B

y BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

MONTGOMERY – The rosters for the 2016 North-South boys’ and girls’ basketball games have been selected, and four players from Shelby County made the cut. There were 60 total players on the four rosters, each made up of 15 juniors picked from nominations submitted by high school coaches from across the state. The games will be played on July 20, with the girls game tipping off at 6 p.m. and the boys game taking place directly after. Both games will take place at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome at Alabama State University.

All four of the players selected from Shelby County were boys, and all four will represent the North. Jon Brown of Helena, Alex Reese of Pelham and Jamal Johnson and Austin Wiley of Spain Park all have been selected to compete. Wiley and Reese were both selected to the Alabama Super 5 team by the ASWA on April 6, and Wiley was selected as the 7A Player of the Year and the runner-up for the 2016 Mr. Basketball award as well. Wiley and teammate Johnson combined to average 40 points and 19 rebounds per game as Spain Park made an appearance in the 7A Final Four.

Reese, who finished fifth in the Mr. Basketball running and finished second in the running for 6A Player of the Year, averaged 25.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while leading Pelham to the Panthers’ second-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance. Brown averaged 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds for Helena, both team highs, for a Helena team that at one point won 13 consecutive games.

Johnson, Wiley and Reese were all named First Team All-Shelby County for this past season while Brown was named a Third Team All-County selection. All four will be back in 2016-17 to headline one of the most talented senior classes Shelby County and the state of Alabama has seen in quite some time.