2008-09 Boys Hoops
2009 McDonald’s All-American Game (Boys)
East out-guns West
Favors earns MVP honors
BankUnited Center - Coral Gables, FL
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| Derrick Favors is the 2nd Atlanta Celtic to win the McDonald's MVP, Dwight Howard was the other Celtic. |
Coral Gables, FL – 4SHOT Hoops and Naismith’s National Player of the Year, 6-9 Derrick Favors (South Atlanta H.S., Atlanta, GA - Georgia Tech) put the topping on an outstanding high school career when he was named the McDonald’s All-American Game’s “Most Valuable Player” after scoring 19 points and grabbing 8 rebounds to lead the East to a 113-110 victory over the West.
Favors is the second player from Georgia and the second Atlanta Celtics player to win the National Player of the Year and the McDonald’s MVP Award in the last five years. The other player was Orlando Magic’s All-Pro Dwight Howard.
It was a packed house at the BankUnited Center on the campus of “The U” in Coral Gables, FL as the nations top high school ballers put their skills on display.
The West All-Americans got off to a fast start behind the play of 6-9 John Henson (Sickles H.S., FL - North Carolina) who threw down a pair of big dunks to get the show on the road; teammates 6-10 Renardo Sidney Jr. (Fairfax H.S., CA - USC), 6-11 Mason Plumlee (Christ School, NC - Duke) and 6-5 Michael Snaer (Rancho Verde H.S., CA - Florida State) also played big early on.
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| John Henson opened the game with a pair of dunks for the East. |
However the most impressive player of the early going was 6-9 power forward Keith Gallon (Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, VA - Oklahoma). Gallon did a great job of controlled the glass for the West squad against the likes of the 6-10 DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore Magnet H.S., Mobile AL - Kentucky) and the 6-9 Favors; he also did a nice job of posting up and running the floor.
The East All-Americans which had a decided edge of quote, un-quote recognizable named players like 6-6 Lance Stephens (Lincoln H.S., Brooklyn, NY - Undecided), 6-3 Kenny Boynton Jr. (American Heritage School, Pompano Beach, FL - Florida), Favors and Cousins, couldn’t find any real continuity in the first half of the game.
There was a nice battle going on at the point between 6-1 Maalik Wayns (Roman Catholic H.S., PA - Villianova) from the East and 5-11 Tommy Mason-Griffin of the West. Both players are powerfully built and can explode to the basket; they also both showed a nice mid-range game as they took turns trading baskets.
Cousins and Sidney are two of the better big men with touch and they both got a chance to display that part of their games as they drained a couple of long range bombs.
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| Good things started happening when Lance Stephens moved over to the point. |
Boynton my be the most dynamic of the guards playing in the game when he gets it going but he really struggled in front the home folks in the first half as the East trailed 63-55 at the half.
All of the East players picked up their games in the second half; four different players scored as they went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 63-63 as the second half got underway.
The game would be tied on seven different occasions and there would be some eight lead changes in the second half.
6-6 Xavier Henry (Putnam City H.S., Ok - Undecided) started showing why many considered him the top senior in the nation and JAM FEST SLAM DUNK Champion Avery Bradley (Findlay College Prep, NV - Texas) both scored to put the West up 75-69. Cousins would drill a three and scored on a lay-up to help the West cut the lead to 75-74.
Two players who really started finding their rhythm were Stephens and Favors; Stephens moved over to the point and things really started happening as he and Favors combined for a pair of alley-ops that gave the West 80-78 lead.
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| Dominic Cheeks reaches in against Xavier Henry, whic is a very bad mistake. |
Boynton also found his groove scoring a pair of baskets and 6-10 Ryan Kelly (Ravenscroft School, NC – Duke) hammered home back-to-back dunks as the West increased their lead to 90-83.
As time started winding down the intensity to win increased; the East fought back and when Henry drilled a three-pointer the game was tied at 98-98.
Without a doubt 6-0 Peyton Siva (Franklin H.S., WA - Louisville) of the West was the most entertaining player in the game and his 360 Dunk was something that had the crowd buzzing as he put the West up 100-98.
With less than two minutes to play Henry drained another three-pointer to put the East up 110-109 but over the last forty-three seconds of the game Stephens and Favors took over hooking up on back-to-back alley-ops to give the West a 113-110 lead that would hold up as the time ran off the clock.
The Final Score: WEST 113 – EAST 110
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