For one night, Raider Gymnasium morphed into a mixture of Wake Forest’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum; the RBC Center; the Dean Dome; and Cameron Indoor Stadium as some of the best players from the ACC stopped in Rockingham on the latest stop of the 32nd Annual ACC Barnstorming Tour.

The score of the game between the ACC All-Stars and the Sandhills All-Stars, a collection of local high school stars? Not that important. But the ACC stars held off a furious late charge by the Sandhills All-Stars to escape with a 91-78 victory in front of a crowd estimated at about 1,500.

It was a cool way to wrap up his high school career, according to Richmond Senior’s Anthony Keane.

“They were a lot bigger and stronger than I thought they’d be,” Keane said of the ACC hoopsters. “But we had a lot of fun out there, and we helped raise some money for some good causes.”

This year’s crop of ACC seniors included Jon Scheyer from Duke, a first-team all-ACC selection; Ishmael Smith from Wake Forest, a second-team all-ACC choice; and 2009 National Champions Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson from UNC.

Duke’s Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas; N.C. State’s Dennis Horner and Farnold Degand; and Wake Forest’s L.D. Williams, Chas McFarland and David Weaver rounded out the rest of this one-of-a-kind team.

For Zoubek, the tour is a way to bring ACC basketball to the entire state.

“We know we have fans all over North Carolina, and this is a chance for us to get out there, have some fun, and help people at the same time,” Zoubek said.

Zoubek and his teammate, Lance Thomas, missed the first half, because they were in Durham for the Durham Bulls’ home opener. Zoubek, Thomas and Jon Scheyer all threw out ceremonial first pitches.

“Mine was the best, though,” Zoubek said with a smile.

After a long drive to Rockingham, it was time to play some basketball. Zoubek and Thomas were introduced to a mixture of applause and boos, and both brought at least the Duke fans to their feet with some crowd-pleasing plays in the second half.

The Sandhills All-Stars, meanwhile, included:

Richmond County: Quinton Quick, Brian Love, Tedarrius Wiley, Kasheem Reid, Jide Riddick and Anthony Keane;

Pinecrest: Julian Brewer, Daquaon Towns, Cedrick Threadgill and Harron Carson;

Scotland County: Mo Covington, Dominique Clarke, Lamar McIntyre, Lamont Brown, Trey Edwards, Otis Cromartie and Antoine Deese.

The event gave the local players a once-in-a-lifetime chance to step on the court with the best the ACC has to offer.



Fans had one last chance to see all their favorite players in action one last time before they graduate and move on to the next chapter of their lives.



Head Coaches David Laton, Mike Ritchie and Mike Apple manned the sidelines. Laton said it was a fun experience for all.



“We substituted all night long, and the guys got to play with their teammates, as well as with some of the other guys,” Laton said.



Proceeds from the event benefitted the Ronald McDonald House and the Richmond Senior High School Athletic Department.





Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.