The 38th Annual Via All-Star Classic tipped off at Northampton Community College Saturday, pitting teams from the Lehigh Valley Conference, Colonial League and Mountain Valley Conference against each other.

On the girls side, the Lehigh Valley West all-stars, comprised of players from Allen, Central Catholic, Dieruff, Emmaus, Parkland and Whitehall high schools took on a team of stars from the Colonial League, with players from Bangor, Palisades, Palmerton, Northwestern, Notre Dame Green Pond, Salisbury, Southern Lehigh and Wilson, with the LVC stars coming away with a 63-61 win.

Meanwhile, the boys all-star team from the same LVC schools downed a team of all-stars from the Colonial League, featuring players from Bangor, Catasauqua, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Notre Dame - Green Pond, Palisades, Salisbury and Wilson. The LVC boys picked up a win in that matchup in an exciting 105-95 game.

Emmaus' Maraya Bowen scored three points in the LVC girls win, while Derek Tannous scored 16 and Dan Brndjar scored six for the LVC boys.

All of the players agreed that while they battled on the court, they also played with a lot of respect for the other players and made sure to have fun playing alongside players that they were more used to playing against.

"I had a lot of fun; I got to play basketball again," said Bowen after the game. "We never all played together before, but the chemistry was just there. It was amazing."

It was also an interesting send off for seniors, because they played the game under college rules, playing two 20-minute halves and using a shot clock.

"It was interesting to play in a game like this," said Tannous. "You're running the whole time, lots of shots, lots of passing, it was fun. I liked the shot clock. Teams can't hesitate. They have to shoot it right away."

The girls game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Colonial League jumping out to a 10-0 lead and not allowing the LVC to hit a basket for the first 5:30 of the game. From there, the LVC rattled off the next 11 points to grab a one-point lead. Again, the Colonial League battled back late in the first-half to 30-24 at the break.

The LVC came out and took command with an 8-2 run to tie the game and then holding off a late charge to pick up the win.

When the boys took the court, it was the Lehigh Valley West that jumped out to an early lead and led by as many as 27, but the Colonial League team fought back, cutting the lead to just five points late in the game. Whitehall's Tony Bellucci hit six three-pointers in the first-half to open up a big lead, only to have the Colonial League battle back in the second half and cut the LVC lead down to just five points. Bellucci led all scorers with 23 points.

Allen's R.J. Fletcher sealed the Colonial League's fate when he slammed home a big-time dunk with just 30 seconds left to put the LVC up by 15.

The teams were made up of players voted into the game by media members from area outlets. That same group of voters assembled the Team of the Year lineup, Player of the Year honors and Scholar Athletes.

Northwestern's Sara Jones was the girls Player of the Year, while Gerald Terry of Wilson was the boys Player of the Year. The Scholar Athlete Awards went to Bridget Smith of Bethlehem Catholic and Josh Eden of Northern Lehigh.