BROOKLYN, N.Y.—If the inaugural Jordan Brand All-American Girls Basketball game is any indication of the future to come, the folks in the Big Apple have some great basketball to look forward to. Featuring 22 of 24 McDonald’s All-Americans, the crowd was treated to a rarity in all-star competition, a one possession game. Back to back three pointers by North Carolina bound Stephanie Watts (Matthews, N.C.) in the game’s final 24 seconds turned a five point deficit into a one point win for the East / Black squad. The West / White got one last look but Co-MVP Taja Cole (Chesterfield, Va.) couldn’t connect on a three of her own to pull out the win.
Cole, a future Louisville Cardinal shared MVP honors with Nepheesa Collier (St. Louis, Mo.) who will be joining the folks at UConn next season. In the win Collier produced a 22 point – 13 rebound double – double that was highlighted by a 7 for 9 effort from the floor. For good measure she chipped in 2 assists and four steals in 25 minutes of play with her final pick setting up the deciding long ball from Watts. Cole blistered the nets going 10 of 13 which included knocking down 4 of her 5 three point attempts. She also added three assists and two steals on the evening.
For the East / Black future Cal Bear Kristine Anigwe (Phoenix, Ariz.) added her own double – double of 12 points and 13 boards while Watts finished the evening with 11 points. Cole and the West / White got 11 from Maryland signee Kiah Gillespie (Hartford, Conn.) while Destinee Walker (Orlando, Fla.) contributed eight more. Walker is heading to North Carolina next year.
Neither team shot it exceptionally well despite the impressive MVP totals with each squad closing up shop at 33 percent when the final horn sounded. The East / Black dominated the boards 69 – 58 which included 31 second looks on the offensive end. The West / White won the turnover battle by three, 22 – 19 but The East / Black had an edge defensively grabbing 14 steals to the opposition’s 11.
Ironically the West / White team jumped out quickly in the first half holding a 15 point lead with 9:29 to go only to see it dwindle to just five at the break. The lead finally changed hands at the 18:11 mark of the second leading to four more lead changes and three ties before the wild finish down the stretch.
Connecticut signee and top ranked Katie Lou Samuelson was on hand but unable to participate as a result of lingering injuries from the high school season and an eye on USA Basketball this summer.
Below are images and stats on each of the participants from the action Friday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
