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.
Area players scheduled to suit up for the West girls’ squad include Belmont’s Ashley Freeman and Shullsburg’s Kennedy Allendorf, while leading the way for the East girls’ will be Black Hawk’s Tatum Baumgartner.
Other members of the West All-Star team include Highland’s Katelynn Mueller, Meg Tarrell, Malayna Fredericks, Katelyn Esser and Rachel Miller.
Joining the East All-Stars will be Argyle’s Grace Ganshert, Alyssa Stadola and Maggie Godfrey; Pecatonica’s Nivaeh Gross, Lexi Peterson and Tessa Green; Albany’s Brianna Dahl, Payton Wachholz and Kaiya Zurfluh; Barneveld’s Emma Gordon; Juda’s Anna Skoumal and Libby Jordan; and Monticello’s Sarah Brokopp.
The boys’ All-Star game has Potosi coaches Mike Uppena and Jason Edge along with Highland’s Shane Reuter will lead the West squad against Barneveld’s Tyler Sullivan and the East All-Stars.
Belmont’s Ty Palzkill, Tyler Simmons and Waylon Palzkill will team with Shullsburg’s Jackson Jerry to lead the West All-Stars, which also includes Cassville’s Cody Klein and Robby Roe; Highland’s Max Oleson and Weston Frost; Potosi’s Levi Groom and Logan Uppena; and River Ridge’s Logan Drone, Ian Adrian and Davis Nies.
Black Hawk’s Nathan Figi, Elijah Shelton, Dayton Burmeister and Dempsey Schliem will team up one last time to lead the East All-Stars along with Argyle’s Kaden Hartwig; Pecatonica’s Kegun Brunker and Hunter Enloe; Albany’s Tyler Anderson; Barneveld’s Chase Ignatius; Juda’s Mason Kammerer and Aaron Makos; and Monticello’s Brayden Ryan and Evan Guenther.
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.
