Most high school basketball teams would be happy with scoring 77 points in a game.
Sunday afternoon at Northside High School, one of the two all-star teams reached that mark…by halftime.
The Western Virginia Basketball Officials Association fourth annual All-Star basketball game proved to a classic shootout, as the home-jersey white uniform team outlasted the road-jersey dark uniform squad 143-130, with fast-paced offenses and hits from behind-the-arc the rule of the day.
Entertain, have fun and give the defense the day off. Players from around the area had the format down pat.
There was an extra all-star side to the game, as two members of the 1970 Jefferson Senior High School Magicians, Mike Franklin (white-uniform team) and Ron Marsh (dark-uniform team), coached the squads. It was easy to see they both were still in their element.
“It’s great to get a chance to meet these young players,” Franklin noted before the game. “The goal is to have fun and have no injuries.”
“Ron beat me in this game three years ago, so I’m looking to even the score,” Franklin added with a huge chuckle.
“That 1970 Jefferson championship was unbelievable for Ron and myself,” Franklin recalled. “Dick Kepley was the coach and we beat Maury High by one point. The only time we were ahead was when the clock said double-zero. The game was tied and Maury had a free throw with one second left. Their guy missed and fouled our player going after the rebound. We went to the other end and made the winning free throw.”
“This event is great,” Marsh added. “I’m excited to be around these young men and all-stars. It’s a privilege to be around basketball like this. When Jerry Spangler called me, I said ‘ I wouldn’t miss this for the world.'”
The WVBOA consists of 206 basketball officials throughout the region.
“This is our fourth year for this event and the kids are very important to us,” Spangler, the association’s commissioner and also a member of the 1970 Jefferson team, noted. “Our officials volunteer their time for this event and volunteer for other special things like the Special Olympics. We want to make a positive impression on these young people. Richard Woolwine at EvolutionHR is a big sponsor this year. At the conclusion of the game we will award scholarships, drawn at random on the court, to players from the game.
The game itself saw Franklin’s team jump out to a 30-point lead before Marsh’s squad cut the deficit to 77-61 at the halftime break. Franklin’s home-jersey white uniform squad held off a late charge by Marsh’s team to pick up the win. Northside’s Kasey Draper had a game-high 32 points for the winners, while Cave Spring senior Jeremiah Rosarion poured in 30 points for Marsh’s All-Stars.
The winners of the three $400 WVBOA scholarships drawn at random included Draper, Glenvar’s Marshall Snider and Garrett East of Eastern Montgomery High School.
This year’s game included selections from Cave Spring, Northside, William Fleming, Patrick Henry, Salem, North Cross, Glenvar, Hidden Valley, Eastern Montgomery, Auburn, Christiansburg and Smith Mountain Lake Christian.
Bill Turner
