Trinity  Valley Cardinal coach Kris Baumann wanted to bring an all-star basketball game to Henderson County to showcase the area talent.

On Saturday, the inaugural Valley All-Star basketball game brought 21 of the top players from the Henderson County area to Cardinal Gym.

  “We will combine a girls game with the boys game in the future,” Baumann said. “With the Lady Cardinals making a deep run in the national tournament, we were unable to get started early with that game.”

  When the final horn sounded, TVCC assistant coach Mark Leslie’s White team defeated Coach Carlos Briggs’ Red team, 110-91, on Leon Spencer Court.

  “I thought the kids really enjoyed themselves and we had tremendous support from the community,” Baumann said. “I think it was good for us to put an all-star game together for the local seniors.”

  Representing the White team were Jacorey Williams from LaPoynor, Jared Givens from?Malakoff, Matt Snider and T.J. McVey from Trinidad, Hunter Conway from?Martin’s Mill, Kynden Crist and Courtland Lyons from Athens, Chris Givens from?Brownsboro and Marcus Dowell from Malakoff. Cayuga’s Jacob Grasck and Mabank’s Dalton Burleson played in the game.

  Representing the Red team were Will Bailey from Brownsboro, Athens senior Nikell Roberts, Cayuga’s Colton Hearell, Malakoff’s Kendrick Hornbuckle, Neches Serge Kanetzky and LaPoynor’s Colton Clair. Cross Roads Randy Flowers, Trinidad’s Chris Bannister and Marcus Jaquez and Martins Mill’s Dylan Weatherford played in the game.

  “We contacted all of the coaches and asked them to nominate the kids who they thought were good enough players,” Baumann said. “I thought it was a great event with the seniors showing a lot of interest in wanting to play in the game.”

  The Most Valuable Player was Conway, while the 3-point champion was Weatherford.

  The talent was better than I thought,” Baumann said. “I was very pleased with how the kids played really hard and it was a very competitive game.”

  The game was played under two 20-minute halves. In the first half of play, the Red team held an 11-point lead at 39-28 as Roberts dunked the ball on the fast break with 6:45 remaining in the first half.

  The White team regained the lead at 48-47 with Williams converting on a layup with 45 seconds remaining. Burleson gave the White team a 50-49 lead at the half with a rebound jumper.

  Athens Screen Printing was the primary sponsor for the event and the 3-point contest. Baumann thanked them for their support during the event.

  “Athens Screen Printing stepped up and gave the kids shirts and trophies,” Baumann said. “We really appreciate all of their support. It went smooth and it was a bigger event than I thought it was going to be. I thought we would have to start small but we had a great crowd and we will build on this in the future.”
(Story courtesy of Athens Daily Review)