The Georgia high school all-star basketball games have a new format, venue and organizer – and one of their best lineups of players.
The two girls and two boys games will be played Saturday starting at 11 a.m. at the 5,000-seat Gateway Center Arena, home to the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and the NBA G League’s College Park Skyhawks.
All-star games run by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association go back more than 50 years. They traditionally have been in high school gyms under a north-vs.-south format. This year, the coaches have drafted their teams.
‘’Some kids from metro Atlanta will be playing with kids from below Macon and with players they’ve never played with before, and that does a good job of uniting the state,” said Milton boys coach Allen Whitehart, the president of the Georgia Basketball Coaches Association, which organized the games.
The senior boys game features three of the state’s top-10 prospects – No. 1 Bruce Thornton of Milton (Ohio State), No. 6 R.J. Godfrey of North Gwinnett (Clemson) and No. 7 Josh Reed of Pace Academy (Cincinnati) – along with Simeon Cottle, who led Tri-Cities to the Class 5A championship while averaging 25.1 points per game.
Among the top girls players are Mount Paran Christian’s Kara Dunn, who has signed with Georgia Tech, and Valdosta’s 6-foot-3 Essence Cody, a top-25 national player among juniors.
“A lot of the (GBCA) board members are coaches from some of the stronger teams with stronger players, so we’ve got some really good players that we haven’t always been able to get in the past,” Whitehart said.
The GBCA, formed in 2019, is a sub-organization of the GACA and has taken ownership of the all-star games and GACA all-state teams.
“Our goal is to grow the game of basketball in Georgia and to provide a support network and to have a collective voice for Georgia coaches, whether that’s to push for initiatives like the shot clock or moving the all-star game to Skyhawk Arena,” Whitehart said.
All-star game schedule:
11 a.m. – Junior girls
1 p.m. – Junior boys
3 p.m. – Senior girls
5 p.m. – Senior boys
All-star game rosters:
Fair Play junior girls
Taniya McGowan, Archer
Mary Mullinax, Lumpkin County
Mataya Gayle, River Ridge
Olivia Hutcherson, Holy Innocents’
Kanija Daniel, Carrollton
Kyla Cain, Galloway
Laniya Richardson, Northeast-Macon
Faith Johnson, Lowndes
Hannah Cail, Calvary Day
Jada Morgan, Warner Robins
Aliyah Hunt, Peachtree Ridge
Lexi Pierce, Lumpkin County
Coaches: Dee Dee Dillard, Rabun County; David Dowse, Lumpkin County; Mackenzie Darrah, Rabun County.
MaxPreps junior girls
Trinity Barrow, Greenbrier
Trynce Taylor, St. Francis
Essence Cody, Valdosta
Shane Jackson, Brunswick
La’Nya Foster, Lovejoy
Madison Taylor, Southeast Bulloch
Bella Brick, Flowery Branch
Caylee Simpson, Carver-Columbus
Charlese McClendon, Ware County
Denver Arnold, Valdosta
Eghosa Obasuyi, Carrollton
Shamya Flanders, Brunswick
Coaches: Ed Wilcox, Valdosta; Sandy Turner, Lanier County; Sherri Harris, Sumter County.
Fair Play junior boys
Mier Panoam, Norcross
Qua Brown, Newton
Malik Ferguson, Grovetown
Marcus Whitlock, Newton
Deonte Lowe, Hancock Central
Kenric Lanier, Decatur
Isaac Martin, King’s Ridge Christian
Antoine Lorick, Cross Creek
Authur Johnson, Bowdon
Albert Wilson, North Cobb Christian
Demetrice Hurley, Sumter County
Alfonzo Ross, Woodville-Tompkins
Coaches: Eugene Brown, Southwest DeKalb; Charlemagne Gibbons, Newton; Winston Smoak, Southwest DeKalb.
MaxPreps junior boys
Samarion Bond, Norcross
Vic Newsom, Sandy Creek
Micah Hoover, King’s Ridge Christian
Leslie Black, Statesboro
Kory Mincy, Tri-Cities
Jadon Yeh, White County
Jaiun Simon, Pebblebrook
Frankquon Sherman, Grovetown
Gai Chol, Greenforest Christian
Cam Ellis, St. Anne-Pacelli
Da’Avion Thomas, McDonough
Amon McDowell, McDonough
Coaches: Michael Reddick, South Atlanta; Stefon Porter, South Atlanta; Bakari Bryant, Dougherty.
Danley senior girls
Natalie Herrin, Pierce County
Shakiria Chaney, Tift County
Sydney Bolden, Loganville
Tamya Blasingame, Lamar County
Xaviera Dyer, Maynard Jackson
Kelli Finkley, Stephenson
Keona Curtis, Grovetown
Kehinde Obasuyi, Carrollton
Keimarya Rivera, Cherokee
Kaleigh Addie, Greater Atlanta Christian
Caelan Ellis, McEachern
Detavia Salter, Bainbridge
Coaches: Leslie Lawrence, Burke County; Eartha Cummings, Burke County; Sierra Williams, Thomson.
BSN senior girls
Zaria Hurston, Norcross
Jasmine Jones, Carrollton
Kharyssa Richardson, New Manchester
Laila Battle, Campbell
Cayla Cowart, West Forsyth
Chloe Sterling, Marietta
Evelina Davlakou, Luella
Jakia Little, Northeast-Macon
Ava Hunter, Union County
Bridget Utberg, Woodstock
Jessie Parish, Hebron Christian
Kara Dunn, Mount Paran Christian
Coaches: Jan Azar, Hebron Christian; Stephanie Dunn, Mount Paran Christian.
BSN senior boys
Kaden McArthur, Collins Hill
Kami Young, Pebblebrook
Gaddis Heath, Westlake
Izaiyah Nelson, Marietta
Jake Mooney, West Forsyth
E.J. Holland, Rome
Delrecco Gillespie, East Coweta
A.J. Flagg, Eagle’s Landing Christian
Bruce Thornton, Milton
Brycen Blaine, Berkmar
Aidan Hadaway, LaFayette
Kyle Keener, Sequoyah
Coaches: Darron Rogers, Westlake; Jonathan Simmons, Westlake; Darron Rogers Jr., Hapeville Charter.
Danley senior boys
Mason Lockhart, Columbia
R.J. Godfrey, North Gwinnett
Simeon Cottle, Tri-Cities
Thomas Allard, North Gwinnett
Tony Carpio, Providence Christian
Jerry Deng, Norcross
Josh Reed, Pace Academy
Anthony Arrington, Galloway
Asher Woods, Parkview
Dylan Wolle, Sequoyah
Eamonn Kenah, St. Pius
Raylan Barrion, Tucker
Coaches: James Hartry, Tucker; Eric Smith, Tucker; Alex Spring, Tucker.
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