Sports

North girls fall to South in All-Star game

By Candace Begody
Navajo Times

MESA, Ariz., May 27, 2011

The Arizona Basketball Coaches Association Senior Girls' 1A-3A game gave local players a chance to leave it all out on the court one last time.

"For some of them, it was the very last basketball game of their high school lives," said Jerron Jordan, coach of the North team. "Some are going on to college but most aren't going to be playing basketball. Some may play a different sport so this game gave them a chance to leave it on the floor one last time."

The game featured some of the best seniors in the state from the 1A to 3A conferences.

The North team, which included Winslow's Gabby Stacey and Felencia Keams, fell 85-59 to the South, which included players from schools such as Valley Christian, Scottsdale Christian and Safford.

Keams, the Lady Bulldog's year-end leading scorer with an average of 13 points per game, lived up to her status as the 3A North runner-up in the three-point shootout as she knocked in seven three-pointers for a total of 22 points.

Stacey added 7 points for the North.

"I was pleased with their performances," said Jordan, also the coach of the Winslow Lady Bulldogs. "I knew we'd be outmatched and outsized a little bit but we were competitive and we played pretty well."

Though the North lineup included St. Michael's Mariah Begay and Monument Valley's Bradley Nash, and alternate McKara Kescoli, also from Monument Valley, Stacey and Keams were the only two from the area to appear for the game.

"We didn't have Nash or Kescoli," Jordan said. "They would have helped us out a lot. We did good with what we had."

Jordan said though the South had the 1A, 2A and 3A players of the year on its roster, Keams and Stacey led the North team well.

Keams and Stacey were unavailable for comment immediately after the game and could not be reached by phone as of press time.

"They ran the same offense that we ran at Winslow," he said of the duo. "They tried to play more of a fast, up-tempo style instead of the half-court slow game - the others weren't used to that. And I tried to put together the girls that were already comfortable playing together. Everyone was good, it's getting them to gel, that's the tough part."

Jordan, a first-time all-star coach, said because each player had a long list of accolades it was hard to balance the talent.

"The hard thing was trying to spread out the playing time," he said. "Some aren't used to coming off the bench, so I really had to balance it out. I wish we could have won, but it is what it is and they did a good job."

In the girls' underclassmen game, the East team took the win over the West, 92-61.

Tuba City junior Jamie Roe, Holbrook's Aaren Billie, and Valley's Chelena Betoney played on the East team, which was coached by Tuba City's James Roe.

"It was different from home and the reservation," Betoney said. "There were girls that were really tall and I wasn't used to it because I'm very short."

Betoney, the 5-foot-1-inch starting point guard for the Valley Lady Pirates, had 11 steals and scored 4 points.

Betoney relied on her parents to help her prepare mentally.

"My dad just said to play the game and don't worry about the other players," she said. "My mom just said to stay in my defensive stance and use that to take away the ball.

"From there, I just felt like it was just another game," she said. "The others players were very fast, some were very tall, that was a challenge."

Overall, Betoney said, "I had fun playing, it was a great experience and I made a lot of new friends."

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