GERING, Neb. – The Torrington High School trio of Reece Halley, Sierra Allen and Mattie Jones led the Red team to victory over the Blue team at the 28th annual Panhandle Prep All-Star game.
The three Lady Blazers combined for 50 of the teams’ 89 points in an 88-85 victory at the Gering High School gym.
Halley led the way with 24 points en route to the game’s MVP award. Allen had 21, and Jones chipped in five.
Southeast’s Grace Desmond and Lingle-Fort Laramie’s M’Lynn Hill also contributed to the win. Desmond went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line for three points, while Hill went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe for four points as well as five rebounds.
The Red team looked to put the game away early, racing out to a 13-2 lead behind four points from Allen and 3-pointers from Jones and Halley.
However, the Blue team wasn’t going to let the game be a blowout for long.
They battled back and took a 19-18 lead with 2:20 left in the opening quarter, in a game feature four 12-minute quarters.
Red tied the game at 23 early in the second quarter courtesy of an NBA-range triple from Burns’ Rylee Jo Ward, but it wasn’t until the 5:32 mark in the second when Allen broke the tie to put the Red team back in front.
The teams swapped the lead twice just before halftime, but it was Hill’s two free throws just before the break, giving the Red team a 41-40 advantage at half.
The Blue once again battled back, taking a 64-58 lead going into the final 12 minutes.
That’s when Halley took over.
Coming into the final quarter, Halley had only seven points to her name, but in the fourth, she netted 17 points, including a free throw with 3.7 seconds left to ice the game for the Red team.
As a result, at the conclusion of the game, Halley was honored with the game’s MVP honors.
Ward and Mitchell, Nebraska’s Marjie Schmitt also came up big for the team with 11 and seven points, respectively.
