Twenty-four seniors have been selected to represent Alabama in the 22nd annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic at Alabama State University’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome March 16.
The teams were announced Wednesday by Alvin Briggs, Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association (AHSADCA), which sponsors the doubleheader. The girls game will tip off at 5 p.m. and the boys game will follow at 7. The teams report Wednesday, March 14, to the AHSAA Office in Montgomery where a press conference is scheduled for 4 p.m.
The games will be played in Montgomery for the first time after being hosted at Pelham from 2003-2011. The Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Football Game was also played in Montgomery for the first time in December.
Coaches for the Alabama boys squad are Wenonah’s Cedric Lane and Pickens County’s Patrick Plott. Jamie Lee of Decatur is the administrative coach. Lane, who will serve as head coach, led Wenonah (31-7) to its second consecutive Class 5A state championship this season. Plott, who took over as head coach for Pickens County this season, led the Tornadoes (29-5) to their third straight state championship. Pickens County won the 1A title this year and last year and the 2A crown in 2010. Russ Wallace, who coached in last year’s Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game, was head coach for the two previous championships.
Selected to coach the Alabama girls team are Brant Llewellyn of Lauderdale County and Renard Davis of McIntosh. Muscle Shoals’ Brenda Mayes will serve as administrative coach. Llewellyn, who will be the head coach, guided Lauderdale County (33-5) to the 3A title this season – the school’s ninth overall and Llewellyn’s third. Davis guided McIntosh (25-1) to the Class 1A state championship this season, his third crown for the Demons. McIntosh has been in the state finals five times since 2006.
Highlighting the Alabama girls squad are two players who were selected MVPs in last week’s AHSAA Final 48 State Basketball Championships. Jacksonville guard Lacey Buchanon, a Samford commitment, was named MVP in the 4A state tourney, and Hoover’s Nicole Tanner, an Auburn signee, the MVP of the 6A state tourney. Other top players include Purdue signee Hayden Hamby of West Morgan, Tennessee signee Jasmine Jones of Bob Jones, Baylor signee Chardonae Fuqua of Hoover, Southern Miss signee Tiarra Pollnitz of Shades Valley and Alabama signee Jasmine Steele of Midfield.
Five Final 48 MVPs are on the boys roster. DeMarko Hall of Pickens County, a 5-10 guard, was chosen in Class 1A; Takwain Whigham, a 6-5 forward from Barbour County, in Class 2A; Takendrick Britford of Greensboro, a 5-foot-6 guard, in Class 3A; 6-4 Brandon Moss of Midfield in Class 4A; and Carver-Montgomery’s Craig Sword, a 6-3 Mississippi State signee, in Class 6A.
Also set to play for Alabama are Bob Jones’ 6-4 guard Jeffery Moss, a Murray State signee, and Western Carolina signee Rhett Harrelson of Enterprise, a 5-10 guard and one of the top free-throw shooters in AHSAA history.
The Mississippi boys hold an 11-10 edge in the series which began in 1991. The Alabama girls hold the same 11-10 edge.
The complete rosters:
Alabama Girls All-Star Roster
Taylor Adams – Section – Forward - 5-11 - Undecided
Chelsee Black - Bessemer City – Guard - 5-6 - Undecided
Lacey Buchanon – Jacksonville – Guard - 5-1 – Samford
Chardonae Fuqua – Hoover – Forward - 6-0 - Baylor
Hayden Hamby - West Morgan – Guard - 5-6 - Purdue
Jasmine Jones - Bob Jones – Forward - 6-1 - Tennessee
Tierra Jones - Bob Jones – Forward - 5-8 - Tulane
Lydia McGee - Madison Academy – Guard - 5-10 - Samford
Tiarra Pollnitz - Shades Valley – Guard - 5-8 - Southern Miss
Jasmine Steele – Midfield – Guard - 5-1 - Alabama
Nicole Tanner – Hoover – Forward - 6-2 - Auburn
Kendara Watts – Fairfield – Guard - 6-1 - Undecided
Brant Llewellyn - Lauderdale County – Head Coach
Renard Davis – McIntosh - Assistant
Brenda Mayes - Muscle Shoals - Administrative
Alabama Boys All-Star Roster
Tony Armstrong - Carver-Montgomery – Forward - 6-5 - Undecided
Takendrick Britford – Greensboro – Guard - 5-6 - Undecided
Demarco Dansby – Wenonah – Forward - 6-5 - Undecided
Willie Eutsey - Barbour County – Center - 6-6 - Undecided
DeMarko Hall - Pickens County – Guard - 5-10 - Undecided
Rhett Harrelson – Enterprise – Guard - 5-10 - W. Carolina
Keith Middleton – Wenonah – Guard - 5-10 - Undecided
Kerry Mitchell – Selma – Forward - 6-5 - Undecided
Brandon Moss – Midfield – Forward - 6-4 - Undecided
Jeffery Moss - Bob Jones – Guard - 6-4 - Murray State
Craig Sword - Carver-Montgomery – Guard - 6-3 - Miss. State
Takwain Whigham - Barbour County – Forward - 6-5 - Alcorn State (football)
Cedric Lane – Wenonah – Head Coach
Patrick Plott - Pickens County - Assistant
Jamie Lee – Decatur - Administrative
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