Two Lee Academy seniors earned spots on MAIS All-Star teams for the second time during the 2019-20 school year.
Shooting guard and forward Brett Wilson (6 feet, 2 inches), who was also a football All-Star, will be on the Blue team in the Class 3A-4A-5A basketball game at 3 p.m. Friday at Jackson Prep. He averaged 18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists per game during his senior season. He was also the 3A North State All-Tournament team, District MVP and on the All-District team. He finished his career with 1,118 points, 609 rebounds, 303 steals, 206 assists and 208 blocks.
“It’s fun,” Wilson said. “It’s a real honor to play.”
Guard and forward Anna Byrd (5 feet, 7 inches), who was also a softball All-Star, will be on the Blue team in the Class 3A-4A-5A basketball game at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Jackson Prep. She averaged a double-double her senior season with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists per game and earned All-District honors. She finished her career with 1,225 points, 986 rebounds, 386 steals and 203 assists.
“It’s exciting,” Byrd said. “I’m proud to represent my school to play in the All-Star Game.
“It’s a great honor. It was a fun experience in softball, so I’m excited for basketball.”
Wilson and Byrd were both selected to compete in the 3-point contests at Madison Ridgeland Academy Thursday.
Both All-Stars are thinking about their futures as they leave for Jackson today.
“I hope to do well,” Wilson said. “Maybe some colleges will see me play and want me to play for them. “I have a couple schools I’d like to send my highlights to and they’ve been talking to our coach (Michael Peckham) about it.”
Wilson was not ready to name any specific schools at this time.
“I know a couple people on my team already, but I also don’t know a couple, so I’ll make some more friends and meet some more people,” Byrd said.
Byrd has already decided she will be continuing her basketball career at Mississippi College in Clinton next season. The Lady Choctaws are expected to be represented at the All-Star Game Friday.
“It’s close to the game,” Byrd said. “The coach is coming. I don’t know about any of the players.”
Athletics and academics both factored into Byrd’s decision to play for Mississippi College.
“It’s a great school,” she said. “I’m thinking about the medical route, pre-med, and it’s a good school.”
Looking back on their senior years, Wilson and Byrd felt the Colts and Fillies were successful, but did not reach their ultimate goal of winning a state championship.
The boys, however, did advance to the state tournament.
“It means a lot,” Wilson said. “We worked real hard. We came up a little short, though. I wish we won the state.”
Wilson’s best game came in December 2019 when he scored 27 points in a 79-69 win at home against district opponent Kirk Academy.
“It was fun,” he said. “It was a good game. It was a district game.”
Wilson would like to see the 2020-21 Colts build on the success of this past season.
“They’ve got a good chance, but they lost a lot of good people, a lot of seniors,” he said.
Byrd also felt, if the Fillies continue to work hard, their future could be bright. They advanced to the North State Tournament last season.
“We had a good season for our team,” she said. “This was the year that we had to work hard for it. We should have made it farther than we did, but I’m still proud of my team.”
One of Byrd’s best games came on senior night when Lee won 54-24 at home against Deer Creek School.
“I just had a good fun night to play, scored 23 on them,” she said.
The other game that stood out for Byrd came in the district tournament when she scored 15 points in a 50-39 win against Kirk Academy at Kirk.
“We all did well,” Byrd said. “We worked together as a team.”
