was one of nine Callaway County players to receive all-district acclaim from mid-Missouri members of the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. New Bloomfield head coach Tyler Clark was named the Class 2 boys' district coach of the year.
Joining Bedsworth on the Class 2 boys' squad from the Wildcats were a pair of senior teammates, forward Daniel Berry and guard Kolby O'Dowd. Berry and O'Dowd were both second-team choices.
Making the Class 4 boys' and girls' first teams from Fulton were senior guard Anthony Porter and junior guard Corri Hamilton, respectively.
South Callaway senior guard Will Brandt was selected to the Class 3 boys' first team, while his backcourt mate - senior Bryan Lechner - was a second-team choice. North Callaway senior guard Andrew Attebery was also a second-team pick.
On the Class 3 girls' squad, North Callaway senior forward Morgan Brown Emmons was a second-team selection.
The 6-foot Bedsworth - a first-team all-Show-Me Conference choice - averaged a team-high 17.1 points and 4.2 rebounds this season for New Bloomfield. The 5-9 O'Dowd, a second-team all-Show-Me pick, averaged 10.9 points and 2.5 rebounds. Despite missing nine games in the second half of the season because of an ankle injury, the 6-2 Berry averaged 11.3 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds.
In his first season at New Bloomfield, Clark directed the Wildcats to a 13-18 record punctuated by their improbable but remarkable appearance in the Final Four. A fifth seed, New Bloomfield knocked off three of the top four seeds to capture a district title, then toppled Canton in sectional play and Salibury - ranked No. 2 in the state and 27-1 at the time - in the quarterfinals.
Making their first trip to the Final Four since finishing fourth in Class 1A in 1995, the Wildcats bowed to eventual state champion Crane 68-49 in the semifinals March 17 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. New Bloomfield then fell to Wellington-Napoleon 90-67 in the third-place game March 18 at Mizzou Arena.
The 5-8 Porter averaged 13.0 points this season as the Hornets ended at 12-12, while the 5-9 Hamilton averaged 16.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals for the 9-16 Lady Hornets. Porter and Hamilton were both first-team all-North Central Missouri Conference choices.
The 6-4 Brandt - a first-team all-Mid-Missouri Conference selection - averaged 18.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.9 steals as the Bulldogs finished with a 15-11 record. The 6-2 Lechner, a second-team all-MMC pick, averaged 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
The 6-3 Attebery - a first-team all-MMC choice - averaged 12.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals as the Thunderbirds went 5-18 this season. The 5-8 Brown Emmons, a second-team all-MMC selection, averaged 10.0 points and 6.6 points for a Ladybirds squad that compiled an 8-15 record.