EAST COUNTY SENIOR ALL-STAR GAMES

By Ramon Scott
Updated: March 28, 2022

Slam Dunk contest winner Isaiah Hilke on Friday night. / Rob Riingen

2021-22 EAST COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

LA MESA – Many of East County’s senior basketball players will take the court for the final time on Thursday night in the “East County Senior All-Star High School Boys and Girls Game” on Friday night at El Capitan High.

The girls’ senior all-stars will take the court at 5:30 p.m., while the boys’ senior all-stars will play at 7:30 p.m.

A three-point contest for each gender will be held at halftime of both games.

The boys will conduct a slam dunk contest in between the games.

The annual tradition was canceled last season due to the pandemic.

Previous renditions of the game had teams compete as North and South squads and has produced some close, exciting finishes, but the format for this year has been changed to East vs. West, which appears to have possibly created a talent imbalance between the squads, particularly on the boys’ side.

Local coaches also dropped Bill Dickens’ name from the title of the event.

The East County sports reporting icon had his name affiliated with the recent All-Star games following his death in Nov. of 2017.

Dickens, along with his wife, Wanda, helped coordinate and organize the event with local coaches from its inception in 1999 until his passing.