CHICAGO, Ill.—As all-star games often do, the 2013 McDonald’s game didn’t offer much in terms of a competitive contest. At the same time some impressive individual moments reaffirmed that this year’s senior class has some special talent that’s more than ready to move on to impact roles at the next level.
The 28 point final margin in favor of the West team was a culmination of dominating every key statistical category from start to finish. Led by Tennessee bound post Mercedes Russell’s 16 point and 12 rebound performance, the Anthony Smith (Bolingbrook High School – Illinois) squad took the lead with 19:02 remaining in the first half and never looked back. Russell got help from Rutgers signee Tyler Scaife’s 15 points while Russell’s future Lady Vol teammate Jordan Reynolds contributed a double-double of her own chipping in 10 points and 11 boards.
Destined for North Carolina, Diamond DeShields paced the East with 15 while future Kentucky Wildcat Makayla Epps added 13 and Georgia Tech bound Kaela Davis finished with 10. While shooting just 3 of 15 from the floor, another Tar Heel to be, Stephanie Mavunga did contribute 13 rebounds and 6 blocks in the loss.
The West led the way on the glass 72 – 65, including 6 more offensive boards. They also held the edge in turnovers forcing the East into 21 which they converted into 26 points while committing just 12 miscues of their own. Turnovers and rebounds in turn gave them an edge in field goal attempts, 105 to 92. Shooting 36 percent wasn’t exactly lighting it up from the floor but it outdistanced the East’s ice cold 30 percent. Add to that a 6 of 18 long range effort while the East again struggled at 3 for 16 and the final margin is easy to understand.
A couple of athletes had training room detours while wearing the red, yellow and blue. A family friend acknowledged that Ieshia Small had some lingering knee support issues that originated prior to coming to Chicago. Those issues flared up again leading to a physician assisted benching for the game. Small did participate in Monday night’s Powerade JamFest three point competition and took the chance to announce her commitment to Coach Kim Mulkey and Baylor during the first half of last night’s game. Rebecca Greenwell hit the floor with 3:28 remaining in the first half and aggravated a previous MCL knee issue according to game management officials. In just nine minutes of play, the soon to be Duke Blue Devil had already put up 8 points on 3 of 5 shooting that included 2 long balls. She did not return after the injury.
Below is a “Drive Thru” quick look at each All-American’s production in Chicago. Check back with Blue Star Media for additional coverage and observations from the 2013 McDonald’s All-American Game.
