All-Wright County boys basketball selections

The Wright County Journal has officially released its list of All-Wright County boys basketball selections for the 2024-2025 season.
End of the year statistics were submitted by all eight basketball programs (boys and girls teams) in the county. Statistics do help the Wright County Journal in making the selections, but intangibles of the players are also considered along with a player’s defensive efforts.
Boys Basketball
There were co-MVPs selected among Wright County’s boys basketball teams this season.
Leading the way was Mountain Grove’s Kale Gardner, whose breakout sophomore season lifted the Panthers as co-champions of the South Central Association (SCA) Conference.
Gardner averaged an astounding 19.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting around 50% from the field. He also added 3.5 steals and 2.2 assists per contest.
Joining him as a Co-MVP is Hartville’s Payton Cogdill, who helped the Eagles win another district championship with his game-winning shot against Norwood.
He averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per contests. He also had 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals and nearly average one block per game this past season.
Payton Cogdill was the senior leader who capped off his career with another district crown, one year after playing a vital role in his team winning a state championship.
Norwood’s Cooper Vaughan is a first-team, All-Wright County selection as he led the Pirates to a 24-3 season. His squad also finished an undefeated run through the always tough Summit Conference.
Vaughan averaged 15.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He shot around 56% from the field and played a key role defensively with 90 steals on the season.
His teammate, Peyton McDaris, is also a first-team, All-Wright County selection.
McDaris’ quickness helped him average 12.0 points, 4.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds per contest.
The final first-team, All-Wright County selection was Mansfield’s Blake Henry.
Henry averaged a double-double for the Lions with 11 points and 11 rebounds per contest. He also added 2.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game as his team fed off his energy throughout the 2024-25 campaign.
The full list of selections include:
First Team
Kale Gardner (Mountain Grove) * Co-MVP
Payton Cogdill (Hartville) * Co-MVP
Cooper Vaughan (Norwood)
Peyton McDaris (Norwood)
Blake Henry (Mansfield

Second Team
Mason Cogdill (Hartville)
Boone Garrison (Hartville)
Sam Peterson (Mountain Grove)
Jace Headrick (Mansfield)
Noah Drake (Norwood)

Honorable Mention
Jackson Ward (Hartville)
Aden Estep (Mountain Grove)
Brody Emery (Mountain Grove)
Haven Proetz (Mansfield)
Riley Stidham (Mansfield)
Carder Kelly (Norwood)