By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

Sometimes these decisions are tough. Sometimes there’s not an easy answer or obvious solution when trying to pick a Player of the Year from a given sport. The boys and girls soccer decisions last year, for example, weren’t easy. And while Jamarius Mayfield had a stellar football season for Shelby County, there were a number of deserving football players who could have vied for that award as well. Sometimes the decisions are tough, and sometimes they simply aren’t.

Austin Wiley and Alex Reese are two of the best players not just across the county, but also across the southeastern United States. The juniors from Spain Park and Pelham, respectively, combined to average over 47 points and 23 rebounds a game. But beyond just raw stats, the two completely alter the fabric of any game they are a part of, and they are the Co-Players of the Year in the county for the 2015-16 season.

Wiley, more of a traditional center than Reese, averaged 21.7 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. Reese, on the other hand, averaged 25.4 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks and a steal per game. Both were absolutely dominant night-in and night-out in the face of constant double and triple teams, and it’s impossible to give this award to just one or the other.

Reese is rated a four-star prospect by nearly every recruiting website, and ESPN.com lists him as the No. 6 prospect in the state of Alabama in the 2017 class, and the No. 26 power forward in the nation in the class as well. Listed at 6-feet-9-inches, the lengthy big man is not a traditional post player. He moves incredibly well for a player of his size, and he can handle the ball in transition and step out on the perimeter and knock down a jump shot as well. He led Pelham to the school’s second-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance, and while he did receive help from the likes of Justin Allison and Seth Torman, it is safe to say without Reese on the court, the Panthers would not have come close to sniffing a regional tournament berth.

Wiley, an Auburn commit as of September of 2015, is a force down low. The junior is ranked the second-best prospect in the state of Alabama in the class of 2017, and the fifth-best center prospect in the country in the 2017 class. A five-star recruit on practically every recruiting website, Wiley played like it all year. Beyond what he was able to do on offense, Wiley’s mere presence was enough to keep just about every opponent out of the paint on the defensive side of the ball. More often than not, when opponents found themselves in the paint against Spain Park, they threw up a hurried, lobbed shot for fear of getting their shot sent into the third row. Whether or not Wiley was in the vicinity did not matter.

In the one meeting this season between Spain Park and Pelham, the Jaguars won by 22 points, although Reese led all scorers with 29. That score is more of a testament to the talent that surrounded Wiley compared to the talent around Reese. Jamal Johnson is one of the best players in the state in his own right, and if he was not on the same team as Wiley most likely would score upwards of 25 to 30 points a game. Justin Brown, who split Co-Player of the Year status with Wiley last year, transferred in to Spain Park for his senior season and was another offensive weapon the Jaguars were able to utilize. Allison was the next-most efficient player for Pelham, and the sophomore averaged a respectable 12.6 points per game.

Reese currently holds 12 Division I offers, and that number will likely increase with another summer on the AAU circuit. Both players will be back in 2016-17 to lead their respective teams, much to the chagrin of every opposing coach.