San Luis Valley seniors compete in Arby’s All-Star game

Alamosa senior Angelo Ramirez leaps over Del Norte's Carlos Parra during the dunk competition. (Courier photo by Stephen Jiron)

ALAMOSA — Friday night capped off a spectacular season for basketball seniors from all over the valley.
The Arby’s All-Star game gives the people of the community and their businesses a chance to give back with all the proceeds going to scholarships with Adams State University. The intent is to give local seniors a leg up towards pursuing their academic dreams while furthering their athletic career all with Adams State.

The girls got things kicked off first at 6 p.m. In the first half the Hot Shots were firmly in control thanks to the efforts of Alyssa Gomez of Centauri. Gomez was consistently up court scoring in transition for the away jerseys totaling her day with a team leading 14 points, hitting two from downtown.

For the Top Shots Alamosa senior Alexys Miller was expected to be an injury scratch but not only did Miller suit up, she tied for the scoring lead in the first half with 4 points.

At the break the boys and girls of both teams settled in for a three-point competition. On the boys end it was Arthur Rodriguez of Sierra Grande taking the downtown title. Joslyn Garcia of Antonito flaunted the same accuracy that allowed her to register a 59 percent shooting clip from outside the arc to take first from the girls’ side. Then Garcia proceeded to outshoot Rodriguez in the ‘battle of the sexes’ to stake claim to the overall 3-point crown.

In the final half the Hot Shots were propelled to victory by Yasmin Diego of Antonito. Diego collected 8 points to lead the away jerseys in the second stanza.

Before the boys began their competition, they settled in for the dunk competition. After a few rounds to whittle down the competition it was Angelo Ramirez of Alamosa against Arthur Rodriguez of Sierra Grande. Things stayed too tight to call with it being a tie after the preliminary round. Each hoopster was given more attempts. The final dunk and deciding factor was a windmill slam from Ramirez that set the crowd on fire giving the Alamosa senior the edge in the slam dunk competition.

With the crowd all warmed up Nate and Sam Anderson of Centauri tipped off against one another to start the game. The boys game stayed competitive with Ramirez and Rodriguez tying for home jersey’s scoring lead in the first half with 10 a piece. For the Hot Shots it was Maguire Peterson accounting for 12 points all from outside the arc. Peterson kept it up in the second half with another triple to collect a team leading 21 on the night.

The night gave each senior a chance to showcase their talents and versatility as well as a fun little way to kick off spring bre