By Erik Harris
CLAY — On March 20, the 25th annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Basketball games will be played in Alabama State University’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome, and two Clay-Chalkville stars will be competing for Alabama.
For the boys, Naval Academy signee Hasan Abdullah is one of 12 players selected to represent the state. Point guard Kristian Hudson, who holds a scholarship offer from Louisiana Tech University, will represent the Lady Cougars in Montgomery.
“What a great honor for Hasan and our basketball program at Clay-Chalkville to have someone chosen to represent our state in this event,” said Clay-Chalkville boys’ head coach Jeremy Monceaux.
Hudson and the girls will tip off at 5 p.m. with the boys immediately following at 7 p.m.
While playing for head coach Justin Haynie, Hudson captured the all-time scoring title for the Lady Cougars. She became the first player in school history to reach 1,000 points scored in 2012 when she was only a sophomore.
“I think (Hudson) is well deserving of this honor and will represent Alabama very well in the game,” Haynie said.
Midway through her senior season, Hudson eclipsed the 2,000-point mark, and finished her prep career just shy of 2,300 points.
“I am really happy for Kristian,” Haynie said. “She ended up scoring almost 2,300 points, led her team to back to back area championships, and won over 90 games in her four-year career.”
She and 11 other seniors from across the state hope to take back the bragging rights after Mississippi won last year’s game 95-89. Their series is knotted up at 12-all.
“I like our chances to give Alabama the upper edge in the series,” Hudson said.
After winning the 2014 matchup 90-83, Alabama looks to increase its series lead over Mississippi. The boys hold a slim 13-11 margin, but if Abdullah can have one of his breakout, 30-point nights, he could up that advantage to three games.
“Hasan has worked really hard throughout his career and being selected to this team is a result of that,” Monceaux said. “I am very happy for him.”