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DeGraffenreid is named to AP all-state basketball team
Smoky Mountain junior point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid has been named to the Associated Press All-State first team for women’s basketball.
DeGraffenreid averaged 31.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.4 steals and 5.2 assists while leading the Lady Mustangs to the Western Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles and the sectional championship. SM finished second in the Western Regionals with a school-best 28-1 record.
“Just knowing that the team got to go down state and people were able to see us feels great,” DeGraffenreid said. “This puts our name out there”
Smoky Mountain’s Cetera DeGraffenreid goes past an East Rutherford defender in the sectional championship game last month. DeGraffenreid has been named to the Associated Press All-State first team. – Photo by Mark Haskett
“I’m very excited for her,” Coach Cindi Simmons said. “She’s very deserving. She’s always focused more on team goals than individual goals. It’s special to receive such recognition from a statewide panel. Not only does it speak well for her but also for our team.”
For the third straight year, DeGraffenreid set a school season scoring record. She finished the year with 918 points and a school record 2,358 for her career.
Other honors claimed by DeGraffenreid this season include WAC player of the year, most valuable player of the WAC Tournament and a spot on the All-Western Regional team.
She is within striking distance of the all-time Western North Carolina career scoring record of 2,581 held by Rosman’s Ashton Barton.
Looming farther down the road is the state career record of 3,225 points held by Clinton’s Danyel Parker.
In typical DeGraffenreid fashion, she said a state championship is her goal for next year rather than the possibility of individual honors.
DeGraffenreid will be busy this spring and summer playing for Team Nike, an all-state squad based in Tennessee. In addition, she has been invited to the Nike Academy in Oregon.
DeGraffenreid will also be narrowing down her college choices. She is being recruited by schools from across the nation including virtually all members of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference.
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