Gallery by Greg Barnett
A premium feature of the annual Scott Brown-Little General All-star Classic each year is seeing the best talent from all around the state of West Virginia.
Saturday afternoon, Ana Young from Pendleton County brought her talents to Shady Spring High School and gave the fans in attendance a treat.
Although her team, the Chick-fil-A AAA-AA-A All-stars, dropped a 90-85 decision to the Jan Care AAAA All-stars, the future Concord Mountain Lion stole the show.
Pouring in 34 points on 13-of-19 shooting, which included six 3-pointers, Young was voted the game’s Most Valuable Player.
According to event director Bob Bolen, it was the first in the 33-year history that the award was not given to a player on the winning team.
“That means a lot,” Young said about being named the game MVP. “I think I represented my school pretty well. I am proud to be from Pendleton County and I think it means a lot to my hometown too. I wanted to show myself out there today and be known as Ana Young and not Anna Young.”
Playing in Pendleton County, naturally, recognition is hard to come by for athletes in that area.
Young first opened many eyes around the state at the girls state basketball tournament with a 43-point performance against eventual Class A state champion Cameron.
For those those that didn’t take note back in March, Young proved once again, she is an elite player in a showdown with the big school stars.
Former Summers County head coach Chad Meador had the honor of coaching the Chick-fil-A squad in his final game on the bench. Meador also provided some inspiration for Young prior to the contest.
“I told her at the beginning of the game, everybody was calling her Anna. Her name is Ana and by the end of the night, people better know her name is Ana and she did it.”
After watching her state performance and having a front row seat Saturday, Meador sees big things for Young at Concord.
“Coming from Pendleton County, you don’t play a lot of big games. That is just the facts. That young lady there, she will make (Concord University head) coach (Tesla) Southcott a fine guard on the perimeter,” Meador said. “She not only has good handles, but she can shoot, get to the rim and she can really push that basketball out and lead the break. She is the real deal.”
“I am glad for her,” Meador went on to say. “Not everybody has seen her play, especially in southern West Virginia. That performance on this type of stage, makes everybody know her.”
The big schools jumped out to quick lead sparked by three triples from future WVU Tech Golden Bear Jayda Allie, whose sister was a freshman this year on Roger Hodge’s team.
Allie and Morgantown standout Lindsay Bechtel led Jan Care with 17 points apiece.
“It was really fun playing with this group of girls. They are all really good,” Allie said. “I played against them in the regular season so it is really nice to be on the same team with them.”
The last time Allie was in Beckley, she was sparking a fourth quarter rally for Cabell Midland against the Flying Eagles.
“I was just feeling it, I guess,” Allie said about her two performances in Beckley with a big smile. “I hope it stays that way in college.”
Trailing 47-33 at the break, Chick-fil-A came out on fire and trimmed the lead back to three with one quarter to play.
While Young led the charge in the quarter with nine points, the Chik-fil-A squad outscored Jane Care 14-2 in the paint to get back in the game.
The final quarter was great display of basketball that featured six ties and three lead changes.
A triple from Beckley all-stater Keanti Thompson gave Jan Care an 82-79 advantage for the final lead change of the night.
Webster County standout Sydney Baird was the 3-point champion and finished with 18 points for Chick-fil-A. Robert C. Byrd’s Avery Carpenter dropped in 11 points.
Future A-B Battler Cadence Stewart from Greenbrier East scored 11 points for Jan Care, while Gabby Reep and Thompson added eight each.
Although his team came up a little short, Meador was proud of his team’s performance Saturday.
“If I had that bunch I might have four rings on my hand,” Meador said playfully. “But, seriously, their basketball IQ is so high. When you cross over from the regular season world to the all-star world, you have 11 girls that can play the game. It makes the coach’s job easy to jot a quick play down, they get it and they have the concept. It is a lot of fun.”
