AHSCA ALL-STAR BOYS BASKETBALL GAME

MVP Hayes gets plenty of help from East's late additions

The West’s Tereke Eckwood of Springdale Har-Ber (11) drives past the East’s Sam Dunkum of North Little Rock (34) during the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star boys basketball game Thursday night at the Farris Center in Conway. Eckwood finished with six points.
The West’s Tereke Eckwood of Springdale Har-Ber (11) drives past the East’s Sam Dunkum of North Little Rock (34) during the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star boys basketball game Thursday night at the Farris Center in Conway. Eckwood finished with six points.

CONWAY -- Cameron Ricks and Preston Groesbeck were late additions to East All-Star basketball roster.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Cameron Ricks of Mills scored 15 points to help the East beat the West 100-83 in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star boys basketball game Thursday.

They proved to be excellent pick-ups.

Ricks and Groesbeck combined for 27 points as the East took home a 100-83 victory over the West in Thursday's Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star boys game at the University of Central Arkansas' Farris Center.

"We did pretty good as GMs, didn't we?" Monticello Coach Wayne Sherrer said of his two late roster additions. "We had a good late draft."

Little Rock McClellan's Keith Hayes wound up as the game's Most Valuable Player, scoring a game-high 17 points while handing out 3 assists and making 2 steals.

Ricks, who led Mills to the Class 5A quarterfinals, added 15 points and four rebounds. Groesbeck, of Mountain Home, scored all 12 of his points on three-pointers.

Richard Knox of Clarendon also flexed his muscles with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and a game-high 3 blocked shots.

"It was difficult to choose an MVP, but that's the way this whole week has been," Sherrer said. "This was one of the best all-star groups to work with. They shared the basketball, and that's indicative of the way they played basketball here tonight."

England's Tyrik Harris, who was selected as his team's most outstanding player, led the West with 14 points and eight rebounds. Charleston's Matthew Ward added 11 points, including two final-quarter three-pointers that pulled the West to within 89-80 with 1:57 to play. It was the smallest advantage the East held in the second half.

The MVP award for Hayes capped an outstanding senior year for the McClellan Lion. Hayes led McClellan to the Class 5A state championship.

"It's been kind of mind-blowing really," said Hayes, who has signed a scholarship to play for Massachusetts-Lowell. "To win the state and then get an awesome award like this, it's just crazy, especially when you're playing against all of these great players."

Hayes finished 6 of 8 from the floor and 4 of 6 on free-throw attempts.

At the beginning of the week, Ricks was planning to attend the all-star game as a fan but he received a call Sunday that changed his itinerary.

"I was eating lunch and I got a call," Ricks said. "I said, 'Mom, I'm on the team.' I was so excited. I really wanted to be here and prove myself."

Groesbeck received word he had been added to the team Monday night.

"I got a call on Sunday night that they may add me to the roster," Groesbeck said. "I didn't know what to expect coming down here. I know I missed a few things, but the guys were really friendly and they welcomed me. We had a good week."

Groesbeck helped put away the game. He hit 3 three-pointers -- two of which were from beyond 25 feet -- early in the final quarter that all but killed any West hopes of a victory.

"He proved to be a real Mountain Home bomber," said Sherrer, referring to Mountain Home's mascot. "He hit some impressive shots."

The West, which has dropped six consecutive games and trails 41-29 in the series, led 18-17 after the first seven minutes but never led again after Mahlon Martin of Episcopal hit a 19-footer with 4:06 left in the second period.

Leading 36-28 early in the third period, Marquez Chew of Rivercrest scored eight consecutive points for the East and the West never recovered.

The East led 59-39 at the half.

EAST (100)

Totals Hayes 6 4-6 17, Groesbeck 4 0-0 12, Ellis 2 2-2 6,, Knox 5 1-1 11, Pippen 0 0-0 0, Chew 3 2-2 8, Martin 1 2-2 4, Ricks 7 0-0 15, Perkins 2 2-3 7, Henderson 1 4-5 6, Davis 0 0-0 0, Armstrong 1 0-0 3, Brewington 3 0-0 7, Dunkum 2 0-0 4. Totals 37 17-21 100.

WEST (83)

Kirk 2 1-2 6, Krueger 3 0-0 6, Ward 4 0-0 11, Dailey 3 2-3 9, Harris 4 5-7 14, Owens 4 1-2 9, Rogers 0 0-0 0, Smith 3 4-5 10, Eckwood 2 2-6 6, Simmons 1 0-0 3, Huskey 1 0-0 2, Jackson 2 1-2 5, Siebenmorgen 1 0-0 2, Schrokenhofer 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 16-27 83.

East17;19;23;12;29 -- 100

West;18; 8;13;18;26 -- 83

Three-point goals -- East 9-31 (Groesbeck 4-5, Hayes 1-2, Ricks 1-2, Perkins 1-3, Armstrong 1-3, Brewington 1-2, Davie 0-3, Henderson 0-2, Martin 0-3, Pippen 0-1, Knox 0-3, Ellis 0-2). West 7-22 (Ward 3-5, Kirk 1-2, Dailey 1-1, Harris 1-2, Simmons 1-2, Huskey 0-2, Jackson 0-1, Schrokenhofer 0-1, Brown 0-1, Eckwood 0-1, Owens 0-2, Krueger 0-2). Rebounds -- East 47 (Ellis 8). West 55 (Harris 8). Assists -- East 20 (Perkins 4). West 14 (Dailey 5). Steals -- East 11 (Ellis 3). West 6 (Smith 2).

Sports on 06/26/2015

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