It may be oversimplifying things, but the South wants to fly and the North prefers to be sly for tonight's North-South All-Star Basketball Classic.

The smaller South squad, stocked with guards, seeks to jack up the tempo of the game as well as the number of possessions, while the taller North wants to use its height advantage to get good shots and hit the boards.

Whichever side succeeds more will likely emerge with a victory in tonight's game, the 28th since the series resumed in 1983. Tipoff is expected at about 7:45 at the South Charleston Community Center, following the skills contests that start at 7 (free-throw shooting, 3-pointers, slam dunks).

Traditionally, the North is the underdog - the South has won 22 of 27 games since the series restarted - but not this year.

The North, which has won two of the last three games, comes in with most of the advantages - 12 players on its roster to the South's 11, five players 6-foot-4 or taller compared to the South's two and seven players who averaged 19 or more points last season to the South's two.

All of which means the South needs to use its quickness and athleticism to speed up the game and make up for those deficiencies.

"It favors us,'' South co-coach Jerry Bradley said of a fast tempo.

"The difference in the game is kind of what we faced at Greenbrier East. People tell me, 'You've got four guards. How are you going to guard all of those big guys?' What I say to people - and I think it presents the same thing with the North - I want to turn that around and say, 'How are you going to guard our little guys?' I think that makes for a neat matchup and an exciting game. Our goal is to get over 100 points and hold them under 100 - as many 3-pointers and dunks as we can get.''

North co-coach Mike Granato of Weir looks at his roster, brimming with players like 6-8 Chase Fieler of Parkersburg South, 6-7 Sam Runner of Morgantown and 6-6 Morgan McDonald of Musselman - and savors the possibilities.

"We've got kids 6-6, 6-7, 6-8 that are capable of playing out on the wing or in the post,'' Granato said. "For an all-star game, that's a pretty good thing because the South has some great guards. They're guard-heavy, with some decent post guys. I think it'll be an exciting game for the fans, and hopefully we can put on a good show.''

Granato agrees that dictating the pace of the game will be vital for both teams.

"Absolutely,'' he said. "We spent a lot of time at our first practice on underneath out of bounds situations and side out of bounds situations. You've got to take advantage in a game where it has to be all man-to-man [defense]. We'll try to take advantage of our height a little bit and maybe get some easy buckets there.

"I think the big thing in an all-star game is you've got to really hit the glass. There are a lot of long rebounds, a lot of 3-point shots. You've got to turn those missed 3-point shots into layups down at the other end.''

Only twice in 27 years has the winning team in the North-South game failed to score 100 points. That places a premium on hustle plays - steals leading to fast breaks or offensive rebounds and stickbacks.

Bradley thinks his team is up for the challenge.

"This game, it's all about fun,'' he said, "but you can tell we're going to play hard.

"I'm very impressed with just the competitiveness of our guys, the spirit they play with in the workouts. This is about fun, but at the same time, we don't want this to be just an exhibition. People pay money, so we want it to be a game. We've talked to them about being an all-stater and having a little pride, anyway, so if we play a little defense, too, I think we can create a lot of offense with the defense because we're quick and athletic.''

The South sports just two first-team all-staters - Bradley's own Jalen Walker of Greenbrier East (AAA) and Craig Ponder of Bluefield (AA). The North has four - Fieler and T.J. Thompson of Preston (AAA) and the single-A duo of Cole Cwynar from Parkersburg Catholic and Zach Moore of Calhoun County.

The teams have one more workout scheduled from 9-11 a.m. today (North at SC High School, South at the Community Center). Granato was pleased with his players' overall conditioning at Friday's first practice.

"I was really impressed with the kids coming in here,'' Granato said. "I was a little unsure what kind of shape everybody would be in - if they're in basketball shape. This time of year, you've got a lot of guys going to the beach and that type thing. But everybody came in ready to play. Everybody came in pretty decent shape.''

The South Charleston Athletic Boosters will award two $1,000 college scholarships during the game, one to a player on each team.

Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or rickr...@wvgazette.com.