2021: Pee Dee Girls All-Star Game

Wilson High School was the site of an exciting Saturday afternoon and evening of basketball as plenty of the top players from across the region convened for the Pee Dee All-Star Game. The second girls game that took place featured an all-senior class with a white team and black team. The black team, coached by Jeff Schaeffer at Sumter earned a 67-66 win over the white team, coached by Randolph Scott at Lamar. We at Prep Girls Hoops were on hand in Florence to take in the festivities. Here is a look at which seniors had impressive performances. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-269119" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/E253512B-D28E-4AF1-B0E1-DD8404732565.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="215933" first="Shaniya" last="Jackson"] – Black Team – Darlington HS</strong> – The gold and purple of Wilson High School was what distinguishes it from Darlington, so Jackson had to feel somewhat at home up the road in Florence seeing so much purple. Jackson was not afraid to try a 3-point shot and had a pass-first mindset. She can get from one end of the floor to the other in no time, but she will not always attempt a layup as she will at times find an open teammate to create those opportunities. The final two points of the game for the black team came at the free throw line as she made both of her free throw attempts which gave her team a four-point advantage late. Jackson won MVP honors with 13 points – including seven at the line. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="173104" first="Tonaja" last="Lester"] – White Team – Marion HS</strong> – Lester has played like an all-star throughout her high school career – and Saturday afternoon at the Wilson Tigers’ home court was no exception. Lester was taking care of business all over the court – whether it was via grabbing her own rebounds off misses, shooting at the free throw line or getting fouled while attempting those 3-point attempts. Lester also had a trio of 3-pointers – including one at the very end of the game, which made the final score 67-66. Lester led all scorers with 22 points, and likely would have been the game’s MVP had Scott’s white team proved victorious. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="171736" first="Daveona" last="Hatchell"] – Black Team – North Myrtle Beach HS</strong> – Even though it was an exhibition, coaches still appreciate it when they can get into their bench to find players that can provide productive minutes. Hatchell did that for Schaefer’s black team. Hatchell possesses a midrange shot in addition to adding a defensive presence on any team she is on. She is a potent shot blocker and also has a talent for getting to the free throw line and connecting on freebie attempts. Hatchell came up big in the second half as she tallied seven of her eventual 10 points – including three made attempts from the free throw line. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/7A32CC01-39F8-48B0-B4C1-1B5165028789-scaled-crop-1549x1018-1617550234.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-269121" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/7A32CC01-39F8-48B0-B4C1-1B5165028789-scaled-crop-1549x1018-1617550234-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="171743" first="Chase" last="Hayes"] – White Team – Trinity Collegiate</strong> – [player_tooltip player_id="171743" first="Chase" last="Hayes"] makes plays in lots and lots of ways. A good number of those plays can occur on the defensive side of things. And in the 2021 Pee Dee Girls All-Star Game, a good number of those offensive plays occurred in the second half as she tallied eight of her eventual 10 points. Among those 10 points was a made 3-pointer as well as a free throw in the second half. Hayes is also part of the A’ja Wilson Elite squad in the travel circuit and has been a dual sport athlete at Trinity Collegiate, playing both hoops (where she reached the 1,000 career point plateau) and volleyball. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124080" first="Layken" last="Cox"] – Black Team – Sumter HS</strong> – Speaking of soon-to-be departing athletes who played multiple sports. At 6-foot-1, having her on one’s team certainly gives a squad a formidable presence in the low post. Cox has not limited her skills to those of a traditional big. She can be crafty with how she gets to the rim and also possesses that knack for dribbling to said rim as well. She will also give a team plenty of rebounds and plenty of shot blocking. Cox finished her afternoon with a 10-point outing, including six of those 10 which were scored in the second half. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/F353FD33-E91C-4A54-B0B3-FE1B40B7BB45-scaled-crop-1601x1051-1617550280.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-269123" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/F353FD33-E91C-4A54-B0B3-FE1B40B7BB45-scaled-crop-1601x1051-1617550280-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="171741" first="Kimmie" last="Barnes"] – White Team – Marion HS</strong> – All-Star Games at any level –whether they are in high school, travel, collegiate or the pros give new meaning to the phrase “deep bench.” Barnes came off that bench and provided Scott’s white team with plenty of offensive help from deep. In the first half, Barnes drained two shots from behind the arc and had six points heading into the halftime period, which at the time was second on the team scoring-wise. Barnes’ skillset also includes an ability to intercept passes and make extra passes in addition to her status as a shooting threat. Barnes scored eight points.