photo by: Photo Provided

John Marshall's Rilee Storm dribbles up the court during the Monarchs' WVSSAC Class AAA state tournament game against Keyser inside the Charleston Coliseum.

When Greenbrier East girls basketball all-staters Kennedy Stewart and Ava Workman have been on the basketball court together, a high rate of success has followed.

Since teaming up for the first time in middle school, the dynamic duo has compiled a record of 99-7 over their five years together.

Naturally, it should come as no surprise that their final game as high school teammates garnered a Class AAA state championship for the Lady Spartans, capping a perfect 27-0 season.

Both players earned a spot on the all-tournament team, with Stewart being named the AAA state tournament Most Valuable Player.

As a result of that impressive title run, Stewart and Workman have been named Class AAA first-team All-State co-captains by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

Both players earned first-team All-State honors last year as well.

“I am really excited and grateful, of course,” Stewart said. “I think it is great that we both can be (captains) because we complement each other so well. We both know we wouldn’t be where we are without each other.”

Workman was a bit overwhelmed by the news.

“That’s insane. That’s crazy,” Workman said. “I am in complete shock right now.”

During her senior campaign, Stewart eclipsed 1,500 career points, while Workman crossed the 1,000-point threshold as a junior this year.

Greenbrier East head coach and U.S. Senator Jim Justice talked about his lethal combo.

“Kennedy is the lifeblood of our team. She gives it everything she’s got all the time. She’s focused and determined, and at the same time she’s always doing something funny. She’s got a great personality, and she’ll be a really great college basketball player,” Justice said. “Ava has really improved big time on her 3-point shot, and she is great at going to the glass. She’s got a lot of speed, a lot of strength and she’s worked really hard. Scoring 1,000 points is a gigantic honor.”

Stewart will continue her basketball career at West Virginia Wesleyan in the fall.

The team that came the closest to derailing the Lady Spartans’ perfect journey was East Fairmont.

The Lady Bees led most of the regular season clash in Fairlea before dropping a 55-48 decision.

Coming into the state tournament as the No. 7 seed, East Fairmont made its way to the championship game with wins over Spring Valley and Nitro, before falling to Greenbrier East 57-51 in a hard fought battle.

Seniors Kailee Hammond (14.8 ppg) and Emma Moore (13.7 ppg) represent the Lady Bees as first-team selections. Hammond was a first-team choice last year as well.

Grafton senior standout Kenna Keener is once again a first-team selection after averaging 21.6 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. Keener also broke the all-time career scoring record for the Bearcats that stood for 60 years.

Seniors Sophi Hutchison from Spring Valley and Rilee Storm from John Marshall were Class AAAA first-team selections in 2024-25.

Both schools moved down to Class AAA this year with both players duplicating their first-team honors.

Storm averaged over 20 points and nine rebounds in her senior season, becoming her programs’ all-time leading scorer late in the year.

Senior Karson Jones from Nitro and junior Bibs Felton from Keyser earned first-team nods as well. Both players led their teams to semifinal appearances at the state tournament.

Felton was a first-team selection as a sophomore and a second-team honoree as a freshman.

Senior Della King from Hampshire rounds out the first-team selections.

Kasey Rogers from East Fairmont was named the second-team captain and was joined by Mackenna McClure from Greenbrier East.

Princeton teammates Addy McCabe and Abbey Honaker are second-team selections, along with the Spring Valley duo of Brooklyn Ellis and Emma Edwards.

Capital’s Nunu Pannell, Nitro’s Bri Gibson, St. Albans’ Triniti Austin-Russell and John Marshall’s Kaylee White are also members of the second-team.

Wooden plaques in the shape of West Virginia that include the player’s name, school, licensed WVSWA logo and year of the honoree are available to all-state first-team, second-team and honorable-mention selections and can be purchased from the Bear Wood Co. through Bearwoodcompany.com.

Class AAA All-State

FIRST TEAM

Ava Workman, Greenbrier East, JR (Co-Captain)

Kennedy Stewart, Greenbrier East, SR (Co-Captain)

Sophi Hutchison, Spring Valley, SR

Karson Jones, Nitro, SR

Bibs Felton, Keyser, JR

Rilee Storm, John Marshall, SR

Kailee Haymond, East Fairmont, SR

Kenna Keener, Grafton, SR

Emma Moore, East Fairmont, SR

Della Knight, Hampshire, SR

SECOND TEAM

Kasey Rogers, East Fairmont, JR (Captain)

Mackenna McClure, Greenbrier East, SR

Nunu Pannell, Capital, SR

Addy McCabe, Princeton, SO

Bri Gibson, Nitro, JR

Triniti Austin-Russell, St. Albans, JR

Abbey Honaker, Princeton, JR

Kaylee White, John Marshall, SR

Brooklyn Ellis, Spring Valley, SR

Emma Edwards, Spring Valley, SO

HONORABLE MENTION

Hannah Fuller, Greenbrier East; Sandy Banton, Greenbrier East; Rooney Urice, Keyser; Austyn Healy, Keyser; Kalyn Reese, John Marshall; Kendal Wickline, Shady Spring; Payten Goodwin, Lewis County; Natalie Rose, Princeton; Kylee Jackson, Princeton; Madison Coffman, Nicholas County; Ayva Veltri, Herbert Hoover; Chevelle Salmons, Lincoln County; Hallie Adkins, Lincoln County; Hannah Miller, Chapmanville; Brooklyn Cawley, Nitro; Lucy Jackson, Spring Valley.