Rashod Bateman

TIFTON — For taking the Fitzgerald’s Lady Purple Hurricane to their best season ever, head coach Earl Brown will reap the rewards this weekend.

Brown has been picked to coach the South’s senior girls team in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association All-Star game, which takes place Saturday at 1 p.m. at Brunswick High.

Admittedly quite surprised by his selection, Brown said, “I will take it.”

“This is an accomplishment a lot of coaches want.”

Fitzgerald finished 22-3 in 2017, advancing to Class AA’s elite eight before being defeated by eventual runners-up, Rabun County.

Going into the season, Fitzgerald had only won a single state tournament game in its history. The team set records with its first ever region championship, in wins and for its first 100-point game (101-23 over Irwin County).

“I tell the kids you have nothing to hang your head about,” said Brown. “We’ve made some big leaps at Fitzgerald.”

Upon learning of his honor as All-Star coach, Brown went to work on putting together a roster.

He began with size.

“The way I selected my team,” he said, “I started with post players.”

Three of the South’s roster is listed as being 6 feet or taller: Andeija Puckett of Griffin (6’2”), and Tatyana Wyatt and Ariyah Copeland, both of Columbus and both listed at 6’3”.

Most of his other athletes are equally capable of posting up, including Tift County’s selection to the senior girls’ team, Audrey McElhaney.

This will be McElhaney’s second All-Star game; she played in the junior game in 2016. She scored more than 300 points during her senior season, including a career high 32 against Hillgrove in her final game.

Brown marveled at the rest of his roster.

“These kids are averaging 20-point games,” he said. “Most have already signed scholarships.”

Possibly the best known of the South team is Que Morrison, a guard and small forward from Class AAAAAAA state champs McEachern. Morrison signed with the University of Georgia, just one of several major colleges with representatives on Brown’s roster.

Lyndsey Whilby, Morrison’s teammate at McEachern, is going to Texas Tech. Copeland is going to Alabama, Wyatt is going to Kentucky and Puckett will play for Cincinnati.

Others selected are: Julianne Brown (Bryan County), Jasmine Robinson (Richmond Academy), Khamiya Blackshear (Brunswick) and Alexis Pierce (Johnson of Savannah).

Brown said his roster is still subject to change.

One of his original picks, he said, will be at her senior prom Saturday.

Assistants for the team, he said, will be Antonio Wade of Thomasville and Maria Mangram of Brunswick.

Tift head coach Julie Conner believes McElhaney is the first of her Lady Devils to be invited to two All-Star games.

Conner will also be going to the games, serving as assistant coach for a junior team being head coached by Mandy Lingenfelter of Ware County.

Last year, Conner was head coach of the junior squad.

After being invited by Lingenfelter, Conner did not know if she would be able to help out, considering her role last year. But she said she was encouraged to participate by Buford’s head girls coach, Gene Durden.

Brown will have one of his own players in the junior game, Kirstin Crook.

Among the area players on that roster are Colquitt County’s Diamond Hall and Za’Nautica Downs.

Conner said Kaysie Harrelson of Tift County was asked to play in the game, but Harrelson had golf obligations with the Lady Devils.

Tift County will have two more representatives in Saturday’s junior boys game at 3 p.m. and the senior boys game at 5 p.m.

Fresh off a hot state tournament, Rashod Bateman will be on the junior team. Preston Horne will be on the senior roster.

Horne scored 699 points his senior year and averaged 21.9 points per game. He has signed with Virginia Tech.

Bateman began attracting attention during the state tournament. He hit four three-pointers in the second half to help Tift pull away from Berkmar in the second round. He saved his best performance of the year for the finals, scoring 18 against Norcross in a 55-52 win.