Longtime coach Jack Weaver has been behind the bench for 20 Chautauqua County Senior All-Star girls basketball games, and will be stepping down from his post following the most recent contest which saw the White team prevail over Green, 76-46, at Cassadaga Valley Central School on Wednesday night.

In his final game coaching the finest senior players from around the area, Weaver’s Green squad came up on the losing end against Most Valuable Player Chrisanna Green and the rest of the hot-shooting White team.

As you would expect, Weaver will leave his position with fond memories of the many games he has had the privilege to coach, including Wednesday’s event which benefited St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

“They are all special,” Weaver said looking back on the 20 senior games. “(The players) all try so hard and they have all had good coaching. It is just a nice experience.”

Weaver was honored at halftime Wednesday night following the evening’s 3-point shooting contest, which was won by Hannah Cybart from Fredonia with good performances also coming from Maddie Sullivan of Southwestern and Taylor Phelps of Chautauqua Lake.

While Green may have been playing her final high school game not wearing her preferred red and green of Jamestown, the standout for the Lady Red Raiders still had the benefit of running the floor with teammates Petyon Butts and Dazjah Coleman.

Green led the way with 24 points from the floor in her MVP effort while Coleman picked up 14 points and fired home a pair of 3s as well.

Butts was her typical self, dishing out assists to her teammates and playing spirited defense as she has all year long.

“They are phenomenal athletes,” said White coach Emily Eckwahl. “Just the way they see each other and find each other on the court is really impressive and fun to watch.”

The White team broke out to a quick lead early in the first 20-minute half as Coleman fed Natalie Houle of Sherman for an open 3 before Green set to work in the paint.

Leading the response for the Green team was Fredonia’s Morgan Genovese, who knocked down back-to-back treys on her way to a team-high 17 points in the loss.

“Morgan is very talented. She is headed to Niagara for soccer,” Weaver said of his leading scorer.

As good as Genovese was from beyond the arc, notching four buckets in total, the White team was shooting well across the board.

Eckwahl’s team cruised to victory thanks to 3s by Green, Kate Myers of Sherman, Danon Pischera of Falconer and Maddy Crandall of Dunkirk.

Coleman and Green were the only players to make it into double figures on Wednesday, while Courtney Hewes of Chautauqua Lake supplemented scoring with six points and Houle finished with eight.

“It is great to be able to play with girls that I have never played with before,” Green said after collecting her newest trophy. “Some of the girls I know playing against them during summer league, but it is nice to get some chemistry with girls I’ve never met. We’ve never played together before so it’s nice to be able to come out with a win.

“It’s an all-star game so you have to give it your all, have fun. So it was nice to see everyone hustling and playing hard.”

After entering halftime on the wrong side of a 38-17 score, the Green team came out ready to go in the second half and was able to pull within 13 points thanks to some good post play by Southwestern’s Lucy Pannes, who finished with 11 points.

Helping that late run were key buckets by Paige Bentham of Maple Grove and Alex Bentham of Pine Valley as well as the continued offense from Genovese.

“It would be nice to have a team like that for a full year,” Weaver added.

In all, Wednesday night offered the area’s seniors and basketball fans alike one more chance to enjoy the game they love before heading into the long-awaited spring sports season.

“It’s an awesome experience,” Eckwahl said. “All of a sudden the name on the front of their jerseys doesn’t matter, you know what school they are playing for, so it’s nice to see them all come together in the name of basketball really.”