LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Unless you have the basketball in your hands the majority of the time like most guards, it's difficult to make much of a splash in all-star games such as Wednesday's 30th annual McDonald's All-American Game.
Regardless, South Medford High standout Kyle Singler was still able to make his presence felt as he helped lead the West squad to a 114-112 victory over the East at Freedom Hall.
The 6-foot-9, Duke-bound Singler scored the eventual game-winner on a nifty reverse layup with 2:31 to play to give the West a 114-109 lead and then, following an East 3-pointer, made a couple nice defensive plays to preserve the victory.
Singler finished with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting and five rebounds, but made the biggest difference on the defensive end in the final moments.
He picked up East standout O.J. Mayo on transition defense at about halfcourt and shielded the 6-4 guard away from the basket to prevent a close-range effort inside the final minute.
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While Singler's key plays were understated considering the venue, they allowed the West to earn its second straight win in the McDonald's All-American Game and trim the East's series lead to 16-14 overall.
Michael Beasley proved to be the West's main scoring threat with 23 points. The 6-10 standout, who has signed to play next year at Kansas State, was named the Most Valuable Player.
"Winning the MVP is great, but I'm happier that we got the win," Beasley said. "O.J., you know he's going to make that shot most of the time."
Beasley was one of the West players who was trailing the play when the East stole the ball with 10 seconds to play and had to helplessly watch as Mayo's potential game-winner left his hand.
"I was like, 'Oh no, that's in,'" said Beasley.
But Mayo's frustrating night ended the way it began, with a miss.
"It felt good, I just had it a little bit long," Mayo said. "We fought back in it and had our chances, we just came up short."
Even in defeat, Mayo proved to be the center of attention. The highly recruited guard will play at Southern California next season, and as the game's marquee player, he heard it from a partisan crowd that peppered him with chants of "overrated."
"I'm used to it, I don't notice it," Mayo said.
Mayo did notice the inordinate amount of attention he received from the West, who harassed him into tough shots all night. He missed six of his first seven attempts and finished with 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
"He was taking good shots," teammate Patrick Patterson said. "You could tell they were trying to stop him, but he's been dealing with that his whole career."
While the crowd seemed to enjoy Mayo's misfortune, it saved its biggest cheers for Patterson and Jai Lucas, the only two players who remain unsigned. Both have been heavily recruited by Kentucky, and both are still considering the Wildcats even after the departure of coach Tubby Smith. Each finished with eight points.
"It's great, but I'm still going to take my time," Patterson said. "But you can tell the people here love their basketball."
J.J. Hickson, who will play at N.C. State next year, led the East with 14 points. Gani Lawal had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the East, with most of his points coming on a series of powerful dunks.
Lake Oswego High standout Kevin Love, who has signed with UCLA, had 13 points and six rebounds for the West and Eric Gordon, who is going to Indiana, added 13 points. Jerryd Bayless, who will play at Arizona, had 11 points for the West.
The 6-6 Calathes had 13 points but said he'll think for a while about the floater that missed at the buzzer.
"I didn't know how much time was left so I just threw it up," he said. "I was pretty accurate, but a little long."
The teams spent the first 35 minutes playing the up-and-down pace normally associated with all-star games. But things changed in the final five minutes as the East continued to peck away at the West's lead. Several times the East cut it to a one possession game, but couldn't tie it up.
McDonald's All-American Game
West 114, East 112
WEST (1-0)
Beasley 10-13 1-2 23, Singler 4-7 2-2 10, Love 6-10 0-0 13, Gordon 5-13 2-2 13, Rose 2-5 1-2 5, Lucas 3-8 1-2 8, Harden 4-7 0-0 8, Griffin 2-3 0-0 4, Anderson 1-4 3-4 5, King 3-9 0-0 8, Bayless 3-7 3-4 11, Aldrich 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 46-90 13-18 114.
EAST (0-1)
Greene 4-7 1-2 10, Patterson 4-5 0-0 8, Koufos 3-5 2-2 9, Flynn 3-7 2-2 9, Mayo 4-17 3-4 12, Wright 0-3 0-2 0, Hickson 7-9 0-2 14, Freeman 4-7 0-0 9, Smith 3-8 2-2 8, Stokes 3-3 0-0 8, Lawal 5-10 2-5 12, Calathes 5-14 3-3 13. Totals 45-97 15-24 112.
Halftime""West 68-57. 3-Point goals""West 9-26 (Bayless 2-2, Beasley 2-3, King 2-5, Love 1-2, Lucas 1-2, Gordon 1-5, Rose 0-1, Singler 0-3), East 7-30 (Stokes 2-2, Koufos 1-1, Flynn 1-3, Freeman 1-3, Greene 1-4, Mayo 1-9, Hickson 0-1, Lawal 0-1, Wright 0-2, Calathes 0-4). Fouled out""None. Rebounds""West 54 (Beasley 12), East 47 (Lawal 12). Assists""West 19 (Rose 5), East 27 (Calathes, Flynn 6). Total fouls""West 14, East 12. A""11,632.
