Etiwanda’s Grace Knox and Aliyahna “Puff” Morris join Mater Dei’s Addie Deal as California selections for McDonald’s All-American girls basketball game

Etiwanda High teammates Grace Knox and Aliyahna “Puff” Morris, along with Mater Dei standout Addie Deal were among the 24 athletes selected to compete April 1 in the McDonald’s All-American girls basketball game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Deal, an Iowa commit, is the seventh female athlete in Mater Dei program history to be chosen to compete in the annual event, including the first since Brooke Demetre in 2021.

Addie Deal interview

Knox, an LSU signee, and the Cal-bound Morris follow the selection last year of Kennedy Smith in representing Etiwanda.

Knox and Morris are the eighth set of California teammates to be selected in the same year in the history of the contest.

Grace Knox, left, and Aliyahna ” Puff” Morris of Etiwanda girls basketball | Photo courtesy of Etiwanda

The last teammates from a California girls basketball program to be selected were Breya Cunningham and Jada Williams from La Jolla Country Day in 2023.

Mater Dei was the last CIF-Southern Section school to have two competitors chosen to participate in the McDonald’s All-American game, with Jordan Adams and Nirra Fields in 2012.

The Monarchs boast the most girls basketball selections of any California school in event history.

The only state with more athletes than California participating in the McDonald’s All-American girls contest this year is Florida with five competitors on the East roster.

Colorado and Texas both have two selections to support the California trio on the West roster.

The Sprite JamFest is scheduled for March 31, with the 3-point shootout, slam dunk contest and knockout game part of the festivities.

The inaugural McDonald’s All-American boys basketball game took place in 1977, with the girls contest added to the schedule in 2002.

California has been represented by at least one female athlete on the West roster in every game thus far since the event was created.