Alabama Boys, Mississippi Girls Get Basketball Wins
Host Team Evens Its Series While Gaining Split In Annual All-Star Event
Alabama Boys 109, Mississippi Boys 104 (Statistics)
Home-grown Carver High School senior guard Craig Sword scored 36 points Friday night to key Alabama’s 109-104 win over Mississippi in the 22nd annual Alabama-Mississippi High School All-Star boys basketball game played at Alabama State University’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome in Montgomery.
Sword, a Mississippi State signee, had 18 points in each half by hitting 14-of-24 shots from the floor, including four 3-pointers. He also had nine rebounds, three assists and five steals to earn Alabama MVP honors.
Brandon Moss of Midfield added 18 points and seven rebounds as Alabama, coached by Wenonah’s Cedric Lane and Pickens County’s Patrick Plott, erased a 70-58 deficit in the final 11 minutes, outscoring Mississippi 65-55 in the second half.
Enterprise’s Rhett Harrelson, a Western Carolina signee, added 14 points with a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line in the final minute of play. Bob Jones’ Jeffrey Moss had 13 points and Sword’s Carver teammate Tony Armstrong had a team high 11 rebounds.
Devonte Pollard, a 6-foot-7 forward from Kemper County, led Mississippi with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Most of his eight field goals came on towering dunks as he picked up Mississippi MVP honors.
Raeford Worsham of Wayne County, an Arkansas State signee, added 17 points. Gavin Ware of Starkville and Fred Thomas of Jim Hill, both Mississippi State signees, had 15 points apiece.
Mississippi and Alabama are now tied in the 22-year series with 11 wins each.
Mississippi Girls 94, Alablama Girls 91 (Statistics)
Mississippi guard Jerontay Clemons scored a game-high 35 points Friday night to lift the visitors to a 94-91 come-from-behind win over Alabama in the 22nd annual Alabama-Mississippi Girls Basketball All-Star Game at the Alabama State University's Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Clemons scored a lay-up and converted the free throw with 23 seconds left to put Mississippi ahead 92-91, then sank two free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining to seal the win, Mississippi’s third straight and first played at ASU.
The win ties the series at 11-11. Alabama’s last win a 78-74 victory in 2009.
The 35 points by Jerontay Clemons of Cold Water (MS) tied the record for most points in the game's 22-year history. Evette Porter of Louisville (MS) had 35 in a 92-84 win over Alabama in the 1994 game, the fourth of the series played at Mississippi College in Clinton.
Clemons was 11-of-12 from the field, 4-of-4 from the 3-point arc and 9-of-13 at the foul line to earn MVP honors. The senior, a Southern Miss signee, also had three assists and two steals.
Tiarra Pollnitz of Shades Valley and Jasmine Jones of Bob Jones each had 15 points to lead Alabama. Pollnitz, who had four steals and two assists to earn Alabama MVP honors, was red hot early and helped Alabama build a 69-56 lead before Clemons brought Mississippi back. Pollnitz is also a Southern Miss signee.
Jones rebounded a missed free throw in the first quarter and mistakenly sank a shot in the Mississippi basket for two points, but the Tennessee signee made amends with her outstanding play in the second half by scoring 14 of her 15 points. Madison Academy's Lydia McGee, a Samford signee, added 14 points; Hoover's Chardonae Fuqua, a Baylor signee, added 11; and West Morgan's Hayden Hamby, a Purdue signee, finished with 10.
For Mississippi, Erika Sisk of Oxford added 11 points and Jasmine Golden of Center Hill 10.