Local Players Shine In Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Basketball
Clinton, Miss.- The Alabama All-Star girls basketball team rallied in the fourth quarter to claw out a 65-59 come-from-behind victory over Mississippi in the 34th annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game held on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss. The victory extends Alabama’s winning streak in the series to seven in a row.
Three players from local teams represented Alabama in the game that featured seniors who are about to move to the college ranks this fall. Abethany James of Sparkman High and both Alana Obianozie and Janiyah Bone from Bob Jones played in the heated contest.
Alabama outscored Mississippi 20-7 in the fourth quarter erasing a seven-point deficit after three quarters. For the game, Alabama hit 33.8-percent from the field, 22.7-percent from the three-point line and 55.2-percent from the free throw line. Tonya Hunter of Hewitt-Trussville, an Auburn signee, finished the game with a team-high 25 points to earn the Alabama MVP honor.
James, a three-year starter at Sparkman and Shelton State signee, played 8 minutes in the game. She was scoreless, but pulled down 3 rebounds and dished out 1 assist. James scored over 1,000 points while with the Lady Senators averaging 8.2 points per game in her recent season. Obianozie was on the court for 17 minutes. She scored 2 points along with 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 rebounds. Bone did not score, but she had 2 defensive rebounds while playing 11 minutes of the All-Star game. Both Lady Patriots are undecided about their college future.
Alabama now leads the series 20-14 over Mississippi.
In the boys contest, Mississippi’s All-Stars snapped a two-game Alabama winning streak to escape with a 78-77 win. Despite the loss, Alabama holds an 18-16 lead in the series first played in 1991.
