SEVENTH GIRLS MCDONALD’S ALL-AMERICAN GAME
At Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wis.
Final score: West 80, East 64
Top scorers: Brooklyn Pope (W) 13, Shekinna Stricklen 17.
Key run: A 10-2 spurt to open the game appropriately scored by five different girls in the West’s balance attack.
Key stats: The West assisted on 18 baskets to just five for the East, which made just 24 of 86 shots (28 percent).
Key play: The East had gone on a 13-3 run to close to 70-58 with 4:12 remaining when Nikki Speed drilled a tough baseline jumper to put the West back in control.
ESPN highlight: With 1:14 left in the half, Speed beat a defender to a loose ball on a fast break, fired a two-hand, no-look pass over her shoulder to a streaking Pope for a layup.
Unsung hero: Jasmine Dixon played only 14:45 but made 4 of 6 shots, had five rebounds and three key assists for the West.
OTHER MCDONALDS' STORIES: East boys break two-year slide, State of the game, Inside nuggets, Californians McRule, Jam Fest/History, Slice of redemption.
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By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Nikki Speed and Brooklyn Pope. You couldn’t make up better names for heroines.
The duo combined for the play of the game, were named co-Most Valuable Players and next year they'll be teammates at Rutgers.
Again, it sounds like fiction.
But all of it was true as the West, thriving on its perceived underdog role and a fast start, won for the third time in four years with an 80-64 victory over the East in the seventh McDonald’s All-American girls game at the Bradley Center on Wednesday.
Pope, a 6-foot-2 forward from Dunbar High in Fort Worth, Texas, was the only West player to score in double figures with 13 points, but five others had at least eight including nine points and a game-high four assists from Speed (Marlborough, Los Angeles), a 5-9 point guard.
“We just played together and played to win,” said Pope, who writes poetry when she isn’t scoring bushels of points. “Coach told us to run, run, run so we ran, ran, ran and won, won, won.”
It appeared to be their night late in the first half when Speed chased down a loose ball down the left side and fired a no-look over-the-shoulder to a streaking Pope, who swooped in for a deuce.
That gave the West a 12-point lead and all the momentum going into the second half.
“I didn’t think (the defender) was going to go for the ball but when she did I remembered Brooklyn was streaking down the middle of the court,” Speed said. “I just got her the ball.”
She could have made a safer pass, but then again, this is the nation’s most coveted All-Star game played in front of about 4,000 fans and an ESPNU television audience.
Would she try that pass next year under Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer?
“Maybe at practice,” Speed said.
Pope piped in: “Sure we’d do it in a game. If it works, why not?”
Pretty much everything worked for the West, which now leads the series 5-2.
Speed, Connecticut-bound Tiffany Hayes (Winter Haven, Fla.) and Stanford-bound Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Cy-Fair, Cypress, Texas) all had nine points, and Rutgers-signee Jasmine Dixon (Long Beach Poly, Calif.) and USC-bound Briana Gilbreath (Cinco Ranch, Katy, Texas) had eight apiece for the West, which never trailed.
Tennessee-bound Shekinna Stricklen (Morrilton, Ark.), a 6-2 guard, led all scorers with 17 points and UConn-bound Elena Delle Donne (Ursuline Academy, Willmington, Del.) added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the East, which couldn’t overcome a slow start and 24 of 86 shooting (28 percent), including 1 of 17 on 3-pointers.
“Yesterday during our scrimmage here we were so on fire and tonight we had all our misses,” said Delle Donne, the McDonald’s National Player of the Year. “I don’t know, maybe the big court eventually caught up to our legs. They played incredible defense and we just didn’t come out very strong.”
Or simply not strong enough.
According to West coach Tom Klawitter (Parker, Janesville, Wis.), his team saw itself as the underdogs all week.
“Sometimes that can work for you,” he said. “I think it did. We played with so much heart.”
The West took control early with an 11-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Gilbreath to take a 13-4 lead.
“Once we got out like that I think they believed they could do it,” Klawitter said.
A fastbreak hoop by Hughes increased the lead to 31-18 before back-to-back baskets by Delle Donne closed the lead to 33-22.
But the highlight reel play from Speed to Pope helped the West take back control. The West’s quickness and weak side defense helped stave off any East rally.
Pope played only 15 minutes as Klawitter rotated players in constantly. Nobody played less than 14 minutes for the West and Speed, at 20:37, played the most.
“If you’re a high school coach coaching (Speed) you have to feel very lucky for four years,” Klawitter said. “Not only because of how she plays but her personality.”
Asked about her limited playing time, Pope said it wasn’t even an issue.
“This isn’t a high school game, this isn’t a college game, this is an All-Star game,” she said. “When you get in the game then you have to do your thang and then your time is up. Simple.”
Speed echoed that selfless attitude, one which was reflected in the West’s absolute balance.
“Everyone here is a McDonald’s All-American,” Speed said. “Everyone is here for a reason. Every one can score. Everyone one can got the basket. But nobody cared how we scored.”
An 11-0 run finished off with a 3-pointer and lay-up by Gilbreath put the West in complete command, up 62-38 with 10:10 remaining.
The hot shooting of Stricklen helped cut the lead to 11 but Ogwumike finished off the game with a fastbreak layup off a pass from Speed, then Hayes recorded a three-point play to give the West its final margin.
“From the beginning we wanted to have fun and come out strong but that just didn’t happen,” Delle Donne said. “The most fun we had was when we made our run. We just couldn’t sustain it.”
LSU-bound Ayana Dunning (Eastmoor Academy, Columbus, Ohio) had seven rebounds and Texas-signee Ashley Gayle (Bishop Gorman, Las Vegas) six blocks for the West, which had 18 assists to just five for the East.
Asked about next year’s Big East showdown between Connecticut and Rutgers, which sports five current McDonalds’ All-Americans, Delle Donne said: “They (Rutgers) have some fine players and their getting five more. It’s going to be a great game. We’ll definitely have a challenge.”
West 80, East 64
East 33 31 – 64
West 43 37 – 80
EAST: She’la White 0-4 0-0 0, Amber Gray 2-6 2-4 6, Elana Delle Donne 5-14 0-0 10, Samantha Prahails 2-7 2-2 6, Alicia Manning 2-8 1-2 5, April Sykes 1-7 2-3 4, Glory Johnson 1-5 0-2 2, Chelsey Lee 1-3 3-4 5, Shekinna Stricklen 6-15 4-6 17, Shenise Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Chay Shegog 3-10 0-1 6, Lynetta Kizer 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 24-86 15-26 64.
WEST: Jasmine Dixon 4-6 0-2 8, Tiffany Hayes 4-9 1-3 9, Nikki Speed 4-9 0-0 9, Briana Gilbreath 3-6 0-0 8, Ashley Gayle 2-6 0-0 4, Brooklyn Pope 5-11 3-6 13, Ashley Corrall 1-8 0-0 3, Destini Hughes 2-4 0-0 5, Nnemkadi Oguwumike 4-6 1-2 9, Alyssia Brewer 1-4 0-0 2, Ayana Dunning 3-6 0-0 6, La Sondra Barrett 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 34-78 7-15 80.
3-point shooting: East 1-17 (White 0-1, Gray 0-2, Delle Donne 0-3, Prahails 0-1, Sykes 0-3, Stricklen 1-7), West 5-14 (Hayes 0-2, Speed 1-2, Gilbreath 2-3, Pope 0-2, Corrall 1-4, Hughes 1-1). Rebounds: East 60 (Delle Donne 11), West 56 (Barrett 7). Assists: East 5 (5 tied with 1), West 18 (Speed 4). Turnovers: East 23, West 25. Steals: East 16 (Sticklen 3, Johnson 3), West 11 (five tied with 2). Fouled out: none.
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
