PHILADELPHIA -- Brian Shorter celebrated his homecoming with 24 points Sunday to lead the East to a 118-110 victory over the West in the 10th annual McDonald's All-American high school basketball game.
Shorter, a Philadelphia native who transferred from Simon Gratz High School to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va. for the current school year, scored 10 points as the East outscored the West 18-6 to open the second half and take an 84-58 lead.
The East had a 66-52 halftime advantage and scored the first six points of the second half, four on Shorter free throws. Shorter's 3-point shot gave the East an 80-58 lead with 17:07 left to play and he followed that with a leaning jump shot for an 82-58 advantage.
The victory was the third in the row for the East team and evened the series at 5-5.
The West rallied to close within 101-91 on a free throw by Larry Johnson with 6:06 left but Shorter's free throws put the East ahead 109-96 with 3:42 left.
The West closed to 113-104 on a tip-in by Sean Higgins with 2:01 to play and within 116-108 on a layup by Marcus Liberty with 1:01 left. But Bobby Martin of Atlantic City, N.J., H.S. hit two free throws with 50 seconds to play as the East held on for the victory.
The East got 13 points from King Rice of Binghampton, N.Y., H.S. and 12 each from Macon Macon of Buena Vista H.S. in Saginaw, Mich., and Greg Koubek of Shenendehowa Central H.S. in Clifton Park, N.Y.
The West was led by 18 points from Liberty of Martin Luther King H.S. in Chicago and got 16 from Johnson, of Skyline H.S. in Dallas. Higgins, of Fairfax H.S. in Los Angeles, added 15 points.
Dennis Scott of Flint Hill College Prep in Falls Church, Va., led the East with 10 points in the first half as his team took a 66-52 lead, thanks to spurts of 8-0 an 12-4.
The West led 24-21 on a jumper by Liberty with 13:05 left in the first half when the East scored eight straight points. Rodney Monroe of St. Maria Goretti H.S. in Hagerstown, Md., finished the run with a jumper to put the East ahead 29-24 with 11:36 left.
Elmore Spencer of Booker T. Washington H.S. in Atlanta scored four points as the East used its second spurt to turn a 41-36 advantage into a 55-40 lead on a Macon layup with 5:02 to go.
