West turns it on in second half

By JIM REESE
Published April 9, 2005

TAMPA - The West all-stars used a 26-0 run to open the second half and never looked back as they beat the East 111-104 on Friday at Tampa Prep. The East jumped to a 34-22 lead after the first quarter on the shooting of Brandon's Aubrey Brown, who netted 13 of his team's first 15 points. The rebounding tandem of Brandon's Zarron Cann and Wharton's Darryl Richardson consistently denied second shots to the West.

The East maintained its lead through the first half as Cann and Brandon teammate Jamal Thompson combined for 15 points to put the East up 56-45 at the break. In the third quarter, the West - led by the Blake duo of Gilet Chevalier and Charles Trigg - clicked off 26 unanswered points in taking a 71-56 lead in little more than five minutes.

The East rallied late in the quarter to close the gap to 80-76 after an 11-0 run. In the fourth quarter, Sickles' Brandon Powell scored 11 to keep the West ahead, and when University of Tampa signee Johnathan Ball slam-dunked a rebound in with 2:46 left, the lead went to 105-97, sealing the win.

Brown, the East MVP, led all scorers with 30 points while teammate Thompson added 22. For the West, MVP Trigg had 20 points, as did Powell. At halftime, the 3-point shooting and slam dunk contests were won by Brown and Richardson, respectively.

[Last modified April 9, 2005, 07:10:29]