Women's Recruit Brittany James

[UNTLifer]

Looks like Slinker signed a good one.

DRC.com

Basketball: Clardy bids farewell in All-Star loss

UNT signee James wins MVP honors at TGCA game

08:59 AM CDT on Friday, July 14, 2006

By Jake Floyd / Staff Writer

FORT WORTH — Thursday night was a chance for Ally Clardy to say farewell and for Brittney James to say hello.

Ally Clardy

Each took advantage of the opportunity in the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s All-Star Game at TCU’s Daniel Meyer Coliseum. James, headed to North Texas next year, put on a show in her Metroplex debut and Argyle’s Clardy teamed up with head coach Steve Schmidt one last time before heading north of the Red River to Oklahoma State.

James made sure that the Argyle duo’s winning streak came to an end though, taking MVP honors in leading the South to a 77-65 win.

“I was kind of surprised [at winning MVP] be-cause I knew there were a lot of great girls,” James said. “I wasn’t competing against my teammates or anything, but I just played like I play which is relax and have fun.”

The UNT signee drew the “oohs” and “ahs” from the crowd en route to a game-high 21 points to go with four steals, three rebounds and three assists. She had help from a couple of Big 12 Conference signees, but gave Mean Green fans a reason to look forward to next season.

“To shine with that group she was playing with says a lot,” Schmidt said. “You got one going to A&M, one going to UT, so they should be excited to have her.”

The week was a memorable one for the duo that helped Argyle to the Class 2A state title this year. Clardy, taking a break from her summer in Stillwater, Okla., dropped 11 points to go with three assists and two rebounds.

“It was really fun,” Clardy said of the week. “I enjoyed this one a lot more than the San Antonio one. I’ll cherish the moment to play with my coaches again because I haven’t seen them all summer because I’ve been in Stillwater. I’ll definitely cherish this forever.”

Schmidt was named the head coach after a season in which he won a state title, but was still a bit overwhelmed at receiving the honor.

“It was a little humbling, maybe I was a little nervous,” Schmidt said. “I’ve been coming to the convention for a long time and I don’t really feel up to the level of some of the others that have done this before. I definitely took it as an honor and the girls were a fabulous group to work with.”

Neither side did much to separate itself in the first half on Thursday. James sparked the South to an early lead but the North jumped back in to tie the game at 33-33 at the break.

James had 12 points, two rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 12 minutes in the first half. Two 3-pointers apiece from Clardy and teammate Tana Lockett pulled the North even though.

The second half was close most of the way until James, Gabriell Mattox and Adrian McGowen overwhelmed the North with their athleticism, sparking a 9-0 run in the final two minutes to help the South pull away.

“We knew they had some of those athletes that we were going to have a tough time with,” Schmidt said. “We didn’t know Jordan Murphree [a Texas Tech signee from Brock] wasn’t coming and that might have made a difference. But I think both teams put on a great show and played really hard.”

There were seven Division-I signees in the game but none could match James’ performance. Future Texas Longhorn Mattox finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four steals for the South while teammate McGowen, headed to Texas A&M, had 16 points and 10 boards.

Clardy was impressed with both opponents, which she’ll see plenty of the next four years in the Big 12.

“They’re both big tall girls and that one [Mattox] knocked the crap out of me,” Clardy said. “I won’t be guarding them but it’ll be fun to play against them.”

JAKE FLOYD can be reached at 940-566-6873. His e-mail address is jfloyd@dentonrc.com .

South 77, North 65

North 33 32 — 65

South 33 44 — 77

North – Courtney Laing 15, Ally Clardy 11, Tana Lockett 11, Haylee Allen 10, Shedera Bowman 6, Katy Williams 5, Tori Slusher 3, Sirena Medrano 2, Rachel Chesney 2.

South – Brittney James 21, Adrian McGowen 16, Gabriell Mattox 11, Yoshica Spears 8, Kelli Payton 6, Whitney Burton 4, Elaine Hobbs 4, Caitlin Barganier 3, Kirsten Niehues 2, Kallie White 2.

[NDT]

Impressive.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Really impressive to be the leading scorer in a game like that with all those other prospects. If she can do that when we actually play UT and aTm with the girls we already have here we may be headed to the sweet 16.

[GreenBat]

Really impressive to be the leading scorer in a game like that with all those other prospects.  If she can do that when we actually play UT and aTm with the girls we already have here we may be headed to the sweet 16.

←

Slow down a little bit! Lets win the SBC & make the NCAA Tournament before you have us making the Sweet 16.

And remember Tina Slinker is still the coach.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Sometimes a coach can have a team that wins in spite of everything they do. The team last year could and should have made the tournament after the run they make in OOC. This years team easily has the talent its just a matter of making good decisions.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

She's a terrific acquisition but it still takes coaching to win.

Talent wise, my favorite all-time North Texas team was the 1999 men's team. Chris Davis, Deginald Erskin, Jason Miller, Dexter Tennell, Kyle Crawford, Sam Funches, Kenneth Mangrum, Unjel Masters, and Brandon Gilbert were all very talented. But, thanks to poor coaching, an injury or two and a discipline problem, this had to be the greatest under-achieving team in our history.