ALBANY — The 16th annual Six Rivers All-Star Basketball Classic is scheduled to be played on Friday, June 24, at Albany High School. 

The girls’ All-Star game will tip off at 6 p.m. and the boys’ game to follow at approximately 8 p.m. There will also be a special 3-point shooting contest held in between the games.

All proceeds from the free-will admission and other fund-raising efforts during the night go directly to the Madison Children’s Hospital in support of their events. Coaches, game personnel, referees and other participants donated their time to this event.

The Six Rivers All-Star Classic was held for the first time in 2006 as the result of a dream and hard work by retired Black Hawk boys’ basketball coach Jerry Mortimer, who designed the event and directed it until 2010. To date, the games have generated over $22,000 in donations.

The All-Star Classic features the top senior players from the Six Rivers Conference Western Division going head-to-head against the standouts from the Eastern Division in a game consisting of two 20-minute halves.

Belmont’s Kaleen McGettigan and Highland’s Josh Tarrell will team up to lead this year’s West All-Star girls’ team against the East All-Stars, who will be led by Albany’s Derik Doescher and Black Hawk’s Cora Holland. The East team will wear white jerseys, while the West will wear darks. 

In the previous 15 years of the event, the West holds an 11-4 advantage over the East in the girls’ All-Star game, while the East boys hold an 11-4 all-time record over the West All-Stars.

The West girls’ used a record-setting performance to shoot down the East All-Stars, 85-70, in 2021, while the East boys’ got a buzzer-beater from Monticello’s Peter Gustafson to edge the West, 74-72.

The West’s 3-point shooting foursome sank a record 79 treys to rally past the East, 237-195, to take a 4-3 lead in the all-time series of the 3-Point Shooting Contest.