Valley hoopsters showcase skills at All-Star game

The Mission Valley All-Star basketball showcase was filled with long three-point shots, one on one challenges, three-point competitions, and the elite players getting to showcase their overall basketball skills to eager valley spectators Thursday night at Salish Kootenai College’s Joe McDonald Gym.

“Oh boy, there were some long three-pointers wasn’t there though,” one of the founders of the All-Star game and Ronan Coach Steve Woll said. “The game was really close. They got up and down the floor and they just had fun.”

Though this All-Star event was created twenty years ago by Woll, Charlo Coach Bret Thompson, Mission Coach Lloyd Phillips, Les Rice and several other coaches, the first year in 1995 was a “tough sell,” according to Woll.

“We really wanted to get it going and some coaches liked the idea and some didn’t,” Woll said. “We sat down and we had a committee. After the first year, people really enjoyed the event. Now the kids really look forward to it every year. The first game was our selling point and now everyone expects it.”

“We have kept it pretty much the same way we started it,” Woll said. “The teams have fun and it’s a great way to finish the year.”

This season, Woll said the event was “special” because the valley got a chance to honor the Arlee Warriors team that captured the Class-C State championship victory with a 71-67 win over Manhattan Christian.

“Gee Whiz, I can’t think of how many teams have won the championship over the last twenty years,” Woll said. “I know the Charlo girls won it one year, the Bigfork boys won it one season, and I know the Polson boys won it a year or so after it started.”

Woll said this season was “exceptional” for area basketball.

“You look at the hardware that was brought back and the basketball wins in Western Montana are riding pretty high,” Woll said. “With all of the teams in the valley, we were very well represented. This season was a great year.”

In the boys game, the dark team defeated the light team 110-106. The light team had significant contributions from Polson All-Star Tanner Wilson, who led his team with 23 points. Wilson was second overall in scoring behind Hot Springs’ All-Star Trevor Paro, who led all scorers with 24. Arlee’s Alex Moran finished the night with 21 and Matthew Rensvold scored 14 in the loss.

The dark team got significant contribution from Arlee’s Will Mesteth, who finished the night with 12 points. His teammate Greg Whitesell scored 11. The standout for the dark team in the victory was the play of former Ronan and current Polson player Jeremiah North Piegan, who finished with 16 in the all-star showcase.

Arlee’s Alyssa Vanderberg finished the game with a grand total of 31 points in the dark team’s 68-63 victory in the All-Star Game.