Ink on the rosters for the 2022-23 Lower Columbia senior All-Star game will barely be dry before tipoff after teams for the boys and girls games were finalized and announced Monday afternoon.
The annual event is a fundraiser for Lower Columbia College athletics with senior student athletes from area high school earning invites to showcase their skills one more time before their prep careers on the hardwood are officially over.
The girls teams will be divided between small schools (the B’s) and larger schools (the A’s), with Kelso’s Jen (Hamilton) Frost coaching the girls’ A Team.
The girl’s A Team will also see Kelso’s Lexi Grumbois suiting up one more time for her old coach. She will be joined by local players like Isabella Merzoian, Brooklyn Schlecht and Madi Noel from Mark Morris, Grace House of R.A. Long, and Riley Stading and Kenzi Bunger of Woodland along with honorary member Olivia McKinstry of Ilwaco.
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The girls’ B Team will be coached by former LCC point guard and current Adna coach Chris Bannish. That squad will be headlined by locals like Wahkiakum’s Reigha Niemeyer and Miya Kerstetter, along with Lauren Katyryniuk of Naselle.
The boys game will be broken up across a more level playing field with players from all classifications scattered across both rosters.
The Red Team will be coached by Wahkiakum’s recently resigned head coach Todd Souvenir. He will get one more shot to coach the Mules’ Brodie Avalon, who will be joined by a host of names that should be familiar to TDN readers.
That Red roster will include R.A. Long’s Cavin Holden, Jake Gabbard and Jaxon Cook, along with Deacon Dietz and Kobe Parlin of Mark Morris. The Reds will also feature Alex West of Ilwaco, along with Trystin Marine and James Montgomery of Castle Rock.
The White Team will also be coached by a man who recently announced his departure from the sideline, with Chad Cramer of Morton-White Pass working the clipboard one more time. The coach with the crisp white shoes will have area standouts like Kolten Lindstrom of Naselle, Blake Eastham of Kelso, and the Woodland trio of Beau Swett, Justin Philpot and Drew Burns at his disposal.
The girls’ game will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and the boys game will get started at 7:30 p.m. at Myklebust Gymnasium on the Lower Columbia College campus. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and military, and $5 for children age 16 and under. LCC booster club members will get in for free.
