Seniors hit the court tonight for one more game

PARK HILLS — High school basketball wound up its season with the last of state championship games played on March 19, but for forty of the best senior players in the MAAA Conference, there’s still one more game to play.

Tonight, as a special honor to those seniors, the Daily Journal will be holding a pair of MAAA All-Star Games at Mineral Area College’s Bob Sechrest, Sr. Fieldhouse where those seniors will be able to exhibit their special talents one more time for area basketball fans.

Seniors from all 12 of the MAAA schools will be represented in tonight’s games. To make up the teams for the games, the conference was divided into two halves, North and South, with the dividing line running just south of Highway 8 which places three small-school and three large school teams in both halves.

Seniors from all of the 12 schools were voted on by area sportscasters and broadcasters with the top 10 receiving an invite to play on their respective team. Coaches for each team were selected by their conference record.

 The only change in MSHSAA rules will be 10 minute quarters, instead of eight, to give all the players plenty of playing time.

Players and coaches for the girls game are:

North Team — Rilea Huff – North County, Ashley Dane – West County, Casey Bourbon – Potosi, Megan Thebeau – Kingston, Haylie Reynolds – Valle, Ashley Thompson – Potosi, Laura Rhodes – Ste. Genevieve, Emilee Dicus – Potosi, Gwendolyn Dallas – Ste. Genevieve, Kelsey Fitzwater – Potosi, Head Coach Chris Brewer – West County, Assistant Coach Mark Vogt – Ste. Genevieve.

South Team — Haley Stevens – Fredericktown, Erin Littrell – Farmington, Alisha Kell – Valley, LoraBeth Ward – Valley, Morgan Ankrom – Farmington, Erin Ste. Gemme – Central, Kelly Petersen – Farmington, Taylor Fields – Central, Tayhlor Milfeld – Farmington, Brittany Gladbach – Farmington, Head Coach Steve McFarland – Farmington, Assistant Coach Katie Taylor-Martinez – Bismarck.

Players and coaches for the boys game are:

North Team — Garrett Koch – Valle, Aaron Ross – Kingston, Cole Holbert – West County, Kevin Bach – Potosi, Ty Tedder – North County, Trevor Billings – Ste. Genevieve, Kyle Ross – West County, Devin Hampton – Potosi, Spencer Tiefenauer – North County, Dylan Eye – Potosi, Head Coach Dustin Wengert – Valle, Assistant Coach Chris Foster – North County.

South Team – Donovan Jones – Central, Codee Stamp – Fredericktown, Jeff Jarvis – Bismarck, Caleb Sutton – Arcadia Valley, Aaron Tyree – Central, Tim Anderson – Farmington, Brian Little – Arcadia Valley, Tanner Skaggs – Central, Garrett Adams – Arcadia Valley, Head Coach Brett Hale – Farmington, Assistant Coach Zach Mills – Central.

The girls game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. with the boys game to follow at approximately 8 p.m. The doors will open at 5 p.m. Admission is $3 per person, or $5 for two with children 5 and under free. All proceeds from the games after expenses will be donated to Mineral Area College’s sports program.

Music during beaks in the game will be provided by MAC’s Music Man Roy Henson. The official scorekeeper will be Michelle Lawson with Jeff Lawson keeping the scoreboard, and Daily Journal’s Matt King will be the game’s announcer. Central senior, and a player on the girls South Team, Taylor Fields will sing the National Anthem prior to the start of the girls game.