LUCEDALE — The George County boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will host East Central, North Forrest and Poplarville Monday and Tuesday afternoon in the First Annual Rudolph Sellers Invitational Thanksgiving Tournament in Sellers Gymnasium in Lucedale. The tournament honors legendary Coach Rudolph Sellers who coached the boys’ and girls’ basketball programs at George County High School for 32 years.
The tournament gets going on Monday at 10 am with the Poplarville Lady Hornets taking on East Central with the boys’ contest set for 11:30. The George County Lady Rebels take the floor at 1 pm hosting North Forrest with the boys’ contest to follow at 2:30. Tuesday’s schedule begins at 10 am with girls’ consolation game followed by the boys at 11:30. The girls’ championship is set for 1 pm followed by the boys’ championship at 2:30 pm.
Coach Sellers began his coaching career in 1964 when he was hired to lead the Lady Rebels program. From 1985 to 1988, he coached both the boys’ and girls’ squads at George County and finished his illustrious career coaching the boys’ team only from 1989 to 1996. His 1976 Lady Rebels team won the Class A State Championship and the Lady Rebels made a pair of state championship appearances in 1979 and 1980. Those teams were led by High School All-American Janice Lawrence, who went on to win a National Championship at Louisiana Tech and a Gold Medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Lawrence was also a #1 draft pick of the WNBA’s Cleveland Rockers.
Coach Sellers’ boys’ team won 42 consecutive division games from 1986 thru 1988 and had teams led by Kelvin Lawrence and Eric Moulds that made appendences in the State quarterfinals in the Jackson Coliseum. Current Rebel Head Coach Terry Bradley played for Coach Sellers and says the tournament is an opportunity for the community and school to pay tribute to the legendary coach. “I had the opportunity to play for Coach Sellers and he had a huge impact on my decision to go into coaching,” Bradley said.
Coach Sellers was named Coach of the Year on 12 different occasions and in 2013 he was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Coach Sellers retired with a career record of 638 wins and 382 losses.
Here is the full schedule for the event:
Monday (all games played at Sellers Gym)
10:00 am — Poplarville vs. East Central (girls)
11:30 am — Poplarville vs. East Central (boys)
1:00 pm — North Forrest vs. George County (girls)
2:30 pm — North Forrest vs. George County (boys)
Tuesday
10:00 am — Girls’ Consolation
11:30 am — Boys’ Consolation
1:00 pm — Girls’ Championship
2:30 pm — Boys’ Championship
