In his first year as director of the Coastal Middle School Region, Marty Holder said he wanted to find a way to celebrate the region’s middle school athletes.
    After weeks of planning and coordinating with athletic directors in the 10-team region, mission accomplished.
    Saturday morning, LCMS hosted the first Coastal Middle School Region all-star game in front of a packed house.
    Holder, assistant principal and athletic director at Langston Chapel Middle School, said he was a little surprised to be voted in as the new director of the Coastal Region but wanted to hit the ground running with new ideas.
    “I really thought this was a great way to promote our kids and our region. So many people think about the high school-age kids, but a lot of times people forget about the middle-school aged kids,” Holder said during the first all-star event. “All the athletic directors in the region agreed, hence we came up with this.”
    The Coastal Middle School Region features 10 teams: William James, Langston Chapel, Southeast Bulloch, Metter, Burke, Richmond Hill, Effingham, South Effingham, Ebenezer and Screven.
    The all-star game was divided into two teams, North and South, with teams such as William James, Langston Chapel, Southeast Bulloch, Burke and Screven playing for the “home” North team.
    Participants in the all-star game were voted in by the basketball coaches in the region.
    Saturday’s all-star event featured a live DJ, concessions and a halftime show from the LCMS step team.
    “It was difficult to say the least,” laughed Holder when asked how was the process of coordinating the event. “We work with some great (athletic directors). Even though there’s 10 teams in the region, we support each other. We’re all a family.”
    Despite the “family” atmosphere, friendships were put aside for two competitive games. The Coastal Region girls all-stars played first at 11 a.m.
    The South team jumped out to a big lead, but the North made the game competitive towards the end. Down 32-28, Jamiah Jones hit two big free throws to cut the South’s lead to 32-30 with less than a minute to play. However, the North team couldn’t tie the game up and the South all-stars won 36-30.
    Jones, from Langston Chapel Middle School, was named the North’s most valuable player. She finished the day with a team-high 11 points. Trinity Wright from Burke scored five points and Jada Scott from William James Middle School scored four points.
    Jayden Smith and Leah Williford were selected as representatives from Southeast Bulloch. Bailey Roberts from WJMS and Jania Joseph from LCMS were also nominated to the all-star game.
    “It was awesome. It was good to see the girls get together from different teams and come together as one team,” said Southeast Bulloch Middle School girls head coach Marci Cochran.
    Cochran was a co-head coach for the North all-stars Saturday.
    “I think everyone had a great time. We (North all-stars) went down by a little bit in the first half, but we came back and made it a close game,” Cochran said. “The kids were able to showcase their talents. I would like for this event to grow and get bigger every year.”
    For the boys all-star team, the South once again defeated the North by a score of 52-42. The South outscored the North 19-8 in the second quarter on the way to victory.
    The North’s DyQuan Busby, from WJMS, scored a team-high 13 points. He was voted the team’s most valuable player. WJMS teammate Jacobi Edenfield scored seven points and LCMS Zarion Griffin scored six points for the North all-stars. Langston Chapel Middle School’s Taylor Gilchrist was also voted into the all-star game. He scored four points in the game. Southeast Bulloch’s Ben Proctor and Ryan Swanson were voted into the game as well as WJMS’s Tybias Young.
    “Children need to be recognized for their talents because kids are gifted in many different ways. For this to be our first all-star game for basketball in our region, it was really great. We had a great turnout,” said Langston Chapel Middle School principal Evelyn Gamble-Hilton. “The crowd enjoyed it. Kids were really proud of themselves and parents were really proud. We saw many family members coming to support our young athletes in this region.”
    Holder said he plans to continue the all-star event next year and hopes the region can do an all-star event for other sports.
    The first-year director of the Coastal Region also said he’d like to add more players to the all-star roster next year.
    “I want this to grow and get bigger. Every team that plays doesn’t win a championship, but there may be that one kid on the team that is an all-star,” Holder said. “This event gives them another opportunity to play against some of the best kids. For an eighth grader, this could mean the world to them.”