From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY — The girls from the Yellowhammer state triumphed 101-82 over the girls from the Magnolia state in the annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star basketball series Friday night at Alabama State University’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
The series has run since 1991 and each of the teams came into the game with 14 wins since then. With the victory on Friday, the tie has been broken and Alabama now leads the series 15-14. This also marks the second year in a row that Alabama has won. Last year, the girls’ team defeated Mississippi 109-96 at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi.
Alabama’s River Baldwin, a McDonald’s All-America selection and Florida State signee, finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, two blocked shots and altered several others as Alabama kept the lead from start to finish. Wenonah forward Thaniya Marks, a Grambling State commitment, added 17 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. She was 7-of-10 at the foul line.
Jaylyn Sherrod of Ramsay, a Colorado signee, was 10-of-15 at the foul line and had 15 total points. Hoover’s Skyla Knight and Pisgah’s Annie Hughes added 10 points each, and Ramsay’s Aniyah Smith had nine. Knight will play collegiately at Arkansas-Little Rock, Hughes is heading to Auburn and Smith to Alabama State. Hughes had an all-around strong game with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Knight handed out three assists and had two steals, and Smith grabbed eight rebounds.
Alabama, coached by Tim Miller of Hazel Green High School and Tammy West of Cold Springs, out-rebounded Mississippi 73-59 and made 32-of-54 free throws.
Mississippi, coached by Shayne Linzy of Lafayette and Vicki Rutland of Lawrence County, got 16 points each from Hannah White of Columbus and Jayla Alexander of Pearl. White earned Mississippi MVP honors with a 7-of-8 free-throw performance, four rebounds and just one turnover while handling the ball at the point much of the game. Alexander had two steals and was 4-of-5 at the foul line. Starkville’s Jalisa Outlaw also had 10 points and seven rebounds. Mississippi was 25-of-92 from the floor (27.2 percent) against Alabama’s swarming defense and was 27-of-36 shooting free throws.