“Being on an All-Star team gave me more confidence because I got to play with great players. I had confidence that we would win it all,” senior Kaden Castillo said. 

Not many people get the opportunity to play in The Golden Spread All-Star games. In this case, seniors Evan Deleon, Sayler Beerwinkle, and Kaden Castillo did. The All-Star teams were made up of the top 40 girls and top 40 boys in the panhandle, which are split up into four teams of ten people on each. On April 7th and 9th, they played in the All-Star tournament at the West Texas A&M gym in Canyon.  

The Golden Spread All Star Games was founded in 1979, Coach Jeri Been Goodman got to be apart of the 1985 team. 

“Because of COVID they didn’t get to celebrate the 50th year anniversary, and they honored all the ex’s,” Goodman said. “I got to go down there as a 1985 Golden Spread All-Star.” 

Being on an All-Star team helped these seniors, not only as athletes but at having good sportsmanship, gaining friends, and also by giving them self-confidence.  

“Playing with these girls did help me,”Beerwinkle said. “There are a few that are already committed to play in college so I knew I was gonna have a decent team, and I did. I was thankful to be part of it, I also gained a few friends from it!” 

It also gave them the experience of playing against students from bigger and sometimes better schools. 

“Playing in the AAU tournaments develops you as a player because you are playing against 1A-6A school, instead of just 1A,” Deleon said. 

Thursday night Beerwinkle played on the South Golden Spread All-Star Team against the East Golden Spread All-Star team. Winning by 20 points, they advanced to the championship game on Saturday. 

“I didn’t play on Saturday due to Area Livestock judging and prom, but my team did win the All-Star tournament, and I was thankful to be a part of it,” Beerwinkle said. 

Deleon and Castillo played a great game on Friday and Saturday. They both played on the same team, which they see as an advantage. 

“On Friday it was a very fun and energetic game,” Castillo said. “We won and that’s all that matters but sharing the court with Evan once again was by far the best moment.” 

Although Castillo didn’t play on Saturday due to prom, Deleon still showed up and played like he knew he could winning the championship game with the score of 129-89. 

“I tried to get to prom as soon as I could since it was supposed to be 6pm-12am but that ended up being as soon as everyone was leaving,” Deleon said. “I played good on Saturday too, but the game wasn’t as competitive because we won by 40.”