The Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center is pleased to officially announce it has been selected to serve as the new host site for the Louisiana High School Basketball Coaches Association Girls’ and Boys’ All-Star Games, scheduled for Saturday, March 24, 2007.

The event will bring 60 of the state’s best girl and boy basketball players, as well as over a dozen coaches and staff members, to Houma and the bayou region.  And with their families and fans in tow, the Civic Center is expected to welcome over 3000 spectators, who will witness, not one, but two battles of East versus West on the hard court.

Next year’s event will be different in more ways than one.  The All-Star basketball games will be played at the end of the high school basketball season, instead of the dead heat of July.  This will also be the first time in at least two decades that the All-Stars will play in an arena other than the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at LSU in Baton Rouge, and the first time the games are played in Houma.  Because of the Houma Civic Center’s winning proposal, the citizens of Terrebonne Parish now have the opportunity to showcase their hospitality to the entire state of Louisiana.

LHSBCA President Kathy Luke, who is also Girls Basketball Head Coach at Vandebilt Catholic High School, says she in particular wanted to bring the games home to Houma because of its people.  “This community supports basketball and other athletics and always pulls together.  I will be very excited for people from other parts of the state to see what this area has to offer,” says Luke.

The games themselves have a lot to offer.  You may get your chance to see another “All-American” from Louisiana, like Robert Parish, Don Chaney, Glen Davis, and Tasmin Mitchell.  Add to that list such notable players as Joe Dumars, Karl Malone, Bob Petit and Willis Reed.  The girls could very well outshine the boys, with Louisiana lady talents like Simone Augustus, Pokey Chatman, Kim Mulkey-Robertson, and Joyce Walker, just to name a few.

In conjunction with the All-Star Games, the LHSBCA is conducting a Coaches’ Clinic and 3-point competition for the players.  A schedule of events will be announced in the coming months.  In the meantime, the Houma Civic Center invites area businesses to get involved and help sponsor the Girls and Boys All-Star Games.  If your business would like to participate, please call Lori Toups, Sales Manager, at 985-850-4657.