ALBEMARLE — Awarded as a North Carolina Coaches Association All-Star, a Stanly County high school star athlete will be playing in an elite exhibition basketball game this weekend.
Senior point guard Amari Baldwin of the Albemarle Bulldogs girls’ basketball team was recently added to the girls’ roster for the 2025 Carolinas Classic All-Star Basketball Games.
Baldwin — a Winston-Salem State commit — is one of 10 players who received the prestigious honor of being included on the 2025 North Carolina Girls All-Stars roster.
The standout hoops team coached by North Johnston’s Jay Poole will face off against South Carolina’s squad at Wilmington’s Hoggard High School on Saturday with a 3 p.m. tip-off.
This annual event pairs together the top public high school senior boys and girls from North Carolina and South Carolina.
“We are honored to have the best high school basketball student-athletes from our states come to Wilmington,” Scott Early and Phil Weaver, executive directors of the South Carolina and North Carolina Coaches’ Associations, said in a combined statement. “They will not only compete at a high level in their respective games, but will be involved in outreach activities that touch youth and adults in the community.”
Throughout her four seasons in Albemarle, Baldwin has had her name attached to numerous superlatives, including the Yadkin Valley Conference Player of the Year, three-time All-Conference honors, two-time All-District honors, and a McDonald’s All-American nomination, among others.
In her last on-court action, she led the Bulldogs (25-5) with 32 points as her team fell short to eventual NCHSAA 1A state champion Cherokee (28-2) in a 69-50 fourth-round road loss on March 7.
With 2,446 career points, Baldwin now holds the all-time Stanly County record for the most points scored by a high school player.
The Carolinas Classic All-Star Games began in 1999 as a collaborative project between the North Carolina Coaches Association and the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association. Originally held at Winthrop College, the event relocated to Wilmington in 2018, where it has been played at Hoggard High School ever since.
Proceeds from this year’s games will benefit the SECU Family House in Wilmington; student-athletes involved in the event will also participate in community service events, including visits to two New Hanover County elementary schools to interact with students.
Tickets for the Carolinas Classic All-Star Games are available now for purchase online and are $10 for adults and $5 for children and students.