West holds off late East surge

Diggins & Ruffin-Pratt share MVP honors

BankUnited Center - Coral Gables, FL

Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S., IN – Notre Dame) (l) and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt (T.C. Williams H.S., VA - North Carolina) were names Co-MVP's of the game.

Coral Gables, FL – Once again the McDonald’s All-American game gave us a glimpse into the future of women’s basketball as 22 of the best players in America squared off at the BankUnited Center on the campus of “The U” in warm Coral Gables, FL.

As in most cases during all-stars games the guard match-ups are usually the most intriguing and it was no different this evening.

You had China Crosby (Manhattan Center for Science and Math, NY - Virginia) going heads up against Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S., IN – Notre Dame) and even thou the match-up didn’t materialize like I really wanted to see it, it was still pretty exciting. Crosby picked up three fouls in the first half and that really limited what she could do.

Then there was the “Show Me Whatcha Got” match-up between Eliza Pierre (John Muir H.S., CA - California) and Erica Wheeler (Parkway Academy, FL - Rutgers) as both dipped into their “And-1” bags for a little crowd pleasing one-on-one action.

Now you have Pierre and Wheeler who will make you look bad while showing you up and then there is Dara Taylor (Caravel Academy, FL - Maryland) from the East and Tayler Hill (South H.S., MN - Undecided) from the West who both played like “Quiet Storms” erupting at a moment’s noticed.

Tierra Rogers dribbles between her legs to elude Dara Taylor.

It wasn’t just a lot of you took me, so I’m going to take you; there where a few players that put their long range shooting on display, like Taber Spani (Metro Academy, KS - Tennessee), Joslyn Tinkle (Big Sky H.S., MT – Stanford) and Christina Marinacci (Foothill H.S., CA - USC) from the West.

When the teams for the McDonald’s were originally announced the match-up that most everyone want to see was the one that was going to take place in the paint between arguably the top two high school players in the country in 6-5 Kelsey Bone (John Foster Dules H.S., TX - South Carolina) and 6-8 Brittney Griner (Nimitz Sr. H.S., TX - Baylor) but due to some bewildering rule her high school district has about her missing time from school Griner was unable to participate.

Kelsey Bone gets China Crosby on her hip and gos in for a lay-up.

Monique Oliver (Long Beach Poly, CA - USC) who is a four inches shorter than Griner filled in nicely and did a nice job against Bone, taking it to her early and often. 6-3 DeNesha Stallworh (Pinole Valley H.S., CA - California) and 6-4 Cokie Reed (Midway H.S., TX - Texas) also showed off their post up skills.

Gennifer Brandon (Chatsworth H.S., CA - California) is a long 6-3 and she was serious when the game got started, rebounding and scoring inside; she also showed a nice mid-range game for the West. Brandon was the forth player in the game that will be heading to the University of California next season.

I’ve seen enough all-star games to know that these types of game aren’t for everybody; some players need a more structured environment like when they play for their regular high school teams but because they are All-American caliber players at some point in the game it was inevitably that they would show what they were capable of doing and that was the case for players like Kelly Faris (Heritage Christian School, IN - Connecticut), Morgan Stroman (Lower Richland H.S., SC - Miami) and Jamine Hassell (Wilson Central H.S., TN - Georgia).

Kelly Faris (l) fouls Taber Spani on this shot attempt.

With 1:49 left to play Spani hit a pair of free-throws to give the West a 67-60 lead but then Diggins went to work; first she drilled a three-pointer then she scored on a lay-up and hit a free-throw to cut the lead to 67-66.

A lay-up by Brandon with :15 seconds to go gave the West a two-point lead. The East had a chance to tie the game when Farris went to the line for two free-throws with just two tics left on the clock; she hit the first one but then missed the second and Pierre grabbed the rebound to end the game.

Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S., IN – Notre Dame) and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt (T.C. Williams H.S., VA - North Carolina) shared the games “Most Valuable Player” award.

The Final Score: WEST 69 – EAST 68