Sunday’s All-Star matchup at Savannah State University pitted the best basketball players from the north and south ends of Georgia against each other. For a few Hinesville players, though, the game was also a reunion. Six players on the south team had all played together before as members of the South Georgia Kings.
Although the north team won 109-97, former SGK standouts, Jordan McRae, Rion Brown, Brandon Mobley, Jareal Smith, Kennan Ready and Jibri Bryan fired up their old chemistry and gave the crowd a show.
During the first half, Bryan rushed the court and hit a layup that bounced off the backboard. Without missing a beat, Brown leaped for the ball and the slam, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
McRae hit several slam dunks and brought fans to their feet when he spun around and hit a 360 degree slam dunk.
Ready hit a slam dunk and Smith hit a trey shot from downtown. Mobley partnered with McRae for an alley-oop in the first half of the action-packed game.
"He got MVP of the south team," South Georgia King founder Jessie Fleming said, smiling as he demonstrated McRae’s 360 spin move. "Rion looked great in the game too, but Jordan put on a show."
Brown and McRae are not only SGK standouts; the two were the Liberty County Panthers’ premiere players this season. They both signed to Division I schools.
The duo led in scoring for the south team. McRae scored 25 points and Brown chipped in 21. All but four points were in the first half.
Brown and McRae were recently named WTOC Players of the Year. The "dynamic duo" propelled the Panthers to a 27-2 record and a Region 3-AAA trophy.
Brown, who signed with the University of Miami, and McRae, who is headed for Tennessee, were both nominated to the McDonald’s All-American Team. The pair also set new school records.
McRae holds the Panthers’ record for points, posting 1,443 within a span of three years. Brown holds the record for a single game high of 42 points and the single season record of 660 points.