South’s Aisha Collins of Hazlehurst barrel’s over former Vicksburg High standout Shalonda Williams, right, during the Mississippi Association of Coaches All-Star game. Williams was held scoreless in the South’s victory. (Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

[7/18/03] CLINTON Fresh legs were better than long legs Thursday night at the Mississippi Sports Medicine girls’ basketball all-star game.

West Lauderdale’s Kristina Gardner came up with a steal off an inbounds pass and dished to Hancock’s Devin Necaise for the game-winning basket with 3.4 seconds to play to give the South a thrilling 76-74 victory over the North in the annual game played at Mississippi College.

The basket capped a back-and-forth game that featured eight lead changes in the final three minutes, and helped the South overcome a dominating performance by North post players Jazmin Cain of John F. Kennedy High School in Mound Bayou and Ida Edwards of Yazoo City.

Edwards, a 6-foot University of Kentucky signee, had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Cain had 17 points and eight rebounds. Guard Vacherricka Mitchell, from Cleveland East Side, also chipped in 11 points for the North.

R.H. Watkins’ LaToya Anderson had 10 points for the South, and Hazlehurst’s Aiesha Collins added nine.

“Our plan was for the girls to get an equal amount of playing time,” South coach Wayne Fortenberry said. “We felt like they were all on the same level, and we kept subbing them in every three minutes. And I think at the end that was the difference. The North team was dragging a little bit.”

The North stuck to its five-man rotation as much as possible, which was bad news for former Vicksburg High star Shalonda Williams.

Williams played only 10 minutes in the game, and sat on the bench for the final 15 minutes. In her limited playing time at shooting guard and point guard, she had no points, two assists, one steal, and two turnovers.

Williams was 0-for-3 from the field, including a pair of missed 3-pointers.

“I’m just happy I got an opportunity to play,” Williams said. “I felt like I did the best I could.”

North coach Phil Douglas, from Independence, said Williams was caught in a numbers game. The Holmes Community College signee was selected to the game as an alternate, and was the last player off the bench for the North.

“We were going to try to rotate five in at a time, and it just fell on her shoulders to be the odd man out, so to speak,” Douglas said.

After Williams left the game for good with 15:20 to play in the second half, the action began to pick up.

Collins hit a 3-pointer with 10:30 to play to put the South ahead 61-50. It capped a 12-3 run by the South, and was the first double-digit lead for either team. It was also the last.

The North chipped away at the deficit the rest of the way, and finally tied the game, 68-68, on a free throw by Edwards with 2:38 remaining. The teams traded baskets from there, with neither squad gaining more than a two-point advantage the rest of the way.

Gardner hit a putback basket for the last of her 12 points, tying the game at 72 with about 30 seconds to play. But the North answered with a fast break layup by Cain a putback of her own missed chance to go ahead 74-72 with 16.4 seconds left.

Long Beach’s Latoya Carson, who finished with a team-high 17 points, hit two free throws to knot the game again with 9.2 seconds left. It appeared the North would have the last shot, but a switch to a full-court press caught them off-guard and set up the winning points.

Gardner stole the ball from the North’s Jenny Young, knocking down the Senatobia guard in the process. No foul was called, though, and Gardner passed to a wide-open Necaise for the winning points.