Clayton News Daily

Eagle's Landing Christian's Symone Ball was the MVP in the of the annual Henry/Clayton girls all-star basketball game.

From Staff Reports

It was a busy weekend for Eagle's Landing Christian Academy senior Symone Ball.

Ball finished eighth in the Class A long jump at the state track and field meet in Albany on Saturday, and then switched gears Sunday, putting on her high school basketball uniform one last time to take part in the fourth annual Clayton/Henry All-Star game at Eagle's Landing.

Squads were divided up evenly among seniors from both counties with one team wearing light colored (white team) jerseys and one team dark jerseys (Blue team).

In the end, Ball scored 12 points to lead the White team to a 67-55 victory. Her performance earned her MVP honors.

"I am excited to win this," she said. "I went out there and showed I can play against some of the best players from around the area."

Ball will play both college basketball and softball at Piedmont College.

The ELCA three-sport athlete finished the game going 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

She was part of three state softball titles at ELCA during her high school athletic career.

Ball's club led 20-6 at the end of the first quarter and pushed it to 42-20 at the break.

Both teams opened the third quarter with a flurry of 3-point shots. The Blue team added three treys in the third quarter and the white team two.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Blue team cut the lead to single digits. Henry County's Tianna Taylor's trey in the fourth quarter cut the lead to 54-49.

Mundy's Mill's Taylor Britt was the offensive catalyst for the Blue team, scoring four points in the final quarter. Her basket late in the period trimmed the White team's lead to 54-49.

Morrow's Lajoi Battle had the hot hand early for the White team as she added 7 of the team's 20 points in the first quarter. Her basket late in the period gave her team a 17-6 lead.

The Blue team had trouble getting its offense started in the first quarter as North Clayton's Arielle Thomas and Britt hit the only shots from the field.

Early in the first quarter, North Clayton's Miranda Cantrell hit two free throws for the Blue squad to cut the White team's lead to 8-6.

The White team closed out the quarter on a 12-0 run.

Eagle's Landing's Lisa Horton coached the White team, and Drew's Candice Jackson coached the Blue team.