FLOWOOD — Friday’s MAIS Class A All-Star Game at Jackson Prep had all of the key components of any all-star game in which players who are unfamiliar with each other try to mesh and show their skills.

Lots of errant passes. Some ill-advised shots. Lots of substitutions. Some markedly indifferent play on the defensive end.

But it had something no all-star game before it did — three Porters Chapel Academy players starting together.

Despite the fact the North All-Stars took advantage of 22 South turnovers to erase a seven-point deficit and earn a 73-67 victory, it was a week-long experience that Alton Burden, Kawayne Gaston and Talbot Buys won’t forget.

Burden ran the show at the point, but had to leave late in the second half when he turned his ankle on a drive and dish. He finished with six points and six assists and started an 11-4 run that broke up a 50-50 tie and gave the South its biggest lead of the second half. Without him, the South was outscored 13-4 in the final three minutes.

“He was the key to the whole game,” Buys said. “When he went out, it was like the wheels fell off a little bit.”

It was no secret that the South’s best unit on the floor had Burden and Gaston in the backcourt and Buys in the middle. The three were on the court together for the first eight minutes and made a brief cameo at the 9:39 mark in the second half before Buys went to the bench as the South went to a smaller, quicker unit.

“It was cool,” Burden said of having the trio on the floor to start the contest. “We knew each other and how we play.”

Gaston led the PCA contingent with 11 points and scored the South’s first seven points. He hit a wide-open 3-pointer, pirouetted around the defense for an acrobatic layup and swished a 15-footer. But when he left in the first round of substitutions, he couldn’t recapture the magic of the opening few minutes thanks to a box-and-one alignment that eliminated his ability to break down the defense off the dribble.

“When I came out, I got cold. I don’t know why,” Gaston said. “When they put that box-and-one on me, I didn’t want it to seem like I was a ballhog and I wanted to get my teammates involved. It was pretty fun. We didn’t win, but we came to have fun and did.”

The South squad struggled trying to feed Buys, the tallest player on the court at 6-foot-8, and turnovers piled up at a gut-wrenching rate. But he was able to influence the game by blocking five shots and altering countless others to go along with seven rebounds.

His shining moment came with the South down 27-20 midway through the first half. He corralled a rebound and took the ball into the teeth of the defense for a layup and a plus-one opportunity he converted for his only points of the game.

“It was great,” Buys said. “I just tried to do what I’ve done all year: block shots and rebound and it paid off.”

Graham Kelly of CENLA Christian won South MVP honors, finishing with nine points. Marshall Academy’s Kevin Fitzpatrick was the MVP for the North.

Strider Academy’s Blake Criswell led all scorers with 15 points and Winona’s C.J. Hodges added 10.

Tallulah Academy’s Jake Busby was on the South roster, but was limited to just a few moments of playing time because of an injury.