East stars prevail in prep game
MILWAUKEE -- All that was missing was Jack Nicholson sitting courtside.
The McDonald’s All-American high school boys’ basketball game Wednesday night at the Bradley Center was a Midwestern affair with a distinctly Southern California flair.
Alas, the five players from the Southland who made up nearly half of the West team’s 12-man roster couldn’t provide a Hollywood ending during the East’s 107-102 victory.
When a lineup that included a trio of Southland stars -- guard Brandon Jennings of Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy, swingman DeMar DeRozan of Compton High and guard Jrue Holiday of North Hollywood Campbell Hall -- entered with 7 minutes 21 seconds left and the East clinging to an 84-82 lead, the West appeared poised for a big finish.
But the East went on a 15-6 run amid a flurry of layups and putbacks to pull away.
“We just didn’t get back on defense,” said the Arizona-bound Jennings, who was playing for the West because he hails from Los Angeles and once played for Compton Dominguez High. “That was the main thing.”
Jennings had 12 points and nine assists, acknowledging afterward that he had been trying to break the McDonald’s game assist record of 13 set by Jacque Vaughn in 1993.
The UCLA-bound Holiday had 14 points on six-for-nine shooting and the USC-bound DeRozan had 10 points on five-for-10 shooting. Holiday’s highlights included a one-handed hanging flip-in, and DeRozan resembled former Trojans star Nick Young on a turnaround fadeaway jumper.
North Carolina-bound guard Larry Drew Jr. of Woodland Hills Taft had seven points and five assists, and UCLA-bound guard Malcolm Lee of Riverside North had three points.
The Californians had a better showing during the skills competitions on Monday. Holiday won the three-point shooting contest, Drew won the coed shooting competition and DeRozan won the dunk contest.
DeRozan’s final two dunks earned perfect scores from a panel of judges that included NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving. On one attempt DeRozan shuffled the ball between his legs before dunking it and on another he bounced the ball high off the floor before tapping it off the backboard with his left hand and dunking it with his right.
He dubbed the latter dunk “Tapping the Baby,” a creative effort he had seen converted only by the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard.
“That was my first time doing it,” DeRozan said, “and I got it.”
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