By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Last week we highlighted the Southern Hills Athletic Conference All-Conference Girls Basketball Team, this week we feature the Boys Basketball All-Conference honorees. Eighteen young men from the conference received All-SHAC honors, seven of them coming from our four Adams County Schools, led by three members of the Division VI district champion Peebles Indians.
The All-Conference Teams are chosen by the coaches and Peebles earned their three spots, going to senior Paxton Ryan, junior Josh McClary and sophomore Bo Johnson. Ryan was the emotional leader of the 20-4 Indians while averaging 9.5 points a game, with a season-high of 23 in a one-point loss to Eastern Brown. Ryan also garnered 2.5 rebounds per contest, along with 1.5 assists, 1.6 steals and dropped in 29 three-point goals.
Sophomore Bo Johnson was the Indians’ leading scorer for the 2025-26 campaign, putting up 16 points a game, fifth in the conference, with his season high of 26 coming in a win over Ross County Christian. Johnson pulled in 2.6 rebounds from his point guard position, as well as shooting 57% from the field and 79.2% from the foul line. Johnson shot 43.6% from beyond the arc, draining 41 total three-point goals.
The third member of the Peebles on the All-SHAC squad is junior Josh McClary. McClary averaged 14.8 points per outing, his high being 23 in a win over Manchester.McClary grabbed 3.9 rebounds per game, 2.2 assists and was second in the conference with 2.3 steals a game. McClary shot 75% from the charity stripe and 40% from three-point land, r4 made on the season.
Two members of the 13-10 North Adams green Devils earned All-Conference recognition- sophomore Carson Davis and junior Jesse Kennedy. Davis blossomed in his second varsity season, averaging 14,1 points a game to lead the Green Devils in that category. He also pulled in 6.7 rebounds per game, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals. His game high in scoring was a 29-point effort in a win over Manchester.
Kennedy averaged 12,4 points a game with a high of 35 in a win over Ripley. The junior guard grabbed 2.7 rebounds a game, 2.3 assists and fired in 56 three-point goals.
From 9-13 Manchester High School, senior Parker Hayslip was named to the All-SHAC squad in a season that saw him reach the coveted 1,000 point mark for his career and hit a season-high of 34 in a win over Whiteoak. Hayslip was second in the conference in scoring at 19.3 points again, just .5 points a game away from the top spot occupied by Fairfield’s Brody Smith. Hayslip was first in the SHAC with 3.5 steals per game, third with 4.5 assists and also pulled in 4.8 rebounds a game. The Greyhound senior shot 80.7% from the free throw strip and was deadly from three-point land, drilling 53 triples.
Finally, from 3-19 West Union, senior guard Tegan Knox earned a spot on the All-Conference Team. In a senior season marred by injuries, Knox scored 10.1 points game along with 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists. The lefty also drained 22 three-pointers and had high game of 20 points against New Boston.
The remainder of the 2025-26 SHAC Boys All-Conference Team includes: Sawyer Blair and Brady Brandenburg (Whiteoak); Denver Clinton (Lynchburg-Clay); Charlie Coffman and Brody Feldhaus (Fayetteville); Matthew Dick, Chase Pinkerton and Braxton Vance (Eastern Brown); Griffin Friend, Quintin McIntosh and Brody Smith (Fairfield).
The SHAC Coach of the Year is Fayetteville’s Joe B. Stewart, who led the Rockets to an 11-2 conference record, champions of the small school division.
All of the SHAC All-Conference teams for winter sports will be honored this Sunday, March 29 at Eastern Brown High School. beginning at 2 p.m.
2025-26 SHAC Boys Basketball Final Standings
Division I (Big School)
Eastern Brown 12-1
North Adams 7-6
Lynchburg-Clay 5-8
West Union 2-11
Ripley 0-13
Division II (Small School)
Fayetteville 11-2
Fairfield 10-3
Peebles 10-3
Manchester 4-9
Whiteoak 4-9
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