Area athletes who were playing against each other in basketball season, were teammates at the North/South Basketball Classic. The event, North/South All-Star Basketball Classic, was held at the South Charleston Community Center.
The annual event is sponsored by the WV Athletic Directors Association (WVADA). Donnie Dellinger, Co-Director of WVDAA, commented, “We look for opportunities to provide beneficial activities to recognize our student athletes. The All-Star classic for boys began over 40 years ago with records dating back to 1983. It has been sponsored by various organizations but WVADA has coordinated the event since 2012. The girls event started later.”
Dellinger continued to say they also provide $6,ooo scholarships over all the sports. They partner with WVSSAC to provide personal development, rules clinics and leadership training to all athletic directors across the state.
Union Education Complex, Athletic Director (AD) Jamie Tallman, shared, “The WVADA has a committee with an AD from each region. Each AD begins compiling a list of possible student athletes in their region. The committee meets at the state basketball tournament to finalize their final list of invitees. Football is handled similar by the WV Coaches Association.”
Area Players invited this year were: Jeremy Phillips, Frankfort; Braylon McGreevy, Keyser; Chase Owens, Pendleton County; Kaleb Kuhn, Petersburg,
Chris Hahn, East Hardy and Shannon Layton, Spring Mills were coaches for the North Team. South Team Coaches were Garland Thompson, Tug Valley and Jason Westfall, Buckhannon-Upshur.
Hahn said, “It was a great time coaching Kaleb and Chase in the North South game. After spending the last 4 years coaching against them, it was a real pleasure to work with them and see firsthand just how athletic and talented they were. I was impressed more by how they treated the other players and teammates. They are fine young men.”
Eastern Panhandle girls invited to play in the N/S Girls Classic were: Makenna Evans, Tucker County; Della Knight, Hampshire and Tianna Sanabria, Martinsburg.
