CHICAGO, Ill.—The 13th annual McDonald’s All-American Game is in the books and the Golden Arches are still the gold standard when it comes to post season recognition and competition. The 2014 edition of resulted in a down to the wire win by the West squad that saw John R. Wooden Most Valuable Player Brianna Turner (Pearland, Texas – Notre Dame) connect on the deciding shot with just 53 seconds remaining on the clock. Turner had missed two attempts at breaking a 78 all tie just seconds before but the third opportunity came off a Bianca Cuevas (Harlem, N.Y. – South Carolina) turnover for the East and teammate Jordin Canada’s (Los Angeles, Calif. – UCLA) record setting seventh assist to post the final difference in the 80 – 78 win. The final 53 seconds saw the East get two more looks at forcing overtime but misses by Shakayla Thomas (Sylacauga, Ala. – Florida State) and Jatarie White (Charlotte, N.C. – South Carolina) sealed the loss.
Turner claimed MVP honors by way of a double – double of 11 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes of play. The Notre Dame bound forward was one of five West All-Americans who hit double figures on the night. Jaime Nared (Portland, Ore. – Tennessee) led the way with 15 on 6 for 11 shooting while Ariel Atkins (Duncanville, Texas – Texas) followed with 12. Canada added 10 more as did high flying forward Mikayla Cowling (Benicia, Calif. – California).
Thomas demonstrated a college level game resulting in 9 for 15 shooting and an East leading 19 point performance. Lynee’ Belton (Clinton, M.D. – Duke) was two rebounds short of a double – double finishing with 11 points and eight boards. The only uncommitted player in the game, high profile A’ja Wilson (Hopkins, S.C.), struggled from the floor shooting just 3 of 11 for the night but still finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Wilson’s frosty effort wasn’t alone on the stat sheet. Belton was 3 of 11 from the floor while normally lethal Kelsey Mitchell (Cincinnati, Ohio – Ohio State) could only manage to connect on 2 of 12 attempts. Mitchell’s six assists tied the old single game record but Canada set the bar one higher on her game winning delivery to Turner.
The first half was a back and forth affair with the West claiming an eight point lead at the 8:47 mark by way of three straight Ariel Atkins jumpers. Before the end of the half the East had climbed back on top by as much as five and still held the slight 41 – 40 lead at the break. Thomas had 11 of her 19 in the first 20 minutes on a 5 of 9 effort while Belton added 9 of her final total of 11. The East held a seven rebound edge for the half that included 13 offensive boards. The West got eight apiece from Atkins and Canada but was a dismal 0 for 10 from behind the arch.
The West reclaimed the lead again and stretched it to eight at the 13:45 mark of the second only to see the East grab it back by one with 8:42 remaining. Unfortunately for the East, they led only once more and despite knotting things up four more times, came up two short in the end. Nared had nine in the second half while Turner posted seven of hers down the stretch and Cowling added six more for the period.
For the game the West shot 36.4 percent while the East came home at 32.6 on the night. Ironically, the West continued their perfect deep shooting demonstration in the win missing all 20 of their long range looks. The East continued to control the boards and had a 65 – 58 edge over the course of the game. However they committed 23 turnovers which the West converted into 22 points while committing just 14 turnovers of their own. The West owned the interior getting 52 of their 80 points in the paint and blocking 14 shots on the defensive end of the floor. Adding insult to injury defensively they also collected 15 steals from their Eastern counterparts.
At halftime, Kelsey Mitchell was awarded the Jack Daley Sportsmanship Award won last year by Chicago native and University of Kentucky freshman Linnae Harper. Monday night Alexa Middleton claimed titles in the three point and skills competition at the Powerade Jam Fest held on the campus of the University of Chicago.
The 14th annual McDonald’s All-American Game will return to Chicago and the United Center again next year marking the fourth consecutive time the Windy City will serve as host for scholastic basketball’s best.
Check back with Blue Star Media tomorrow for further coverage of Wednesday’s game. Follow the link below to see images from activities earlier in the week.
http://www.bluestarmedia.org/index.php/component/k2/item/750-mcdonalds-moments
