2019 All-Star Sports Week In The Record Books
MONTGOMERY– The 2019 Alabama High School Athletic Association All-Star Week is now in the history books and the South dominated the events for the first time in years with four victories of the nine different sports. The North won two events while three other sports were split.
“The experience was awesome and it was something I can tell my kids one day,” said Xavier Hopkins of Sparkman, who played in the All-Star Week’s 60th annual football game. “I feel it was a blessing to represent the North squad and to show how we play good football in this area of the state. For me personally, it was great to be back on the field for the first time since January when I played in the annual Blue-Grey All-Star Game.”
FOOTBALL
Hopkins, who will be a walk-on at Alabama State, played the entire game for the North recording eight and a half tackles, two deflections and two tackles for loss. Despite a good performance on his part the South knocked off the South 22-19 as the South scored on a 31-yard pass midway through the fourth quarter for the win.
Played in Montgomery’s famed Cramton Bowl, the winning touchdown gave the South the lead and the South defense held on in the final six minutes as the North tried valiantly to get into the end zone.
“To be able to play on a squad and in a game with other players who are on the same travels as you, only on different routes, was very special as it gave me an opportunity to meet other players along with numerous coaches and to stay in shape for my college football this fall,” added Hopkins, a 5-foot-11, 220-pound linebacker-defensive end.
GOLF
The All-Star Week included two new sports this year as both tennis and golf were added.
The North swept the first-ever All-Star golf competition winning match play contests in both boys and girls divisions of play held at the Montgomery Country Club. The girls posted a three-point win while the boys had a little more cushion winning by 13 points. The North squad did not include any student-athletes from the local schools around Madison.
TENNIS
The North boys and girls each posted 8-1 victories at the Montgomery Country Club to win the inaugural All-Star tennis competition.
Dallas Burkes and Alex Rainer, both of James Clemens, were the lone representatives from the local schools, but did not fare as well as they had hoped. Matthew Brooks of Daphne and Wesley Lartigue of Gulf Shores posted a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over the Jets twosome in doubles action. It was the only match the South won in boys play.
BASEBALL
The South All-Stars slugged 24 hits and scored an All-Star record 34 runs to sweep the baseball doubleheader against the North in games played at Riverwalk Stadium 16-7 and 18-16. The North was coached by Bob Jones head coach Jared Smith.
In game one, Caden Rose of Bob Jones had a RBI single in what was termed a sloppy game. The contest had six hit batters, four by the South pitchers and two by the North hurlers.
In the slugfest game two, the South led 6-1 only to see the North roar back to build a 14-9 lead after six innings. The South, however, had a comeback of their own with nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take an 18-14 lead into the final inning. The North tried another comeback falling two runs shy of a tie.
Cam Hill of Bob Jones stroked a triple and single and three RBIs at the plate, while Rose also took to the mound where he got two outs to end the sixth inning to close out the South’s nine-run rally.
BASKETBALL
The basketball competition was split as the North girls posted a 65-46 victory over the South, while the South boys posted an 88-75 victory.
In the girls game, the North outscored the South 36-16 in the first half and eased to victory at the game played at Dunn-Oliver Arena on the campus of Alabama State University. Both Destinee McGhee and Jaden Langford of Madison Academy were on the North roster. The 6-2 McGhee scored 11 points, including five of six at the foul line to be one of the leaders for the winning North squad.
Sidney Lanier 6-5 rising senior Antwan Burnett turned in a double-double with 10 rebounds and 16 points to lead the South to the 88-75 win over the North in what was the 77th game of the boys basketball series which started in 1953.
CROSS COUNTRY
A split was also posted in the in the third annual cross country All-Star competition. The South girls placed four runners in the top five finishes to secure a 19-36 victory over the North, while the North boys won a close 27-28 victory over the South in the competition held at Auburn-Montgomery University.
SOCCER:
The North and South split the soccer competition held at the Emory Folmar Soccer Complex.
The South placed a 3-1 victory in girls soccer, which featured Jessica Glassman of Bob Jones on the North roster. The North boys had three different players score goals in a 3-nothing shutout over the South.
VOLLEYBALL
Jasmine Brooks of Sparkman posted nine kills for the North squad in the volleyball competition, which was won in a sweep by the South three games to none.
The 23rd annual competition was played at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex. The North squad was coached by former Bob Jones head coach April Marsh who left the Lady Patriots program at the end of last season to take a similar position at Athens High.
SOFTBALL
The South swept the North 6-3 and 5-4 to claim the softball doubleheader victory at games played at Lagoon Park.
Both games featured late inning rallies for the South victory. The North was led by Kent Chambers of Bob Jones who acted as the squad’s Administrator.
The series records in the annual All-Star Week competition include: Football (South leads the series 31-27-2); Golf (North 1-0 in both boys and girls); Tennis (North 1-0 in both boys and girls); Volleyball (North 14-8); Softball (North 25-22-3); Soccer (North 15-3-1 girls, 12-4-1 boys); Basketball (South boys 48-29, North girls 20-3); Baseball (North 23-14-1); Cross Country (South girls 2-1, North boys 2-1).
