Staff Reports



MARIETTA — The Tifton All-Stars, a 17-under basketball team, captured the National Youth Basketball of American (YBOA) National 17-under Tournament here Saturday with a 68-52 win over the Middle Georgia Knights.

“We led from the start to the end,” Donnie Hester, one of the team’s coaches, said. “We played real hard.”

Chris Slaughter led the All-Stars with 21 points. Larry Cox added 19, while Lance Cannon scored 18 and Jermaine Dukes pitched in 10.

The other three players on the team’s roster were Jaron Hester, Justin Brownlee and Dustin Smith.

“Justin Brownlee played tremendous defense today for us,” Hester said.

To qualify for the finals, the All-Stars had to get out of pool play. The other teams in their pool included Team Unity (Mich.), Bama Extreme (Ala.) and the Asheville (N.C.) Eclipse.

After winning their pool, the All-Stars began rolling to the finals.

On Wednesday, the All-Stars defeated Chesapeake (Va.) Breakers, 75-45. Thursday saw Tifton get a 79-64 victory over the Danville (Va.) Warriors.

To qualify for the finals, the Tifton All-Stars got two victories on Friday. They defeated the Maryland Stallions, 68-65, and the PG All-Stars (Md.), 60-49.

Those wins put them in the title game against Middle Georgia.

Tifton was the No. 2 seed in the tournament, while Middle Georgia was the No. 4 seed. In total, the tournament featured teams from 12 states and the District of Columbia.