Washington County Enterprise-Leader
All-Star Bonus: Quality Time
THOMPSONS UTILIZE EVENT TO GAUGE FAMILY GROWTH
FARMINGTON — Farmington coach Beau Thompson has faced early game deficits before, but he generally knows his personnel a whole lot better than in Saturday’s 95-78 loss for the West.
Thompson, head coach for the West during Saturday’s Arkansas High School Coaches Association boys All-Star basketball game at the Jeff Farris Center on the University of Central Arkansas campus, was able to get a collection of players from across the Natural State focused after a less than an auspicious start.
Thompson has been involved in All-Star games where talent was balanced, but this year the East seemed stocked.
“That’s just kind of the way it fell,” Thompson said. ‘You got to get all of your kids a maximum amount of minutes. It’s a showcase. We just weren’t able to pull it off
this year. This was my third time to go. Every time I go I try to take care of the kids.”
East jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes using a furious defense. Thompson, as he has done countless times for the Cardinals, got the West on track for a 22-9 run beginning with a high-percentage shot, a layup by Kaiden Hunter, of Ashdown, who led all West scorers with 10 points.
Lake Hamilton’s Mondo Watkins drilled a 3-pointer to cap the run giving West a brief 22-21 lead. Watkins had 7 points and 6 assists and was named the West’s top player.
Thompson, who is quite familiar with the ebb and flow of high school boys basketball, watched as Greg Johnson, of Little Rock Hall, scored 8 of his 17 points as the East countered with a 10-2 run. Johnson also had 8 rebounds in the contest.
Trailing 31-24, Thompson implemented adjustments and the West closed within 35-34 when Pottsville’s Wesley Heikes stroked a trey.
However, the East had too many hot hands and Conway’s Kylen Milton notched 7 of his 14 points giving the East a 49-40 lead at the half.
In the second half, East launched a 15-1 run to go up 64-44. Once more Thompson rallied the West, which reduced East’s lead to 86-77 at the 3:04 mark of the final period when Springdale’s Vincent Mason hit a bucket polishing off a 33-22 run.
North Little Rock’s Collin Moore scored 20 points and added 5 rebounds to lead the East to a 95-78 win. Moore was named the game’s MVP. Moore had plenty of help scoring from Marion’s Tim Ceaser, Pine Bluff’s Kaleb Higgins and Nettleton’s Jarquavious Cain, each of whom scored 7 points for the East.
Lane Kersey, of Lake Hamilton, scored 9 points for the West; and Farmington 2019 graduate, Will Pridmore, chipped in 6 points in his last high school game.
“Will, he’s just so strong at the rim. He was a good player for us,” Thompson said. “He represented our school and our conference well.”
Thompson enjoyed opportunities to take photos with his family utilizing the All-Star stage as a guage as how his family has grown. Joining him on the bench was his son, Logan, serving as All-Star manager for the West.
“It was a thrill for me, my third All-Star game in 19 years of coaching. At my last All-Star game my son, Logan, was five years old. This time, he’s my manager. Now he’s a sophomore and going to play for me next year,” Thompson said.
Another aspect of the All-Star event Thompson appreciates was working with All-Star assistant Scotty Pennington, of Lake Hamilton, whom he describes as being like a little brother since college.”