10 local area athletes compete at Optimist High School Basketball All Star Games

Ten seniors from Del Oro, Granite Bay, Lincoln and Whitney High schools, along with Valley Christian Academy, showcased their talents at the 45th annual Optimist High School Basketball All Star games Sunday at Capital Christian School in Sacramento. In the small school games, Valley Christian Academy seniors Gracie Williams and Brady Meyers competed in the event. Williams scored five points and grabbed a pair of rebounds for the north girls' team but the south came away with a 73-52 win. "It was really fun because it's better competition and it's fun to play with people that I grew up playing with," Williams said. In the boys' game, Meyers grabbed multiple rebounds and had a number of assists for the north team, despite coming away with a 99-78 loss. The Large School North Girls' team had six players from the area, including Del Oro's Madison Butcher, who scored 12 points in the contest. The Golden Eagles also had Gabby Kime and Livi Wood scoring six and five points, respectively. The south team, led by the play of Oak Ridge's Ella Ray, edged out the north 66-63. "It was super exciting to be picked to play with the best players in the area," Wood said. "All of the girls are so nice and it was a lot of fun to play with them. It was a super memorable experience to play with Gabby and Madison for the last time in our Del Oro uniforms, especially since we grew up playing together." Granite Bay's Julia Riley had 11 points and five rebounds in the first half alone while her Grizzlies teammate, Julianne Cotterill, also competed in the game. Lincoln High School's Madison Barr-Zeltvay scored three points in the contest. Riley will continue her basketball career at California State University at Bakersfield while Butcher will play at California State University at Sacramento. In the Large School Boys' Optimist game, Granite Bay's TJ Maveety had three points while Whitney's Boston Graf also competed in the game.