All-Stars to battle at Valley

James Yodice

Friday, June 6, 1997 | 5:47 a.m.

In a few weeks, they'll scatter from Montana to Georgia, from San Diego to Fort Worth. And high school will start to become a distant memory.

But for at least 32 minutes Saturday night, they'll all be together -- for the first and last time.

Clark County's best senior boys basketball players from the 1996-97 season will be on display at Valley High School in the 15th annual Sunrise vs. Sunset All-Star Classic.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for children.

Among those scheduled to play are Durango's Thomas McTyer, the Southern Conference player of the year, Shane Christensen and Kendall Soares from Class 4A state champion Bishop Gorman, and Basic's explosive scoring machine, Damon Caldwell.

Actually, it is Caldwell's Sunrise Division teammates who are under the gun.

They'll be up against the likes of McTyer, who is headed for Texas Christian; Christensen, bound for Montana; Durango's Tyler Kidd, off to Georgia Southern; and Carr, who recently signed with the University of San Diego.

Soares will attend Salt Lake Community College next fall.

The Sunrise's star attraction is Caldwell, who led Clark County in scoring average last season. The Nevada-Reno bound Caldwell, a 6-foot-3 guard/forward, is perhaps the most exciting player in this game.

But unheralded players from last season, like Rancho's Arthur Ireland, can use the game to show off considerable skills. Ireland, a 6-2 guard, is headed for the University of Denver, a Division I program, next season.

Sunrise regular-season winner Las Vegas has three players on the team: 6-1 forward Greg Rogers, 6-2 guard Lucas LeCour and 6-3 swingman Corey Kauffman. Both of Valley's outstanding guards, 5-6 LaRontae Johnson and 6-0 Jevon Banks, also will play.

The assistant coaches from Las Vegas are leading the Sunrise Division, while Gorman's assistants are in charge of the Sunset. The coaching staffs are determined by which teams won this past season's regular-season division titles.

There will be a slam-dunk competition and 3-point shooting contest at halftime.

The spring league championship game (Western vs. Rancho) precedes the all-star game at 5 p.m.