The 48th annual AISA All-Star Basketball Classic was played this past Friday at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in Montgomery, and three student athletes from Morgan Academy were selected to represent their school.

We’re super proud of those kids for the way they represented our school and our association,” Morgan Academy athletic director Josh Thacker said. “They’ve done a great job their entire careers here at Morgan Academy. It’s great to see people like that put in the hard work to be able to get to where they’re going, and We’re extremely proud of them.”

Senior guard Britton Adams and cheerleaders Sara Catherine “LaLa” Plummer and Louise Stewart made the trip to represent the Senators for the West division all-stars. Morgan Academy basketball’s head coach Mark Knight was selected as the coach for the West team as well.

Adams has been playing basketball for the Senators program since he was in seventh grade. He played point guard for the Senators, and was able to shoot from the perimeter as well. He had a strong senior season and was named to the 2017-2018 AISA Class AAA boys all-tournament team.

“He’s a senior leader and he’s got a motor all the time. We’re going to miss him and three other seniors next year,” Knight said. “I didn’t get a vote, so he was selected by other coaches and that says a lot about him.”

Knight was coaching in the all-star game for the first time and he was able to share in the experience with his students.

“It was a fun time,” he said. “There’s more talent in this league than I thought coming in.”

Plummer and Stewart added to their senior year achievements with the all-star selections as well. Both of them were named UCA All-Americans this past summer, and they also cheered during football season.

“Morgan has a storied past in cheerleading, and these girls started working hard the year before,” Thacker said. “They put a ton of time in. Those girls got every bit of what they deserved, and did a great job.”

Knight coached the all-star team and continues to pick up extra duties for the school. Knight is the school’s headmaster, and made his return to coaching varsity basketball this season. He lost one of his post players before the season started, and his primary scorer had a season ending injury midway through the schedule. Still, he found a way to put his team in positions to win and make a playoff run.

“You couldn’t ask anything more from him,” Thacker said. “He took them to the Final Four. The guys believed in what he was doing, and he did a fantastic job.”

Morgan Academy’s athletic program is having a standout year already, and the all-star selections adds to the list of accomplishments. The cheerleaders won the state championship this past summer. The football team won the more games this season (6) than it has since its 2011 season, and it advanced to the second round of the playoffs. The basketball team made it to the Final Four of the AISA state tournament, despite losing two key players early in the regular season.

The Morgan Academy community traveled to Montgomery as well to support the all-stars, according to Knight.

Fans of the Senators who have followed the teams’ success were in the stands at the Multiplex even though the game had no bearing on the final record.

“We had a great crowd,” Knight said. “I’d bet there were 25-30 people there from Morgan. I thought it was a good following for an all-star game. We’re a close-knit family, and they support every sport.”