West Sweeps Boys and Girls 70th Annual NCCA Basketball Games (Jazmin Harris-EG Named Girls MVP) – Wyatt Smith Reporting

The girls West All-Stars dominated the East by the score of 95-81 in the 70th annual North Carolina Coaches Association All-Star Game at the Greensboro Coliseum Monday night.

Guilford County players Jazmin Harris and Lauren Carter were big contributors to the West team, with Harris winning the game’s MVP award.

Harris, an Eastern Guilford graduate finished with a double-double, including a game high 11 rebounds and 19 points.

Southwest Guilford’s Lauren Carter finished with 6 points, 7 rebounds (6 offensive), two blocks, and an assist.

Rockingham County High School’s Madeline Hardy scored five points and had four rebounds, along with one block and one steal.

The MVP was all smiles in her postgame interview.

“This whole weekend has been an amazing experience,” Harris said.

“To be able to go out there and do my thing, rebound the ball, score in the paint – that was my goal coming into the game, and I feel like I was successful.

“To close out my high school career with winning this game, and being named the MVP is something I’ll never forget.”

Lauren Carter was also ecstatic to get the victory.

“I got my confidence up from this game and get back out there and support my school.

“I feel really good about my performance tonight. There were some lapses, but I feel like overall I did well.

“To come away with the win feels really good. Everyone was doubting us, but we had the better squad. We were bigger and faster than them. “I’m glad we won because I didn’t want to go back to Campbell after losing this game,” she added.

SCORE BY QUARTER

1st–  E: 12      W: 20

2nd– E: 39      W: 45

3rd– E: 54       W: 70

4th– E: 81       W: 95

 

The 70th annual North Carolina Coaches Association East-West All-Stars boys basketball game came down to the final seconds when the West completed a comeback and won in dramatic fashion over the East by a sizzling score of 106-104.

In the first half, the East commanded play and led by as many 13 points in the second quarter. The shot of the first half was from Eastern Guilford’s Jaylen Alston who made a layup from behind the backboard, with his left hand, that spun off the glass and into the basket. The crowd erupted. Alston later referred to the play as a “Kyrie Irving drill.” Something he says he practices from time to time before or after practice.

At halftime, however, West Coach Casey Rogers, of Freedom High School in Morganton, challenged his team to rebound the ball and play aggressively. That message was heeded by the players, who took the new game plan to the court.

In the second half, the West began to slice the East lead, outscoring them by 16 points in the third quarter.

The game came down to mere seconds. After the East’s Kenny Dye hit a jumper to tie the game at 104, the West’s Kody Shubert laid in the winning basket with five seconds to play. Kenny Dye turned over the ball on the East’s final possession and the West was victorious.

Guilford County standouts Andy Pack (Northern Guilford) and Jaylen Alston (Eastern Guilford) both represented the county well. Pack scored 12 points, had five rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Alston scored 20 points, had nine rebounds, two steals and three assists.

Andy Pack was proud of his performance and talked about the camaraderie of the event.

“The whole experience was so fun. Competing against the best in North Carolina, making some good relationships with some guys on the team – it was a great weekend overall.

“(The ending) was awesome. I was hoping it would come down to the end and Kody ended up coming through in the clutch.

Pack continued, “Coach told us at halftime that they were playing like it was a real game and we were playing like it was an all-star game. His message was we needed to crash the glass and pick up the pace, and that ended up working out for us.”

Jaylen Alston felt his performance was All-Star worthy.

“It was a great experience,” he said. “We all came together and made a good bond. In the end you see how that bond affected us with Kody making the game winning shot.

“The second half we brought a lot of effort, played great defense, and rebounding which played a big part as you see. Rebounding the ball and then getting fouled going back up, those free throws brought extra points. That was the difference in the game.”

SCORE BY QUARTER

1st–  E: 28      W: 28

2nd– E: 58      W: 48

3rd– E: 74       W: 80

4th– E: 104       W: 106