High School Sports
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All-Stars provide thrills
East boys hang on 99-93; local stars shine for West
Journal Photo by Traci White
Victor Davila (45) of the West goes high above the crowd for a short jumper.
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Published: July 22, 2008
Bo Ingram of Kinston scored 24 points and won the MVP award as the East held off the West down the stretch to win the East-West All-Star Game 99-93 last night at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The three players from Northwest North Carolina that played -- Kendall Smith of Glenn, Marcus Wright of Winston-Salem Prep, and Victor Davila of Starmount -- each had their key moments for the West.
Davila, a 6-9 forward who has signed with Virginia Tech, powered his way to 24 points, Wright, a 6-1 guard who has signed with Appalachian State, scored 17, and Smith did a lot of heavy-duty banging against an East front line that included Ty Walker of Wilmington, a 7-foot center who has signed with Wake Forest.
Wright, who built his resume on driving to the basket, hit five 3-pointers for the West.
"A lot of people thought I couldn't shoot, but it was falling for me today," he said. "Once I hit that first one I had the confidence so I kept shooting them.
"I just kept with it.
"It was fun playing with all these people from different schools and I just wanted to see where my game was. I just tried to be myself. People knew that I could play, so I just went with it and tried not to force anything. I couldn't have asked for a better time, I just wish we would have won."
Wright came out of the gates looking for his shot, and he made a pair of 3-pointers from the right wing in the first minute of the game.
With three minutes left in the quarter, Wright raced downcourt to steal an East outlet pass, took two dribbles to midcourt and lofted a perfect alley-oop pass, which Davila slammed down.
Smith found the going tough early, twice finding lanes to the basket only to have his shot blocked by Walker, while Davila was his steady self, and used his strength to position himself for several inside baskets in the first half.
The East led 32-27 at the end of the first quarter, but the West rallied to tie the score 47-47 by halftime.
Wright made 3 of 4 shots from the field and finished with 11 points in the first half, while Davila scored eight and had three rebounds.
In the third quarter, Wright hit his fourth 3-pointer, Davila showed his moves by scoring over Walker with a short hook shot, and Smith got his first basket, working inside of John Pelham, a 6-10 center from Raleigh Green Hope.
In the fourth quarter, the East started to pull away. Davila had two dunks early in the quarter, but Walker countered with two dunks for the East. Malik Stith of East Mecklenburg scored on a putback with 4:30 left to cut the East lead to 86-78, and the West called a timeout to settle down.
Smith scored inside with four minutes left to help the West cut the lead to 87-80, and less than a minute later, Wright hit a 3-pointer while falling away to cut the lead to 87-85.
LaMar Monger, a guard from Hertford County who has signed with Winston-Salem State, made two free throws with 2:45 left and Walker hit a jumper from the baseline to put the East ahead 92-89.
Davila then hit a free throw and a put-back basket to help the West close to 94-92 with 1:47 left.
The West, losing 95-93, had its best chance to take the lead late when Smith got a wide open look at a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, but his shot rattled around the rim and missed and was rebounded by the East.
"I don't know what happened with that," Smith said. "Everything went right except for the end.
"It just rimmed out. I shot it, knew it was in, and it rimmed out.
"It felt like it was going in, and we were going to have the lead if I hit it. But like I said, sometimes they fall and sometimes they don't."
Justin Watts hit two free throws with 16 seconds left that gave the East a four-point lead at 97-93, and the West didn't threaten again.
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
East 32 15 27 25 -- 99
West 27 20 23 23 -- 93
EAST -- INGRAM, Bo 6-8 8-10 24; WATTS, Justin 5-9 3-4 14; McCARTER, Adonte 6-12 0-0 13; WALKER, Ty 6-10 0-0 12; BONNER, Michael 5-10 1-4 11; BARRETT, Terrell 3-8 5-8 11; WILLIAMS, C.J. 4-9 2-6 10; MONGER, LaMar 0-4 2-2 2; McCLINTOCK, Hunter 1-4 0-0 2; PELHAM, J.D. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 36-75 21-34 99.
WEST --DAVILA, Victor 11-17 2-4 24; WRIGHT, Marcus 5-11 2-3 17; VanLANDINGHAM, Chris 5-11 0-0 13; JOHNSON, Justin 5-11 1-2 11; PAGAN, Jamere 2-6 2-2 7; STITH, Malik 2-11 2-4 6; VANDERFORD, Justin 2-7 0-0 5; LOVELACE, Cameron 2-9 0-0 5; SMITH, Kendall 2-10 0-1 4; HAUSLEY, Petey 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 36-95 10-18 93.
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