Gracyn Hall of Randleman takes a shot during her senior season. (Randolph Record file photo)
Randleman basketball player’s father competed in football showcase
RANDLEMAN – Gracyn Hall will represent Randleman one more time in girls’ basketball.
It’s appropriate on many levels including a family connection to the North Carolina East-West All-Star Game.
Hall and Eastern Randolph’s Brecken Snotherly are among the players for the West team in Monday night’s game at the Greensboro Coliseum.
“Playing in this game is a very big thing,” Hall said. “Just to be nominated was an honor and then to be chosen for this is special.”
Hall wrapped up a Randleman career during which she racked up nearly 1,700 points.
And now she follows a path traveled by her father almost three decades ago. Tyler Hall was a Randleman quarterback and he was picked for the 1994 North Carolina East-West All-Star Game in football.
“It’s pretty cool, actually,” she said.
Hall, 18, is preparing to head Emory & Henry, where she’ll join the women’s basketball team. The 5-foot-11 player expects to be slotted as a small forward.
The East-West All-Star Game provides a nice connection from her high school career to college. In past years, recent months would have involved offseason competitions.
“Normally during the summer, I’m constantly competing in AAU and traveling,” Hall said. “So I’m trying to do things to get me ready for college and show why I was chosen for this game.”
Hall had a different kind of senior school year because she participated in two fall sports – tennis and golf. She teamed up with classmate Elizabeth York for a runner-up finish in Piedmont Athletic Conference doubles in her only season of girls’ tennis.
“It really helped my footwork and agility,” Hall said.
Randleman had an incredible two-year run in girls’ basketball that included PAC championships and advancing deep into the Class 2-A state playoffs. Hall’s participation in the East-West Game provides an extension of that.
She was a major low-post presence for the Tigers. She also could pop out to the perimeter and sink shots and that’s that versatility that she hopes carries into college.
“She did so many things for us,” said Brandon Varner, who was Randleman’s coach. “She’s so deserving to be playing in this game.”
Hall is proud of what was accomplished with Randleman and how it played out.
“The best part was I was able to go out there with my best friends and win games,” Hall said. “Knowing you did everything you could and got the most out of it.”
