Hoop stars whoop it up
State’s best play for lively crowd
The best high school basketball players in Colorado gathered Saturday to play in The Show, the state’s annual high school all-star basketball showcase, with four games played in front of a lively crowd at the Auraria Event Center.
In the girls’ Class 1A-3A top 20 game to start off the day, the Blue team won 66-56 as Resurrection Christian freshman Juju Hemeyer scored 13 points. Yuma sophomore Cody Robinson also had 13 to lead the White team.
In the boys’ 1A-3A top 20 game, Colorado Springs Christian senior Justin Engesser scored 22 points to lead the Blue team to a 100-88 victory. Sterling junior Bodie Hume had 23 points to pace the White team.
In the second girls’ top 20 game, which included all classes, the White team had four scorers in double figures, with Regis Jesuit sophomore Fran Belibi’s 14 points and Horizon senior Kylie Jimenez’s 12 points leading the way, in a 7048 victory. Ralston Valley senior Ashley Van Sickle led the Blue team with 11 points while Estes Park senior Anna Weibel contributed nine.
The height and athleticism of Grandview coach Josh Ulitzky’s White team proved to be too much for the guard-laden Blue team, as Belibi, along with Lakewood junior Camilla Emsbo (six points, seven rebounds) and Monarch senior Jasmine Jeffcoat (six points, five rebounds) gave White the easy victory.
Dunks and fast-paced transition play highlighted the second boys’ top 20 game, which included all classes. The event, like the NBA All-Star Game, consisted of little defense and a lot of offense. There were at least a half-dozen alley-oops in the game and dozens more eye-popping dunks as Grandview senior Gaige Prim’s 20 points led the White team to the 129-99 win.
Denver East junior Daylen Kountz and Doherty senior Brevin Brimble each had 19 points for the White team, while George Washington senior Jervay Green led the Blue with 20 points in a game where 13 scorers reached double digits.
At halftime, Eaglecrest’s Morgan Brown beat out Smoky Hill sophomore Kenny Foster, George Washington’s Green and Calvin Fugett Jr., Sierra senior CJ Jennings and Regis Jesuit’s Belibi in the dunk contest.