CHICAGO, Ill.—The 14th annual McDonald’s Girls basketball game is in the books with the East holding off a late frantic charge by the West squad holding on for an 89 – 87 win. The game which features the premier players in the current senior class is an integral part of Ronald McDonald House Charities raising in excess of 11 million dollars since the inception of the boy’s game back in 1978. Today we offer a quick statistical snapshot of each of the 24 All-Americans from Wednesday night’s game broadcast live on ESPN.
Sharing Most Valuable Player honors were the East’s Marina Mabrey (Manasquan, N.J. – Notre Dame) and Te’a Omari Cooper (Powder Springs, Ga. – Tennessee). Mabrey was one of four players finishing in double figures for the East while Cooper erupted for 19 of her total 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting in the first half.
The West won the battle on the boards led by Nepheesa Collier’s (St. Louis, Mo. – Connecticut) game leading 10 rebounds. The West also outscored the East from the floor 80 – 78 but the freethrow line made up the difference along with two more for the win by going 11 for 16 while the West came up short at 7 of 11. Mabrey had 12 in the win with teammates Asia Durr (Atlanta, Ga. – Louisville), Taja Cole (Chesterfield, Va. – Louisville) and Brianna Fraser (Brooklyn, N.Y. – Maryland) added 14, 13 and 10 respectively. In the loss Cooper’s 21 set the pace. Stephanie Watts (Matthews, N.C. – North Carolina) used a 6 of 9 second half effort to finish the evening with 19 while Katie Lou Samuelson (Santa Ana, Calif. – Connecticut) overcame a frosty start to finish with 12.
The 2015 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year, named earlier in the month is Katie Lou Samuelson who was recognized during the annual banquet Tuesday evening. The honor is named for the selection committee chair and legendary coach from DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. Taylor Murray (Severn, Md. – Kentucky) was presented with the Jack Daley Sportsmanship Award at halftime. Monday evening in the Powerade Jamfest Asia Durr claimed the three point title among her peers while Nepheesa Collier nabbed top honors in the skills competition.
Check back with Blue Star Media for additional reflections on this year’s McDonald’s All-American Game.
