Woods piles up points, wins MVP honors
By LARRY HILLIARD Ledger Sports Editor larry@gaffneyledger.com

Gaffney's Johnny Woods was named the MVP of the Spartanburg Tip-Off Boys All-Star Game on Friday.

Gaffney's Johnny Woods finished his basketball career in a big way on Friday.

Woods scored 24 points to lead the East to a 106-95 win over the West and earn the MVP award at the Spartanburg Tip-Off Boys All-Star Game Friday at USC Upstate.

Broome's Rashad Watson and Spartanburg's Requintin Miller each scored 22 points for the East.

Woods, who averaged 11 points and nearly six rebounds a game for the Indians, said his top concern was winning the game.

"I'm happy I got it but I just came out here wanting to win so we could show we are the best all-star team over here," said Woods, who signed a grant-in-aid to play football at Hutchinson Junior College.

But Woods wasn't the only Indian to shine at the event. Jazz Palmer, who averaged 11 points and three assists this season, hit 4 of 5 threepointers to win the 3-point shooting contest.

"It was just a fun game for them," said Gaffney High coach Mark Huff, who attended the game. "They both said at the luncheon before the game they wanted to go and just have fun."

"I was happy to see Jazz win the 3-point contest and Johnny win the MVP," Huff added. "Johnny plays hard and he got a lot of his baskets posting up. Jazz didn't score a lot but he played real unselfishly and dished it off to everybody."

The East All-Stars were made up of players from Gaffney, Chesnee, Broome, Spartanburg and Union County.

Palmer also participated in the Boys FCA Greenville County/Spartanburg County All-Star Challenge on Saturday.