Bullard's Allie Kirgan dribbles during a drill at Azalea Orthopedics All-Star practice Wednesday at Wagstaff Gymnasium.

Rosters for the 15th annual Azalea Orthopedics All-Star girls basketball game were selected based on U.S. Highway 69.

For the East, that meant having two Division I signees on the same team — Tyler Lee’s Ja’Kayla Bowie (Texas State) and Tatum’s Bri Mitchell (Stephen F. Austin).

“It’s really cool because you want to play with these kids sometimes because they’re so good,” Bowie said. “It will be cool to play with some other great players.”

“It’s going to be a fun experience,” Mitchell said. “We’ve played with each other in AAU, so it will be fun to play with her again.”

It might not be as fun for the West team, which will have to figure out a way to slow down Bowie, Mitchell and the rest of the East, but they said they’re up for the challenge.

“It’s always fun to play against (Bowie),” John Tyler’s Le Le Grant said. “I’m also excited to play against some new people. It’s going to be a fun challenge.”

“We are looking forward to winning,” John Tyler’s Jazmyne Hicks said. “I feel like if we rebound, we’ve got it.”

The girls’ game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start on Saturday at Tyler Junior College’s Wagstaff Gymnasium.

For the head coach of the East team — Gilmer’s Mandi Simpson — a return to TJC as an all-star coach is considered a tremendous opportunity.

“It’ a big honor,” Simpson said. “I played on this court and left a lot of blood, sweat and tears out here, so it feels good to be back on this court and coaching in an event like this.”

And for Simpson, she will have Bowie, Mitchell and other talented players on her team.

“That’s the fun part of this,” she said. “They’re all good. It makes the coaching part easy.”

There is a member of each team who has had a sister also play in the event — Bullard’s Allie Kirgan and Union Grove’s Summer Grubbs. Lexi Kirgan was actually the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 game, a fact Allie Kirgan said her head coach, Barry Gill, reminder her of.

“He was just letting me know that our past players that have been in this game have done really good, and one of them was my sister,” Kirgan said. “I have some big shoes to fill definitely.”

“I watched my sister play in this game last year, so it will be exciting to get a chance to play in this one more high school basketball game,” said Grubbs, who plans to participate in track and field in college.

Coaching the West is Teague’s Chris Nickleberry, who will coach his own players — Kennedy Bennett and Kadaja Nickleberry — one more time.

“I was honored,” Nickleberry said. “I’ve had several awards in my coaching career, and this is by far one of my proudest moments, being able to coach in this game.”

Members of the West are All Saints’ Trysten Mosley, Alto’s Shavieonte Johnson, Athen’s Reveon Rodriguez, Bullard’s Kirgan, John Tyler’s Grant and Hicks, Lindale’s Alisha Kiser, Malakoff’s Jalie Dawson and Teague’s Bennett and Nickleberry.

Members are the East are Bishop T.K. Gorman’s Victoria Rebmann, Douglass’ Cassie Hogan, Longview’s Destiny McAfee, Pine Tree’s Ambreenique Williams, Rivercrest’s Karlee Lindeman, Tyler Lee’s Bowie, Sabine’s Kristen Stuart, Spring Hill’s Jayla Landrum, Tatum’s Mitchell and Union Grove’s Grubbs.

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