By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
April 7, 2001
PHILADELPHIA For Anna Udicova, the 24th-annual MACJC Women's All-Star Basketball Game was the final touch on a great season.
For North women's coach Larry Therrell, it was the final stop on an illustrious 33-year coaching career.
Udicova, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Presov, Slovakia, was named Most Valuable Player for the women's game. She played a big role in East Central Community College's Region 23 championship season, averaging 12 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Udicova scored 11 points in the South's 91-88 win over the North Friday night at Choctaw Central High School.
Udicova has signed with the University of Southern Mississippi. It took her awhile to adapt to the American version of basketball after growing up playing European-style ball.
Confidence was something Therrell rarely lacked, nor did he need to. He began the basketball programs at Leake Academy in 1970 and went 26-10 in two years with the girls and 242-32 in nine seasons with the Leake boys.
His 1971-72 Rebels went 36-0, while his 1976-77 squad was the Southeastern Regional champion after going 32-2.
Therrell also coached at Newton County Academy before winding up his career at Holmes Community College.
The South women went up 39-29 on a 3-pointer from Tomekia Reed from Hinds with 5:50 to go in the first half.
The North rallied and took a 45-44 lead on a basket by Roshonda Kilbert of Holmes seven seconds before halftime.
The South took a 46-45 edge into intermission on a buzzer-beating basket from Reed.
The South pulled away from a 69-69 tie with a basket from Udicova giving the South a 74-69 lead with 8:10 left.
East Central's Margo Porter then hit four of six free throws over a 37-second span to keep the South up 78-71.
After the North got to within 78-74, Udicova scored back-to-back baskets to give the South an 82-74 lead with 6:13 to go.
The North got to within 84-83 on a basket by East Mississippi's Kimberly Davis with 3:08 remaining, but Reed buried a 3-pointer 20 seconds later to extend the South's lead to 87-83.
The battled to within 89-88, but Reed scored again to put the South up 91-88.
Reed led the South in scoring with 20 points. Udicova and Copiah-Lincoln's Denise Catchings both had 11, Tammika Sims of Jones tossed in nine, Porter added eight, while Tiffany Dales of Copiah-Lincoln and Jeanella McMillan of Jones both had seven. Nicole Cox of East Central and Jessica Pucheu of Pearl River both had six points.
Tamica Pierce of Northeast led the North with 17 points. Davis and Itawamba's Keela Ball both scored 13, while Rhonda Cooper of Northwest, Janna LaBarreare of Northeast, and Tesha Blue of Mississippi Delta each had nine. Kilbert scored six.
The South made only 24 of its 46 free throws, while the North went 22-of-33 at the charity line.
North men 93, South 85 : The North outscored the South 23-5 over the final
eight minutes to take the men's game.
The South carried a 46-34 lead into halftime and was still up by a dozen points with seven minutes to play.
Ramon Gary of Itawamba scored 17 points to lead the North and earn game MVP honors. Derrick Scales of Mississippi Delta had 12, Marquis Shead of Northwest and Kendrick Alloway of Northeast both scored 11, Thadd Jones of Itawamba had nine, and Rod Newton of Holmes tossed in seven.
Jones, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, won the dunk competition earlier in the night.
Omar Barlett of Jones led the South with 19 points. Andriy Sukhotin of Gulf Coast had 13 points, Derrick White of Jones added 12, while Kory McKee of Hinds and James Singleton of Pearl River both had eight.
The North made 16 of its 20 free throws while the South was 11-of-23.
Marty Stamper is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at mstamper@themeridianstar.com.