Alden-Hebron cancels its basketball All-Star games due to ongoing pandemic

Alden-Hebron took great pride in making the McHenry County Area All-Star Basketball Extravaganza a top-notch event for area boys and girls players every April.

So it was with dismay that A-H athletic director John Lalor announced Wednesday that the event has been canceled for this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also wiped out last year’s games as well.

Usually, the Extravaganza provided a day of basketball at A-H’s Tigard Gymnasium where the best seniors got to compete on the court one more time. The girls went first, the boys played later in the afternoon and there were 3-point contests for both and a dunk contest for the boys.

Before each game, there were team and individual photos taken and players received a plaque with the photos commemorating their participation.

The committee for the event met Tuesday night and decided not to have it this year.

“Right now, we can’t give (the players) what they deserve,” Lalor said. “We don’t want to bring kids together and mess up multiple schools in other sports going on.”

Lalor still wants to recognize the athletes, so he will send area coaches nominating forms, select and announce the teams and coaches who would have participated.

“I just don’t want to put anybody in a bad spot right now,” Lalor said. “Hopefully we’ll come back next year bigger and better.”