Berkshire County Basketball All-Stars Meet at Boys and Girls Club
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Pittsfield High’s Da’Sean Brown hit his second half-court shot of the fourth quarter Friday to cap a 108-83 win for the South All-Stars in the Berkshire County Basketball Officials All-Star Game at the Boys and Girls Club.
Brown and Generals teammate Makai Shepardson tied for game-high honors with 20 points apiece.
The organizers switched up the format this year, forming teams composed of boys and girls who competed in a single game alternating between girls’ and boys’ quarters.
For the South girls, Mount Greylock’s Charlotte Coody scored 12 points, and Lenox’s Kelsey Kirchner chipped in with eight.
The North girls got 12 points from Monument Mountain’s Natalie Lewis and eight from Pittsfield’s Jamie Duquette.
Mount Greylock’s Chase Doyle and Drury’s Louis Guillotte led the North boys with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
In addition to the co-ed teams, the annual all-star gathering also featured skills competitions, allowing the participants to show their talents in a hot shot contest and a 3-point shooting contest.
The game each winter is a fund-raiser for the Berkshire County Officials’ Oswald Tower Scholarship fund.
Tower, a North Adams Native and graduate of Williams College, was a star collegian at the turn of the 20th century and went on to be a member of the National Basketball Rules Committee from 1910-60, serving as the official rules interpreter for the Official Basketball Guide for 45 years.
On Friday night, Mount Greylock senior Molly Sullivan was awarded the 2023 Oswald Tower Scholarship.
In separate ceremonies at half-court, Pittsfield’s Jamie Duquette and Guillotte received the county officials’ annual Sportsmanship Awards.
The event featured players from every high school in the county, though there were some absences. Taconic’s Tayvon Sandifer and Maimoudou Bamba and Wahconah’s Emma Belcher, Olivia Gamberoni and Grace Wigington were all otherwise occupied – getting ready for their teams’ games in this weekend’s State Championships in Lowell.
Bamba and Sandifer attended the event in street clothes and cheered on their all-star “teammates” from the North bench, alongside North coach Matt Mickle.
The South All-Stars were coached by Lee’s Zac Kelley, who received the Berkshire County Officials’ Coaches Sportsmanship Award on Friday night.
North All-Stars
Girls
Jamie Duquette, Randi Duquette and Dezerea Powell, Pittsfield; Brenna McNeice and Alex Hudson, Taconic; Emma Belcher, Olivia Gamberoni and Grace Wigington, Wahconah; Emma Goewey, Mount Everett; and Natalie Lewis, Monument Mountain.
Boys
Tayvon Sandifer and Maimoudou Bamba, Taconic; Seamus Barnes and Chase Doyle, Mount Greylock; Frank Field and Joey McGovern, Hoosac Valley; Brendan Armstrong and Michael Butler, Lenox; Louis Guillotte, Drury; Jacob Howland, McCann Tech.
South All-Stars
Girls
Alivia Mauer and Kelsey Kirchner, Lenox; Mia Puleri, Lee; Ashlyn Lesure, Taylor Garabedian (injured) and Gabby Billetz, Hoosac Valley; Molly Sullivan and Charlotte Coody, Mount Greylock; Alyssa Russell, Drury; Macey Tatro, McCann Tech.
Boys
Carter Mungin, Da’Sean Brown and Makai Shepardson, Pittsfield; Khalil Carlson and Kyle Wellenkamp, Monument Mountain; Brody Calvert and Pat McLaughlin, Wahconah; Matt Lowe and Michael Ullrich, Mount Everett; Ben Cooper, Lee.