April Thomas stars in All-Star games

Published 3:23 pm Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Bainbridge High School basketball guard April Thomas won two most valuable player awards and a three-point shooting contest at two area All-Star games held Friday and Saturday in Albany.

Thomas, a first-team All-Region 1-AAAA selection, played for the Southwest Georgia All-Stars against the Albany Area All-Stars in Friday’s inaugural Southwest Georgia Senior Showcase at Albany State University. In that game, Thomas scored a game-high 23 points, helping her team win 69-55 while earning MVP honors.

Thomas also won the three point shooting contest Friday, connecting on 9 of 15 shots. BHS Lady Cats Head Coach Latreisha Moon coached the Southwest Georgia All-Stars.

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On Saturday, in the fourth annual Deep South All-Star Classic at Albany’s Darton College, Thomas again took game-high scoring honors. This time, Thomas had 26 points, hit the game winning layup and free throw with 26 seconds left to give the South Stars a 51-50 victory over the Albany North Stars.

Thomas, who stands just 5 feet, 3 inches, presented matchup problems for opposing defenses with her tremendous quickness all season.

“It was good to play with and against some different people in the All-Star games,” she said. “I really enjoyed it.” “I was able to score both driving to the basket and from three point range. I always try to use my quickness to get an advantage.”

Coach Moon said the crowd really enjoyed Thomas’s play Friday.

“When we got a good lead, I took April out for a while, but the crowd kept urging me to put number 10 back in, so I did,” Moon said. “They all were really complimentary of her strong play.”