Girls Hoops - 2007
2007 Girls McDonalds All-American Game
By Larry Williams
Mar 28, 2007, 06:17 EST

2007 McDonald’s All-American Game

East serves up a Big Mac Attack on the West
Jasmine Thomas earns MVP honors

Freedom Hall – Louisville, KY

Jasmine Thomas receives her MVP Trophy from the great UCLA coach John Wooden.

Just like back in 2004 when all eyes at the McDonald’s All-American Game in Oklahoma City, OK were on highly decorated high school senior Candice Parker (current Tennessee All-American) the focus of attention fell on two-time “National Player of the Year” Maya Moore from Collins Hill H.S. in Suwanee, GA. Moore didn’t disappoint the fans as she put on a stellar performance with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals. But at the end of the day it was the play of her East teammate Jasmine Thomas from Oakton High School in Fairfax, VA that caught the eye of the MVP voters.
Thomas who will attend Duke next season scored 16 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, recorded 3 steals and dished out 6 assists as the East All-Americans rolled to an easy 105-76 win over the West All-Americans.

It was evident from the jump that the East squad was a lot more athletic and a several steps quicker than their West counterparts. Point Guard 5-5 Ceter DeGraffenreid (Smokey Mountain H.S./UNC) got the East off to a great start with a pair of steals and assists to 6-5 Krystal Thomas (The First Academy/DUKE), 6-0 Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S./UCONN) and 5-9 Jasmine Thomas (Fairfax H.S./Duke) as they opened up a 8-2 lead.

DeGraffenried, who looked like the forerunner for MVP honors finished off her first stint of action by knocking down a three-pointer to put the East up 13-2.

The other East point guards 5-4 Lorin Dixon (Christ The King H.S./UCONN), 5-9 Khadijah Rushdan (St. Elizabeth H.S./Rutgers) and 5-9 Erica Morrow (Murry Bergtraum H.S./Syracuse) are all from the NY/NJ area and if you know anything about point guards from that area you know that they all have some “And 1” in their game and these three didn’t hesitate putting it on display (Oh and they also put it on display during the halftime of the boys game when they were stepping with recording star Timbaland).

Drey Mingo (l), Kelley Cain (c) and Maya Moore (r) are All-Americans in every sense of the word.

Before the West’s Angie Bjorklund (University H.S./Tennessee) got injured at the start of her junior year she was widely considered a challenger to Moore’s national No.1 ranking. While she may not have the quick’s she had as a highly touted sophomore she still has the game that makes you sit-up and take notice. Her basket and sweet assist to teammate 6-6 Ta’Shia Phillips (Brebeuf Jesuit Preparator/Undecided) helped the West stay within striking distance cutting the lead to 26-12.

The East continued to put pressure on the slower West squad pushing the ball up the floor for easy baskets. Besides the play of the guards the other thing that allowed the East to get out and run was the board play of 6-6 Kelley Cain (St. Pius X/Tennessee) and K. Thomas.

Back-to-back baskets by Moore pushed the lead up to 36-18 with just over 8:00 minutes left in the half. 6-4 Kayla Pedersen (Red Mountain H.S./Stanford) and 6-4 Victoria Baugh (Sacramento Charter H.S./Tennessee) of the West matched the inside play of the East as they battled to try and keep the West afloat. Pedersen even showed off that soft touch she has from the outside knocking down a couple of jumpers.

Earlier I mentioned how the East guards have that “And 1” in their games well their was one other player on the East team that has flashes of that in her game and that’s 5-11 Marah Strickland (Towson Catholic/Maryland) and it’s no wonder because she is from the D.C. area. Her jumper made it 44-29.

Drey Mingo received the Naismith Sportsman Trophy

The West guards continued to struggle, especially 5-8 Italee Lucas (Centennial H.S./North Carolina) who turned the ball over a few times and forced several bad shots.  

The East finished off the half when Moore found former AAU Georgia Metros teammate Cain for a lay-up and a commanding 59-34 halftime lead.

The West played with a lot more energy to start the second half getting quick hoops from Bjorklund, Baugh and Pedersen. Two East players, 6-2 Drey Mingo (Marist/Maryland) and 6-4 Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic/Ohio State) who were kind of silent in the first half began to get it going.

Lavender drilled a jumper and scored on a lay-up while Mingo who received the Nasmith Sportsmanship Award at halftime scored and also went to work defensively grabbing 3 rebounds and making a steal all within a 2:00 minute span as the East expanded their lead to 67-39.

With the East victory already in hand the rest of the game was “Show me watcha got!”

The Final Score:  East 105 vs. West 76

McDonald’s All-American Game Rosters

	The East Roster
No.	FName	Lname	P	Ht	Wt	High School	St	College
52	Kelley	Cain	C	6'6	220	St. Pius X	GA	Tennessee
24	Ashley	Cimino	F	6'3	175	Catherine McAuley H.S.	ME	Stanford
23	Cetera	DeGraffenreid	G	5'5	135	Smoky Mountain H.S.	NC	North Carolina
3	Lorin	Dixon	G	5'4	125	Christ The King	NY	Connecticut
42	Jantel	Lavender	C	6'4	215	Cleveland Central Catholic	OH	Ohio State
33	Drey	Mingo	F	6'2	187	Marist School	MD	Maryland
32	Maya	Moore	F	6'0	165	Collins Hill H.S.	GA	Connecticut
21	Erica	Morrow	G	5'9	147	Murry Bergtraum H.S.	NY	Syracuse
5	Khadijah	Rushdan	G	5'9	165	St. Elizabeth H.S.	DE	Rutgers
20	Marah	Strickland	G	5'11	161	Towson Catholic H.S.	MD	Maryland
15	Jasmine	Thomas	G	5'9	140	Oakton H.S.	VA	Duke
34	Krystal	Thomas	F	6'5	187	The First Academy	FL	Duke
HC	Chad	Gilbert				Jeffersonville H.S.	IN
AC	Greg	Wright				Jeffersonville H.S.	IN
AC	Steve	Wright				Jeffersonville H.S.	IN
	The West Roster
No.	FName	Lname	P	Ht	Wt	High School	St	College
22	Victoria	Baugh	F	6'4	190	Sacramento Charter H.S.	CA	Tennessee
12	Angie	Bjorklund	G	6'0	165	University H.S.	WA	Tennessee
20	Stefanie	Gilbreath	G	6'0	150	Cinco Ranch H.S.	TX	USC
11	Alison	Jackson	F	5'11	140	Fenwick H.S.	IL	Ohio State
42	Amy	Jaeschke	C	6'5	210