Suns’ Stephens receives O’Flaherty Award, first-team all-state honors for second time

QUINCY — An injury kept Danny Stephens from playing in the postseason.

It isn’t keeping him from racking up postseason honors.

The 6-foot-7 senior forward from Southeastern was named as the repeat recipient of the Red O’Flaherty Player of the Year Award as well as a Class 1A first-team all-stater by the Associated Press for the second time after guiding the Suns to another 20-win season before a lower back/hip injury sidelined him for the final five games.

The Red O’Flaherty Award has been given annually by the West Central Officials Association since 1999. Stephens is the third back-to-back winner, joining Southeastern’s Regan Bruenger (2009-10) and West Hancock’s Drake Hammel (2019-20).

Stephens, who has committed to the University of Missouri as a preferred walk-on, averaged 29.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks despite suffering the injury against Steelville in the KHQA/American Family Insurance Superfan Shootout on Feb. 4.

Stephens was a first-team all-state selection for the second consecutive year, garnering the third most votes in Class 1A. As a sophomore, Stephens was an honorable mention all-stater.

In his varsity career, Stephens scored 2,361 points with 818 rebounds.

Camp Point Central guard Nick Moore was an honorable mention all-stater in Class 1A after leading the Panthers to a sectional championship game. Moore, a 6-foot-1 junior, averaged 15 points, 2.5 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals, while shooting 48 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range.