ALL-STAR BASKETBALL GAME DEEMED A SUCCESS

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff was the setting for the area's best basketball players on Friday night.

Picking up where the "Area's Best" all-star game left off, HoopStars Midwest sponsored this year's all-star game along with Three Rivers Community College.

In an exciting, action-packed game, the West All-Stars defeated the East All-Stars 123-120. In the first ever girls game, which replaced the coaches game, the West All-Stars also prevailed over the East, winning 80-74.

Dexter's Brett Hale won the 3-point shootout, canning 15 treys in a 45-second span. Jackson's Brad Hilbert took second with 11 trifectas.

Van Buren's Bliss Roberson won the girls 3-point shootout.

The Caruthersville duo of Norman Prather and Erick Hubbard put on a show in the slam dunk contest. Prather won the event with a pair of self-thrown ally oops.

"I think it was definitely a success," said Dennis Griffin, executive director of HoopStars Midwest. "I think it went great down here. It exceeded my expectations a little bit. Overall it was about what I expected as far as the fan base with it being our first year. Hopefully next year we can have a lot more people and we need to try to get a few more girls involved. But other than that I think everything was great."

The East seemed to be in control of the game late in the fourth quarter, holding a 110-103 lead with about four minutes left.

But the West fought back behind a barrage of 3-pointers from Jamie Waddell (Poplar Bluff), Hale and Shannon Wright (Dexter).

Hale's trey tied the game at 117-117 with 1:38 left. Nineteen seconds later Wright gave the West the lead for good with a 3-pointer.

Ronnie Webb (Poplar Bluff) and Adam Crader (Doniphan) sank free throws to extend the lead to 123-117. The East's Jonathan Ressel (Notre Dame) hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left for the final margin.

Sean Gibson (Richland) of the West led all scorers with 30 points.

"You get to see a lot of good players play and that's pretty fun just being a part of it is an honor," said Hale. "At first it was for fun, but when that game's on the line you know your competitive fire kicks in and you want to win the game."

South Pemiscot's Robert Farmer led the East with 18 points, followed by Prather's 17 points and Hubbard's 16.

Hale finished with 14 points, including 4-of-6 from downtown. Wright, Seth Martin (Eminence) and Crader each finished with 12 points. Crader and Gibson each pulled down 12 rebounds.

Jason Jenkins (Twin Rivers) also reached double figures with 10 points.

For the East, Nick Steimle (Scott City) scored 13 and Byron Minner (New Madrid County Central) added 12.

In the girls game, the West's Roberson led all scorers with 27 points. Amy Shepard (Doniphan) added 17 points.

The East was led by Nicole Wylie (Kennett) with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Ashley Barnes (NMCC) added 15 points.