The 2010 ABCA All Star Game came off without a hitch at Southwestern College after being forced out of US Airways Arena due to Game 6 of the Lakers/Suns series. Southwestern Head Coach Rick Roth, always a strong supporter of the ABCA offered his gym last second when Art Hall inquired and also provided generous hospitality through his own staff of concession workers.

The gym proved to be just what the doctor ordered this year for the ABCA's needs and was in a central location at 26th St. and Cactus Rd. in North Phoenix. Roth who has spoken at the ABCA Coaches Clinic in October touts his intimate team, which competes at the NCCAA (Christian schools) level , as true student-athletes, all of whom go to class and hit the books, many of whom have jobs, and a few lucky ones even have time for girlfriends. The NAIA recently recognized the athletic program as a Champions of Character Institution which is a rigorous program of ethics education for student/athletes and coaches.

This was the first time in recent history that all of the ABCA girls and boys games were held on the same day and also the first year that there has been a girls underclassmen game for all conferences.

The ABCA Coaches and Players of the Year for each conference were honored with plaques at halftime of the games in what has become a highly prized honor for all due to the selections being made by the state's coaches. Each player kept their uniforms and T-shirts and DVDs of each game were also made available to families and friends.

Many coaches contribute their time and efforts to make these games possible but it all starts with the ABCA leadership and staff of Executive Director Art Hall, Associate Director Dustin Cooper, and the Conference Board Members Todd Fazio (5A1), Mike Wirth (5A2), Michael Steward (4A1), Will Worosylla (4A2), Ricky Greer (3A), Bob Fredericks (2A), and Dallas Luttrell (1A). Coaches Stephan Neal, Brock Cooper, Alan Lambert, and Southwestern's Asst. AD Marshall Tague also pitched in to help. The ABCA Board has already passed a new bylaw creating the same ledership positions for the girls coaches of each conference to be filled this year. Any girls coach who is interested should feel free to contact Art or Dustin.

The games provide an opportunity for many of Arizona’s best players to get more recognition and to just have fun playing the game they love with new friends from across the state. The AZ Republics Girl’s Big School POY Rebecca Woodberry (Nebraska) led all scorers in the 4A-5A game with 26 while two Navajo Nation girls, named to the AZ Republic HM teams led all in the 1A-3A Senior and Underclassmen girl's games with Nicole Tsosie (Sr. Chinle) with 29 and Jasmine Taliman (Jr. Ganado) with 16. East Valley girls Jennifer Otteson (Hamilton) had 19 and Jennifer Schlott (Mesa Mountain View) had 16 while Alli Gloyd (South) had 13.

Not only were some of the best boys players in AZ suited up for the games but their personal stories of triumph against adversity this year were nothing short of amazing and having them on the court together to play and celebrate their last high school game was a once in a lifetime moment for many families. All of these gutsy players came together for one last moment to do what they love and put on a show for the growing crowd of between 1,500-2,000 on the day.

Hayden Johnson (Harding Univ.) from SCA suffered a collapsed lung yet returned to lead his team to the 2A championship. Devonte Malcolm (Jr. Buena) suffered the loss of his mother just before the season as had Daniel Bejarano (Uof A) his father before leading North to an unprecedented state championship after moving up to the highest conference.

Derek Owens (McClintock) came back from life threatening heart surgery to lead the Chargers to a title as Ryan Crane (Wetern NM) and Alex Dykhuizen (Western NM) of Boulder Creek led them to their first ever gold ball after clawing back from devastating off season injuries and the loss of a Boulder Creek dancer and close friend Taylor Wisdom in an ATV accident.

Junior Larry Lewis from Arcadia (USC) may have had the game of the day with 30 points in the boys 1A-5A underclassmen game not to be eclipsed by the clutch performance of Corey Hawkins (ASU) in the senior game leading his team to victory with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Strong (Phoenix College) and Bejerano had the play of the day on a breakaway toss high off the glass by Strong for a thunderous two handed slam dunk by Bejarano in the big school game.

Owens won the 3 point shooting title while Michael Perez (Sr. Pueblo) and Bryce Cotton (Sr. Palo Verde) fought a brilliant slam dunk finale with the final vote of the four judges going to Perez by one point in the closest ABCA slam dunk contest ever. Levi Antonio represented the Apache Nation with a strong 16 point effort while backcourt duo Lester Medford (Amphi) and Tim Derksen (Amphi) combined for a dazzling 37 points, and Terrel Stoglin (Maryland), 19 points, represented the Tucson area with spectacular play at the PG position.

Danny Powell (Jr. Mesa) led the East Valley players with 20 points while Dustin Donaldson (Round Valley) with 19 and Kevin Cox (Sedona) with 15 led the small school players from Northern Arizona.

With the Summer club season, subsequent college recruiting, and college team camps looming in the near future the games take on an air of the pure joy of playing the game at the HS level. Thanks to the efforts of the ABCA these games will only continue to get better over the years.