Local players dot North-South basketball rosters

Francie Morris was one of three members of Trinity’s state championship team to be named to the South all-star basketball roster over the weekend. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

When Trinity girls’ basketball coach Blake Smith looks over the North-South all star basketball roster, he doesn’t see many weaknesses.

“This 2025 class is loaded,” he said. “You look across the board and there are a lot of great players. It’s exciting to look at, both the North and the South.”

Alabama High School Athletic Association officials released the all-star lineup on Saturday, which includes 60 of the state’s top juniors in boys’ and girls’ basketball. The lineup includes two of the starters from Trinity’s Class 3A state championship team -- guards Maddie Smith and Francie Morris.  

Blake Smith admitted there are “a lot of emotions” after his selection as an all-star coach of a team that includes his daughter and two of his players.

“The biggest thing for me is I’ll take those girls into any game with me,” he said. “It just gives me an added sense of comfort because those girls are competitors. So, obviously, the familiarity is comforting, knowing what they’re able to do. But, then, just how much we love each other and know we all get to do it together is exciting.”

The South all-star team includes Auburn High’s Brooke Hallman, the Brew Tech duo of Kennedi  McGhee and Jillian Baine and Park Crossing’s Saniya Jackson. Having the dynamic Jackson, the Thunderbirds’ point guard, on the team gives Smith some flexibility in how he wants to play his daughter in the all-star game.

“Absolutely,” he said. “And that’s one of the things I love about Maddie. She’s a utility knife. You can plug her in a lot of different places and she adapts to that spot.”

Smith actually submitted the names of all three Trinity junior starters -- Maddie Smith, Morris and Mya Moskowitz -- but officials only choose a maximum of two players from the same team.

“I obviously think Mya could have made it,” Smith said. “You could have substituted her in for one of (Trinity’s duo) and it would have been good. She has the talent level to play on that team.”

The North squad includes a quartet of players Trinity faced in the regular season, including Hillcrest’s Jareah Branch, Pleasant Grove’s Keyarria Stokes, Leah Childress of Clements and Lauren Jimmerson of Plainview, as well as the talented Ace Austin of Spring Garden.

Among the 30 boys’ players on the two squads is Montgomery Academy’s Skyler Stovall.

Stovall becomes the third Montgomery Academy player selected for Alabama All-Stars Sports Week. Two weeks ago, AHSAA officials released the cross country and volleyball teams. The cross country team includes Trinity’s John Thomas Mathison among its 20 male cross country all stars, while the South volleyball team, which is coached by Montgomery Academy’s Julie Gordon, includes the MA duo of Addi Vinson and Elle McBride.

The remaining all-star teams in tennis, golf, soccer, baseball and softball will be released in mid-May.

Basketball players are chosen each year for the Alabama-Mississippi All Star Classic as well as the North-South game. Blake Smith, who has been coaching at Trinity since 2014, was selected for his first all-star game as a coach.

“When you have great players, it makes you look like a decent coach,” Smith said. “It’s got very little to do with the (head) coach and a lot to do with the players and Clinton (Adams) and Megan (Smith), my assistants that are the brains behind it all.”