Izard County Player of the Year looks to next season

There wasn’t much that Andrew Walker didn’t do this past season for Izard County, but try telling that to the Cougars’ sharp-shooting guard.

Walker, a 6-2, 165-pound guard, averaged 22 points, five rebounds and four assists per game for an Izard County Consolidated team that finished 32-10. But Walker believes that he and the Cougars left a lot to be desired after having their season end unceremoniously in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament.

“We can always do better,” Walker said. “We expected to make it far in the tournament, but we came up a little short.”

Walker’s season, though, was anything but short for Izard County, which is why the junior was chosen as the Three Rivers Edition Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“Andrew played big for us all season,” Izard County coach Kyle McCandlis said. “The thing about it was that he knew teams would throw their best defensive player at him every night. But Andrew doesn’t buckle at all.

“He went out there night in, night out and delivered. He did everything we asked of him, and more.”

Walker was indeed the focal point for Izard County, but McCandlis said Walker never shied from that responsibility. In fact, the coach is convinced that the more the teams keyed in on Walker, the more he welcomed the challenge.

“His maturity level from last year to this year was a huge difference in the way he played,” McCandlis said. “Teams guarded him hard, and he knew that would be the case going into the season. Our team had a little bit of youth to it, but we also had some experience.

“But Andrew knew what his role would be for us, and so did other teams.”

McCandlis knows a thing or two about being a team’s go-to guy. The second-year coach was a standout guard on Izard County’s 2008 state-championship team, earning all-state honors and eventually playing in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association’s all-star basketball game. McCandlis went on to play basketball at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge before earning a bachelor’s degree at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro.

At the rate of Walker’s ascension, similar honors may be well on the way for him.

He was named first-team, all-conference by the coaches and earned all-state accolades. Walker was also selected to the all-state-tournament team.

Walker turned in several noteworthy performances throughout the season for the Cougars, who earned a berth in the state tournament for the second consecutive season. He was the catalyst in helping Izard County win the 1A-2 North regular-season title after scoring 22 points in a championship-clinching, 55-44 victory over Viola in late January. That outing came on the heels of Walker’s 28-point effort in the Cougars’ 51-46 victory over Melbourne in the finals of the Izard County Invitational. Walker followed that up with impressive showings during the district tournament, scoring a game-high 20 points to help the Cougars beat Norfork 50-48 in the title game.

The victory was Izard County’s third of the year over its league rival.

“Andrew gets to the hole effortlessly,” McCandlis said. “He does a good job of absorbing contact and finishing, which is why he got a lot of and-ones this year. When he gets going, he’s pretty tough to stop.”

Walker, who also had a 38-point game, did experience a few off nights — just not many. He scored just three points in a 45-14 loss to eventual state champ Bay in the Class 1A-Region 2 championship.

“Whenever he hits that first jump shot, you pretty much knew he was going to have a good night,” McCandlis said. “If that happened, it was going to be pretty tough to stop him. Whenever teams would pack it in and make it hard for him to get inside, that’s when he struggled.

“But Andrew is a smart player. Some nights his shots just weren’t there, so he found other ways to contribute.”

The Cougars would ultimately lose to Western Grove 54-43 in the opening round of the state tournament, a loss that Walker admitted stung a bit. But the setback may have done the Cougars some good because it’s sure to motivate their star player to come back even better next season.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a much better finish,” said Walker, who also runs track. “We were conference champs, district champs and region runners-up. We actually had a good year, just came up short at the end.

“But we can get better. For me, I think I need to work on my outside shot a little more. But I’m looking forward to next year.”

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