Sarasota and Manatee counties split basketball all-star games

In the annual battle for county bragging rights, both Sarasota and Manatee counties went home with something to talk about after the 2019 Sarasota-Manatee Basketball All-Star Games on April 3, held at Lakewood Ranch High. 

Roster for the games were made up of high school senior players from across both counties. The Sarasota girls made the first blow with a 73-64 win. Booker High's Kaliyah Newell had a game-high 22 points and was named game MVP. Riverview High's Morgan Windsor and Sarasota's Kelly Brown added 12 points each. 

In-between games, girls and boys 3-point contests were held. Newell won the girls edition, while Saint Stephen's Episcopal's Cade Westbury won the boys contest. 

At halftime of the boys game, a dunk contest brought the jam-packed crowd to its feet. Lakewood Ranch's Josh Young and Venice's Chason Rockymore reached the finals, where Young, no stranger to dunk contests, won it with a 360 slam. 

In the boys game, Manatee jumped out to an early lead and held it through the first half. Sarasota attempted a comeback and took the lead in the fourth quarter before Manatee snatched it back down the stretch to win 75-70. Young had 16 points and was named game MVP. For Sarasota, Booker's Jordan Clark had 15 points and Riverview' Tyrus Jackson had 13 points. 

Ticket and T-shirt sales from the games went to the families of Lakewood Ranch's Jack Kelley, 19, who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident Feb. 28 and suffered a traumatic brain injury, and Bradenton's Drevian Mays, 17, who was shot and killed in Newtown March 10.