INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Markus Burton was every bit as proficient winning votes as he was scoring points this season.
The result: Penn’s high-scoring point guard is the runaway winner for this year’s IndyStar Mr. Basketball. The voting panel is comprised of high school coaches and media from around Indiana.
After averaging 30.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.3 steals, Burton received 171 votes to easily outdistance runner-up Xavier Booker of Indianapolis Cathedral, who had 20.
The announcement came Wednesday night at the Indiana High School Sports Awards show on Butler’s campus. Burton was the top vote-getter on The Associated Press’ all-state team.
“I put in so much work going into the season, leading Penn to a 28-2 record,” Burton told The Star. “There is a lot of great talent in Indiana right now and winning Mr. Basketball means you are in that group.”
Burton now heads to nearby Notre Dame after finishing his career ranked 20th in state history with 2,273 career points. He shot 56.7% from the field and 42.4% from the 3-point line.
Ben Davis’ Zane Doughty and Linton-Stockton’s Joey Hart tied for third with six votes each. Heritage Christian’s Myles Colvin, a Purdue signee, had five votes and Valparaiso’s Mason Jones had three.
Burton scored a career-high 47 points in a February win over South Bend Washington on his way to becoming St. Joseph County’s career scoring leader.
“He really did improve in the spring and summer,” coach Al Rhodes said. “He was always an excellent shooter and scorer, but he added a better mid-range game that pretty much made him unstoppable one-on-one. But what amazed me was how he played on both ends. He was our leading rebounder, led us in steals. Nobody does that.”
Burton is the first Mr. Basketball from Penn and the first from the South Bend area since David Magley of South Bend LaSalle in 1978. He’s Indiana’s first Mr. Basketball to play for the Fighting Irish since Luke Zeller of Washington in 2005.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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