Russellville’s Copeland selected for AHSAA North-South All-Star Game

Coming off a stellar junior season, Russellville High School girls’ basketball player Ella Copeland has been awarded yet another honor, recognizing the talent she displays on the court: on Thursday, Copeland was announced as one of 15 rising seniors to represent the North All-Stars in the upcoming AHSAA North-South All-Star Girls’ Basketball Game in July.

“This is a very special group of high school basketball players in the AHSAA,” J.T. Lawrence, Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association (AHSADCA), said in a press release. “As usual, the North-South selection committee did an outstanding job selecting the team. It was a difficult job because the pool of outstanding juniors to pick from were outstanding once again.”

Asked about being chosen as a North All-Star, Copeland said it was a result in large part due to her time in the gym and in training. In addition, she said, she’s looking forward to all the opportunities being a part of All-Star Week entails.

“Being selected as an All-Star shows that the countless hours I’ve spent in the gym and with my trainer, Coach Rayfield (Ragland), and my high school coaches are starting to pay off,” Copeland told the Franklin Free Press.

“I hope to gain exposure from college coaches through this experience, as well as the opportunity to play with and against many talented girls in the state of Alabama!”

Copeland’s head coach at Russellville High School, Jermaine Groce, concurred with his standout guard; her All-Star selection is a laurel she has earned through much hard work and commitment to her craft on the court.

“(The All-Star Game) represents the best of what girls basketball has to offer in this state, so for one of own—Ella—to be selected to represent this area and our school system, it’s a great honor,” Groce said. “Ella is well-deserving; her commitment, her dedication and her work ethic continues to shine through. Even after picking up an honor like that, she was texting me this morning (Thursday) to get into the gym because she’s never satisfied and always wants to continue to push the envelope.

“I’m super happy for her to be able to go down there and be in that environment with some of the best in the state, experience that week of practice and play on the court with some of those players and coaches that have set the standard super high in girls basketball,” he added. “I’m just super proud of her and happy that she gets the opportunity to represent Russellville in that event.”

Averaging 25 points per game this past season, Copeland was instrumental in Russellville’s run to its first Northwest Regional appearance in over 15 years. She set the Lady Golden Tigers’ program record for points in a season (801), reached the 2,000 career points milestone during the 2025-26 campaign and was most recently named to the Class 5A All-State Third Team by the Alabama Sports Writers Association after being an Honorable Mention in 2024-25. She was the first Lady Golden Tiger to receive All-State Team recognition since Ashley Dunstan in 2015 and just the third in program history. Copeland has been a Franklin Free Press All-Franklin County First Team selection the last two years and was also named the AEA Institute Winter Sport Mental Athlete of the Year in March.

The North All-Stars will be coached by Justin Aby from Good Hope High School, Rebecca Williams from Winterboro High, and Tim Miller from St. John Paul II Catholic School. The 30th annual AHSAA North-South All-Star Girls’ Basketball Game is set to be played during AHSAA All-Star Week July 20-24.