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Brown City's Liz Bartle was on the Girls C-D ÔBlack' team, along with Rhonda Gusa from Harbor Beach, while Al DeMott, Sandusky varsity coach and girls Class C Coach of the Year, directed the C-D ÔWhite' team, which also featured Emily LeTarte of Memphis. There was a Class A-B girls game, plus Class A-B and Class C-D boys contests. Kingston's Brandon Jones was among the Boys C-D selections.

DeMott, who took the Lady Redskins to a 20-0 regular season (23-1 overall) and now has 498 career victories at Sandusky, was coaching in his first All-Star game. He brought along assistant coaches Ray Lee and Janet Gleason to help on the bench.

"It was exciting, it was fun," said DeMott, who will start his 29th season as head coach at Sandusky this winter. "There's not a lot of strategy or coaching, though. (The team) met together (for the first time) for a few minutes just before the game.

"We had 13 girls and we played everyone equally, and it was a real good game," DeMott added.

DeMott's ÔWhite' team lost a barn burner, 72-71. Some familiar faces from the Greater Thumb Conference - Bartle and Gusa - helped the ÔBlack' upend DeMott's squad. Bartle (5'3"), who started at point guard, scored three points, and Gusa added nine.

Bartle, an All-State selection last fall, was not sure beforehand that she belonged on the court with the rest of her teammates.

"I actually really had fun and really enjoyed playing with my team. I thought I might be (out of place) with these girls, but it out turned out I could play right with them," smiled Bartle.

She added that she quickly felt right at ease on the playing floor. "It was weird. My team reminded me of the ones I was on in Brown City because we didn't have any tall players. But, we had a lot of quick players."

Bartle, who will attend Bethel College in Indiana this fall, said the game was her last as a student/athlete and will not play basketball at the next level.

DeMott also noted that Bartle and Gusa made a good showing. "I thought they both played real well. Both scored and both had good floor games, and both started."

LeTarte of Memphis finished with four points for the ÔWhite' team.

Jones, a 6'7' forward from Kingston, who will play at Spring Arbor University this winter, tallied eight points for the Boys C-D ÔBlack', which lost, 82-79.

One other note from the Festival: in the Boys A-B game, Corperryale "Manny" Harris of Detroit Redford and heading to U of M this fall, gunned in 38 points in a 125-105 win for the Boys A-B game.