Players get sendoff at AABC Senior All-Star Games

WASILLA — March may be over, but the madness continues a little longer for Alaska basketball fans.

This weekend’s Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches Senior All-Star Games highlight the culmination of high school careers for 48 standout boys and girls on rosters that include 33 all-state selections and a pair of Wasilla Warrior teammates who capped a perfect 2013 season with their third straight 4A state basketball title.

Alexis Imoe, a Wasilla senior who led the Warriors with 28 points in their 43-27 win over Dimond to finish a perfect 30-0 for the 2012-13 season, will be joined by teammate Alysha Devine for the girls AABC Senior All-Star Games, which also features a trio of other talented Valley players. Houston standout guard Ne Ne Hale, a 3A second-team all-state selection, Caitlin Scott of Palmer and Taylor Blake of Palmer, a 4A second-team all-state selection, round out the Valley contingent in the all-star game. Both Imoe and Devine were 4A first-team all-state selections this past season.

On the boys’ side, a trio of names will be familiar to Valley hoops fans. Colony’s Hunter Eisenhower and Joe Gray are on the all-star team, along with Conner Looney of Palmer. Looney was a 4A first-team all-state selection this season, and Eisenhower was named 4A second team all-state.

Started as a way to promote the game of basketball in and outside of Alaska, the AABC began organizing the all-star games three years ago, said AABS president and former Houston High boys head coach Dave Porter.

“We started this so we could promote basketball in the state, to promote the athletes and promote the coaches,” he said. “Obviously, the all-star game promotes the athletes and it recognizes their efforts and their accomplishments in their high school careers.”

Along with a nice send-off, the event serves another purpose — to get some of these athletes noticed and possibly signed to play college basketball, Porter said.

“Our goal is to also get these kids scholarships to college,” he said, adding that at previous all-star games, “we’ve had a number of kids get signed right then and there at the game.”

It’s not by coincidence that the all-star games are played in conjunction with Dimond head coach Jim Young’s Exposure Camp, which attracts college coaches to see Alaska talent.

“It’s been great, because his Exposure Camp has helped us and our game has helped him,” Porter said. “So, it’s been a win-win. The coaches that have come up here love it. At a lot of those schools, most of their players are Alaskan kids. In the Lower 48, all these big schools are fighting over kids, but here there are exceptional athletes (that get overlooked).”

With financial support from Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and ConocoPhillips, the association is able to pull off the all-star events, which can cost $10,000 to $15,000 a year.

“It’s been a huge deal to have those guys on board,” Porter said.

Aside from getting players noticed and possibly extending their playing careers at the college level, the all-star weekend is a lot of fun, Porter said.

“The players love it and it’s neat, because when we first did it, we couldn’t afford to, or logistically could do, separate games for the classes,” he said about the teams featuring standouts from all levels of Alaska prep basketball, 1A to 4A. “We wanted to see how the 1A/2A kids fit in with the 3A/4A kids, and they do a phenomenal job competing with each other.”

And like the spectacle that has become the NBA All-Star Weekend, the AABC Senior All-Star Games include a slam-dunk contest, three-point shooting contests and a pair of boys and girls games, played tonight and Saturday. Another similarity seems to be the prolific scoring an all-star game encourages, Porter said.

“So far, every game has been very competitive,” he said. “They’ve been really close games, and on the guys’ side, the games have been really high scoring. That first year, the score was, like, 125-115 or something, lots of dunks, tons of threes.”

The dunk contest “is really exciting,” he added. “The fans love it because you see tons of talent, kids from all across the state coming to one place. We put on the dunk competition, which the fans and (players) love, and last year there were some awesome dunks. I think Connor Devine (of Wasilla High School) won it last year.”

Although one of the goals of the event are to get seniors some exposure to college coaches, the association stays true to its billing as an all-star game, Porter said.

“We pick the top 24 boys and 24 girls in the state and have a small alternate list,” he said. “Otherwise, we go with the top 24. Usually, we have maybe four or five kids who have already signed, but the others have not.”

Both teams are divided into two teams of 12, a Blue and a Gold squad, and attempts are made to keep players from the same school on opposite teams, along with trying to balance the teams, Porter said. That means Imoe and Devine, who helped anchor three straight state championships for Wasilla, will likely find themselves on opposite sides, as could Colony’s Eisenhower and Gray.

In tonight’s game, the girls will tip off at 5:30 p.m. and the boys at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Christian School in Anchorage. Saturday, the girls will tip off at 6 p.m. and the boys at 8 p.m. at Wasilla High School.

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

2013 Alaska Association

of Basketball Coaches

Senior All-Star Game

The third annual AABC Senior All-Star Games will be played tonight and Saturday. Tickets are available at the door and are $8 for adults, $5 for students and free for children age 6 and younger.

• Friday at Grace Christian High School: girls tip off at 5:30 p.m., boys 7:30 p.m. At halftime are three-point shooting contests.

• Saturday at Wasilla High School: girls tip off at 6 p.m., boys at 8 p.m. Halftime of the girls game is the Girls Hot Shot Contest; halftime of the boys game is the Dunk Contest.

Boys roster:

Damon Cikanek, Dimond; Vladamir Didenko, Delta; Hunter Eisenhower, Colony; Skyler Fullmer, Chugiak; Joe Gray, Colony; Kacy Green, Hooper Bay; Dominique Hall, Nome; Jack Hobbs, South Anchorage; Sam Jahn, Thunder Mountain; Xavier Johnson, East Anchorage; Adam Klie, Service; Jarred Laws, East Anchorage; Conner Looney, Palmer; Austin Miller, Bethel; Louis Page, South Anchorage; John Peterson, Mt. Edgecumbe; Shaquan Rhodes, Eagle River; Marques Robinson, Service; Iziah Sherman-Newsome, Bartlett; Darren Silas, Hutchinson; Gus Simmers, Anchorage Christian School; Jalen Terry, Anchorage Christian School; Stuart Towarak, Unalakleet; Tremon Washington, Lathrop.

Girls roster:

Ne Ne Hale, Houston; Tonya Busse, Klawock; Megan Bauder, Cook Inlet; Mimi Wood, Hutchison; Kerenna Liggon, Dimond; Ione Fisher, Dimond; Alexis Imoe, Wasilla; Caitlin Scott, Palmer; Alysha Devine, Wasilla; Amanda Sage, Point Hope; Lynette Hepa, Barrow; Hilary Lowery, Barrow; Sierra Afoa, Dimond; Aminata Cole, Dimond; Erisha Talley, Lathropl Sarah Geagel, Anchorage Christian; Gabi Fenumiai, Juneau; Kailee Skjold, Soldotna; Tiemchieng Panoam, Bartlett; Jasimine White, Lathrop; Raegen Smothers, North Pole; Taylor Blake, Palmer; Alex Deerifield, Valdez; Chelsea Tooyak, Point Hope; Sevynn Johnson, Nome.