All-star tourney scheduled

The Third Annual CSRA Middle and High School All-Star basketball games will be played Saturday, April 6 at the Academy of Richmond Academy gymnasium.

The event has been a huge success, according to Augusta Sports in Action, Inc., co-founders Gerald White and Michael Curry. White, a former Richmond Academy and Auburn University star, is now an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University while Curry is a starter and co-captain for the playoff-bound Detroit Pistons.

"This thing started out as us wanting to give the kids a nice honor, but we had no idea how quickly it would grow. The fan support has been tremendous," White said.

Last year's games were played before a capacity crowd and this season should be no different. The event features four games, beginning with the girls' middle school game at 2 p.m. and the boys' middle school game at 4 p.m.

The evening concludes with the high school girls at 6 p.m. and the boys matchup at 8 p.m.

The high school games pit the best Augusta area seniors from South Carolina against those from Georgia. The middle school players are from Richmond, McDuffie, Burke and Columbia counties.

This year's roster is loaded with Columbia County talent.

In the girls' middle school game, seven players from Columbia County were selected to play. Five Columbia County boys were selected for the middle school team.

On the high school side, two boys and one girl will represent Columbia County on Team Georgia.

Not only do the invitees get to play in front of a huge crowd littered with college recruiters, but they'll also have a dinner at T-Bonz on Friday, April 5. Plus, they get to keep their uniforms and all four games will be taped by Comcast for re-broadcast at a date to be announced.

Below is a list of Columbia County participants - only eight graders and graduating seniors were eligible for selection:

Girls Middle School: Chelsea Crawford, Lakeside; Sherrell Parks, Evans; Cayla Hale, Evans; Tynisha Butler, Evans; Brittney Partridge, Harlem; April Woodard, Harlem; Brittney Leverett, Greenbrier

Boys Middle School: Rich Poythress, Columbia, 6-2, forward; Chris Drayton, Lakeside, 6-1, guard; Reggie Rice, Harlem,5-11, guard-forward; Tyrell Dyson, Harlem,5-5, point guard; Andavione Costen, Evans, 5-2, point guard.

Girls High School: Nichole Bennett, Lakeside, 5-10, guard/forward

Boys High School: Domonique Brown, Harlem, 6-0, guard; Lee Jones, Augusta Christian, 6-2, guard/forward.