North boys hold off late South rally

By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
July 16, 2004
CLINTON The 50th playing of the Mississippi boys high school All-Star game came down to the wire, after looking like it was going to be a blowout on Thursday.
The North, which had a 56-43 lead at halftime, snuck away with a 93-87 victory at the A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College.
After being down by as much as 22 points in the second half, the South quietly crept back into the game.
Trailing 75-66 with 7:55 to play in the game, the South went on a 17-11 run to cut the North's lead to 86-83 with 2:35 to play.
The North hung on for the win, putting the game away at the line connecting on five free throws in the game's closing minutes.
Monta Ellis of Lanier led the charge for the North with a game-high 31 points, and Jeremy Caldwell of Murrah tossed in 11. Lanier's Sam Walton tallied 10 points for the North.
Bay Springs' Reggie Shelwood led the South's offense with 20 points, and Raleigh's Craigory Craft added 18. Ramsey Shawa of St. Stanislaus notched 16 points, and Tony Hobson of Jim Hill scored 10.
Northeast Lauderdale's Alex Ford, who played on the South team, tallied two points.
The contest opened tight with the score knotted at six after the first three minutes, but a thunderous tomahawk dunk by Caldwell with 16:11 left in the first half sparked the North squad.
Ellis followed the dunk with back-to-back three-pointers, and Walton threw down a two-handed dunk, which brought loud praise from the capacity crowd, to cap a 10-1 run to give North a 16-7 lead with 14:42 to play in the first half.
The North pushed its lead to 20-9 with 13:30 left in the first, forcing the South to call for a timeout.
The sideline conference helped calm down the South squad, but the North still took a commanding 56-43 lead into the break.
The North continued to push its advantage at the start of the second half, scoring six points in the half's first 90 seconds for a 62-43 lead.
Holly Springs' Kenny Dawkins, who tallied eight points in the game, gave the North a 67-45 lead with a three-pointer with 13:44 to play. It was the North's largest lead of the second half.
The South responded to the large deficit with a 17-7 run to close the North's lead to 74-62 with 9:47 left to play. The run was capped by a field goal by Lawrence County's Justin Lewis, who tallied all eight of his points in the second half.
The North seemed to retake control of the game with an 11-4 run over the next three and a half minutes for an 84-66 advantage with 6:06 to play.
The South came back with a 17-2 run to cut the North's lead to 86-83 with 2:35 to play.
Ellis earn the game's Most Valuable Offensive player award for his scoring efforts, and the South's Donaries Hair of Picayune was name the Most Valuable Defensive player. Hobson won the slam dunk contest, which was held before the start of the game.