After playing against the best players in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, Madison Ford gets a chance to be their teammate.
The Heritage Academy senior gets that priviledge Saturday when she plays in the MAIS Class AA-AAA Girls All-Star Basketball Game.
Ford will play for the North, which will play the South at 2:30 p.m. at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton.
“I”m real excited to go and play in the game,” Ford said. “It”s a good honor for me.
“I”m looking forward to getting to play with all the great girls that I played against over the years. I”ve competed against all of them for like six years now so I know most of them.”
Ford will be joined on the North squad by Bonnie Riley, of Oak Hill Academy in West Point.
Meanwhile, Alex Dawkins, of Central Academy, and Laura Beth Moore, of Hebron Christian, will play for the North in the MAIS Class A Girls All-Star Game.
The Class A girls game is scheduled to tip off at 11 a.m. It will be followed by the Class A boys game at 12:45 p.m.
Hunter Campbell, of Central Academy, will play for the North in the Class A boys game.
The Class AA-AAA boys game is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 p.m.
Admission for the games is $8.
Ford was slected to play after averaging 18 points and five rebounds and shooting 44 percent from beyond the 3-point arc her senior season.
“She”s led our team the last three years, starting as a sophomore,” Heritage Academy coach Bruce Allsuup said. “She was our leading scorer and leading rebounder that past three years. She”s a great player. She is truly deserving of this honor.”
Ford learned of her selection when Allsup told her after Heritage”s final game of the regular season.
“I was excited and I was thankful to him for helping me get on the team,” Ford said. “I worked really hard and I guess if just paid off.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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