CHANUTE – The three seniors from this year’s Altoona-Midway High School basketball team dusted off their sneakers and made one more appearance on the hardwoods Saturday, as they participated in the 2024 Southeast Kansas All-Star game hosted by Neosho CountyCommunity College.
The Jet seniors – Blaine Collins, Jacob Meigs, and Lane Poeverlein – joined eight other seniors from area high schools to make up the rosters for the showcase classic, held in the NCCC gymnasium.
The AMMS trio all played for the “Black” squad, which also featured three teammates from Pittsburg High School. Serving as coach of that unit was Altoona-Midway head coach Dave Vance.
The “White” team, which consisted of seniors from Labette County, West Elk, Humboldt and Chanute, posted a 64-53 triumph in the all-star game. Since it was a senior showcase, they didn’t even keep an official scorebook, so no individual statistics were kept,” Vance said. “But it was really nice to see our young men get to perform one more time this year.”
Both teams were a little rusty as far as their shooting touches were concerned, and with only 11 total players, the squads were a little worn down by the game’s end. Still, the level of play was good, the competition was evident, and there were a number of highlight plays, including several dunks.
The Black squad jumped out to an early 7-2, but the White quickly caught up and it was nip-and-tuck for the remainder of the first half, with the White taking a narrow 24-23 lead into intermission. The game remained close until midway in the second half. With the score knotted 39-39, the White unit went on a 15-2 run to go up 54-41. The Black team fought back and a three-pointer by Meigs cut the margin to 54-48 with three minutes remaining.
However, the White team outscored the Black 10-5 the rest of the way to post the 64-53 victory. In addition to the AMHS trio, the Black squad consisted of Joseph Hernandez, Joey Chronister, and Nevaeh Jackson, all of Pittsburg High School.
Members of the White team were: Zavier Phillips of Labette County; Sam Hull of Humboldt; Martin Shipley of West Elk; and Jordan Duncan and Kaiden Seamster, both of Chanute.
Duncan was named as the game’s Most Valuable Player.