Click the AUDIO button to hear Jack Hall's interview with Lillie Johnson.
ESCANABA---The Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame High School basketball all-star games were held last night at Bay College in Escanaba.
In the girls game, Gladstone's Lillie Johnson was named the MVP. She scored 19 points as the South All-Stars beat the North 71-66.
“It was a great experience to be in the Gladstone jersey one last time,” Johnson said after playing on the college floor where her father coached the Norse the last nine years and remains as the school's athletic director. “To be able to spend it with some of my past AAU teammates, on and against, it was just a great experience.”
Johnson went head-to-head against another top Upper Peninsula player, Janessa Eagle of the state champion Ishpeming Hematites. Eagle initially attended the Gladstone schools before bouncing around and landing in Ishpeming. That led to a rivalry that has led to some good-natured words being exchanged. That continued Wednesday night.
“We were comfortable with each other, so there was definitely some chirping back-and-forth, which made it a little more enjoyable, so it was fun,” Johnson said.
So, did Johnson run her mouth?
“Just a little at Jenessa,” she admitted. “I had to give her something. She was giving it right back. She gave it straight back to me. It was going back and forth.”
Johnson, the two-time Miss UP Basketball award winner, will play at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay this season, and she has been there for off-season workouts for the past four weeks. It has also been announced that the Duke Blue Devils, who made the NCAA Elite Eight this spring, will play UWGB each of the next two years. The games will be in Durham, NC, this upcoming season and in Green Bay the following year.
Eagle, meanwhile, is preparing for her college career at Michigan Tech University, where she will join Negaunee's Ella Mason, where she will play alongside Negaunee's Ella Mason and Aubrey Johnson for new Tech Coach Eric Gruber.
