The White girls team for Saturday’s Blue-White All-Star girls basketball game.
ASHEVILLE – As usual, the start to the NCAA tournament has whipped much of Western North Carolina’s basketball audience in a frenzy.
Closer to home, there are other viewing options at the high school level in between checking scores and factoring in office pools.
The Blue-White All-Star games (6 p.m. for the girls and 8 for the boys at Enka) and West vs. Midwest All-Star games (5 p.m. for the girls and 6:30 for the boys at Cherokee) are both scheduled for Saturday.
This will be the 64th year for the Blue-White boys game and 40th installment for the girls. Discounted advance tickets ($9 for adults and $8 for students) are available online at http://www.bluewhiteallstar.com. Tickets at the door will be $10 for adults and $9 for students.
North Henderson boys coach Justin Parris is coming off a season in which the Knights (23-4) shared the WNC Athletic Conference regular-season championship with Smoky Mountain.
North Henderson won its first 15 games under Parris, which was a school record. Blue-White practices began Tuesday.
“It’s been a lot of fun so far, really fast-paced,” said Parris, who is the Blue boys coach.
“You’re dealing with a really-talented team. You’re dealing with the best player on every one of their teams for the most part. It’s awesome. I’m having a lot of fun with this, coaching with players of all kinds of different abilities.”
Owen’s Tim Raines is the coach for the Blue girls. This is his second Blue-White coaching assignment and first since 2005.
“It’s been good, I really enjoy these kids and all of them are working hard in practice,” Raines said.
“It’s a good group of girls. Some really sweet kids.”
Rosters for the Blue-White All-Star games, which annually benefit local children with developmental disabilities, were revised this week.
Invited players were told more than a month in advance that all of this week’s practices were mandatory. A copy of the letter, dated Feb. 15, has been provided to the Citizen-Times.
The end result is that Rosman’s Callie Chappell and North Buncombe’s Brennan Howard were late additions to the Blue rosters.
Saturday’s West vs. Midwest games are only in their second year. Admission is $7.
Teams are only scheduled to practice together once on Saturday before a banquet and the games themselves.
“It’s an all-day affair,” said Hiwassee Dam girls coach Ray Gutierrez, who will preside over the West girls.
“The one cool thing about this game is that a lot of these seniors have been playing against one another since they were in middle school. So you’re talking about six years and now they’re on the same team. I know it’s special for them.”
Hayesville senior Zach Cottrell could have picked and chosen between either of his two local options. But the four-time Big Smoky Mountain Conference Player of the Year and Appalachian State recruit is the mountains’ only inviteee to Saturday’s Carolinas All-Star Basketball Classic in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area.
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