Schumacher sweeps the boys awards at the annual event, held Sunday at King’s Way Christian High School
VANCOUVER — There were 3-point specialists. There were dunk artists. There were dozens of stars in two basketball games at King’s Way Christian High School. A couple of them were named the Star of Stars, in fact.
Oh, and there was a whole lot of Prince music played in warm-ups and during the sideshow competitions. Which, of course, made for an even better event Sunday night.
The Les Schwab Tires Roundball Shootout celebrated high school basketball in Southwest Washington, inviting seniors from teams throughout the region to play one final game in front of the home crowd.
Cassidy Gardner of Prairie was named the Star of Stars of the girls game after she made eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points.
Alex Schumacher of Skyview was a triple-winner for the boys. He won the dunk contest, his team of White Jerseys won the game, and he was named the Star of Stars.
He said he was surprised that he took home the top player award for the boys game because his team had several standout performances in a balanced scoring attack.
Schumacher, though, scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, including eight during a 22-0 run for the White Jerseys in what turned into an 88-68 victory.
The Red Jerseys led by six midway through the third quarter, then it was all White Jerseys.
“Nobody was selfish,” Schumacher said. “Everyone from (Class) 1A to 4A was here, and everyone had fun. No one was trying to do it by themselves. We played team ball.”
In the dunk contest, Schumacher just missed on a couple of crowd-pleasing attempts before getting a windmill to rock the rim. He wanted to report, though, that while he missed with his put-the-ball-between-the-legs-and-then-dunk move in the contest, he nailed it in warmups before the all-star game.
Gardner had the rare feat of being named the girls MVP even though her team lost. She would not be denied, though, making 8 of 13 from long distance. She scored more than half of her team’s points.
“It was really fun to be able to play one last game. I just caught fire,” she said.
She also just missed another individual accomplishment, finishing second in the 3-point contest.
“I’m still so mad at myself,” she said with a smile.
Hannah Booth of Camas had a huge night, too. She did win the 3-point contest at halftime and scored 14 points in the game, leading the Red Jerseys to a 65-50 victory. She made four 3-pointers in the game.
“It was cool,” Booth said. “I didn’t expect anything like this to happen. Great win. Great way to end my career.”
Ethan Smith of Union won the boys 3-point contest.
“It’s not too much different from a game. Just let it fly,” he said.
He also enjoyed the entire event, playing a game that meant little on the scoreboard but a lot to the players on the court.
“It was definitely an experience I won’t forget,” Smith said.
