The McDonald's All American game moved to Houston this year, an apt location for all the stars on display Tuesday as the West defeated the East 110-102 in the highest-scoring game in the showcase's 20-year history.
Watkins, headed to USC, led the winning team with 25 points, five rebounds and five steals. And while Hidalgo's team came up short of a comeback in the final minutes, the Notre Dame commit broke one McDonald's All American record and tied another as she scored 26 to pass Sabrina Ionescu's scoring mark and tied the game record with eight steals.
The West opened up double-digit leads twice but the East answered each time, led by impressive nights from Hidalgo and
Milaysia Fulwiley of
Keenan (Columbia, S.C.), who had 15 of her 17 in the opening half.
Hannah Hidalgo of Paul VI, seen earlier this season, set a McDonald's All American game scoring mark with 26 points in a losing effort. The West beat the East 110-102 behind 25 from Sierra Canyon's Juju Watkins. (Photo: Robert Barnes)
Each time the East pulled close or went ahead, the West had answers. The West led 52-48 at the break and stretched it to nine on a pair free throws from
La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla, Calif.) standout
Jada Williams before free throws from
Taliah Scott of
St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park, Fla.) and
Laia Reynolds of
Shabach Christian Academy (Landover, Md.) preceded a pair of 3-pointers from
Ashlynn Shade from
La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) and
Aalyah Del Rosario from
The Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tenn.) to give the East a 65-62 lead halfway through the third quarter.
A bucket in the paint from Williams' LJCD teammate
Breya Cunningham was followed by a Watkins triple to give the West squad a 67-65 lead. But Hidalgo scored 10 of the East's 14 points over the final three minutes to take an 81-74 edge into the final period.
The West wrestled the lead back on an and-one from
K.K. Arnold of
Germantown (Wis.) followed by 5 of 7 free throws from Watkins to give them an 86-83 lead with 7:33 left.
The West pulled away on an and-one from
Mikaylah Williams of
Parkway (Bossier City, La.), who had 15 points, and a pair of Jada Williams 3-pointers. The final one gave the West a 96-83 lead and had the Arizona commit doing the Griddy back down court. She finished with 16 points.
In the first half, Fulwiley blasted off in the home of the American space program, lighting up the scoreboard with 15 points with hustle basket, a fast break and a pair of NBA-range 3-pointers. After a hustle-tip in, the South Carolina commit moved into heat-check mode erasing most of a 40-30 West lead. And while the exhibition is meant to showcase the talents of the future of the game, the players are in it to win.
After Fulwiley's second trey, Jada Williams came down on the other end and scored off a shake-and-bake move on Fulwiley while letting her know about it on the way back down the court.
Amanda Muse of
Heritage (Brentwood, Calif.) was steady, and efficient, for the West in the first half with a team-high 12 points and 18 for the game. She scored down low off entry passes, hit from the free throw line and the UCLA commit even cleaned up the glass for six straight points to end the first half.
