South takes two All-Star victories

By By Laurence Hilliard / special to The Star
July 19, 2002
CLINTON It was everything an all-star game should be, fast-paced and exciting right to the end, as the South edged the North, 97-94, in Mississippi's annual boys All-Star Basketball Game Thursday night at A.E. Wood Coliseum.
In the end, one of the game's biggest baskets was nailed by a kid from Heidelberg who says he never feels pressure, and acted like he didn't with the game on the line.
By contrast, the girls game was a blowout, with the South winning 78-51 to even their series at 19 wins each.
The boys game was tied at 90 entering the final minute, with the South in control of the ball. South co-coaches Ted Washington of Heidelberg and Jay
Ladner of St. Stanislaus did not call a timeout and did not instruct their team to hold for the final shot. They let them play and were rewarded for the their confidence.
Samuel Richardson of Hinds AHS received a pass 10 feet from the basket and made a turnaround jumper with 44 seconds left that produced the sixth lead change of the final period, putting the South ahead to stay.
After the North missed its chance to tie the score, Richardson rebounded and threw an outlet pass to Derrick Turner of Heidelberg for a dunk that made it a 4-point.
Turner played in three down-to-wire games in the 3A State Tournament at the Mississippi Colisuem this year, a 60-59 win over Amanda Elzy, a 56-54 win over Jefferson County and a 69-61 loss to Corinth in the final, so he should be used to pressure situations.
The tone for the game was set in the first quarter when the teams combined for 11 three-pointers, seven by the South, and they needed every one to end the first period with a 27-25 margin.
The South threatened to blow it open in the second quarter, taking a 46-34 lead. But the North rallied to within seven at the half, 48-41, and within
one, 72-71, after three periods, setting up an exciting ending.
The North refused to die, even after Tunrer's dunk made it 94-90 with 21 seconds left. B.J. Spencer of Starkville followed up a missed shot with a bucket with 15 seconds left to make it 94-92. Two free throws by Bryant Griffith of Picayune with 12.9 seconds left regained the South's 4-point advantage, but Benorist Allen of Ashland cut it two again, 96-94, with 2.4 seconds showing on the clock.
After A.J. Magee of 5A champion Gulfport made one of two free throws with 1.3 second left, the Norths last chance ended when a long inbounds pass was intercepted at the buzzer, giving the South its 32nd win in 48 games.
Griffith led five South players in double figures with a game-high 23
points. Richardson had 18, and Turner, Delvin Thompson of Jefferson County
and MIchael Thomas of Durant a dozen each.
Others players for the South included Timothy Broomfield of Taylorsville,
who scored 3 points, Jessie Jones of Heidleberg with 2 points and Jamaal
Martin of Northeast Lauderdale, who did not score.
Braxton Robins of Tupelo led the North with 17 points, one more than
Spencer.
Girls
South 78
North 51
The only question in the second half of the girls game was whether the South would set a record for the most one-sided victory in the contest's 38-year history. The record, a 34-point margin in the South's 84-50 win in 1980,
was in jeopardy when the South took a 45-18 halftime lead on the strength of
a 28-6 second quarter.
The record was spared due to a five-minute South scoring drought at the
start of the second half that actually allowed the North to get back in
contention at 48-35 late in the third period.
South co-coach William Ingersoll of Lake said. "Veronica Lee (of East
Marion) and Britney Burks (of Scott Central) came in and settled us down."
The South regained control with an 11-2 run to end the third period. KIra
Tillman of Poplarville had 6 points and an assist during the spurt.
The South built its lead to 34 late in the game, but 7 points in the final
three minutes by Shante Stanford of East Side kept the North from suffering
the worst loss ever.
Neither South co-coach Calvin Brown of East Marion nor Jawanda Huggins of West Lauderdale, who scored 10 points for the South, were surprised by the easy win.
He referred to the fact that the players in the North-South Game were passed over for the Mississipp-Alabama All-Star game won by Alabama last month.
Stanford had a game-high 23 points, but she was the only North player in
double figures. By contrast, the South enjoyed the type of balanced scoring
that coaches love. Lacey Palomarez of Enterprise-Lincoln scored 13 points,
Latoria Keyes of West Jones 11, Huggins 10, Tillman and Lenore Gray of
Newton 9 each.