Even the biggest of shoehorns couldn't squeeze all the belonging candidates into The Monroe Times All-Area first team in boys basketball.

Aside from the runaway first-teamers like Times Player of the Year Mitch Tordoff and Joey Hartwig, the do-it-all 6-4 forward from South Wayne, perhaps only the incomparable Tony Cates was the only other "lock" to make the first team.

Despite writing the book on point guard play during his tenure as a Monticello Pony, even senior D.J. McGowan had to be looking over his shoulder for the few outstanding guards that narrowly missed the top list.

Monroe boys coach Pat Murphy has been calling Tordoff one of the best point guards around for a while and his upward curve only continued this past year. Appropriately running an offense that mirrors the ball-control ethics of the Wisconsin Badgers, Tordoff was deadly from the arc when it was needed, but most notably made his teammates even better. The junior floor general diagnosed defenses with incredible acumen and left it on the floor on the defensive end as well in leading his Cheesemakers to the state tournament semifinals.

Even though it has a lot to do with the Monroe senior missing significant time this past season, there's no more glaring evidence that it was a banner season locally than Brett Stangel showing up on the second team.

But the Stinger even has great company on that list with Argyle's prototypical point guard Andy Bohlman and, another near-miss for first-team recognition, Black Hawk senior Alex Abraham, leading the way for the guards.

The Eastern half of the Six Rivers was deeper than it's been in recent memory ,and Michael Place emerged as a force alongside Hartwig as a junior. While Monticello gave the Warriors their only league loss, the Panthers of Juda gave the Warriors all they could handle behind inspired play by the dynamic duo of Kurtis Mansfield and Beau Benner.

Darlington senior Mitchell Erickson was a portrait of consistency for Mike Hopkins' Redbirds and the standard he's set will most certainly be carried into the new era by his kid brother, Alex, who broke out as a freshman point guard and wasn't far off Bryan Tordoff's pace in the Freshman of the Year voting.

It's hard to imagine the decision-making process being this difficult next season but, if it is, it will only mean one thing - local hoops enthusiasts once again will get more than their money's worth when they brave the elements to catch a game.

- Christopher Heimerman is sports editor of The Monroe Times. He can be reached at sportseditor@themonroetimes.com.