

James bids Ohio adieu in style with 27 points, MVP honors By Christopher Lawlor, USA TODAY CLEVELAND  LeBron James gave his home state a farewell present Wednesday. James, the nation's best high school player, had an MVP performance while helping the East beat the West 122-107 in the McDonald's All-American game. LeBron James puts up a shot over Brian Butch, from Appleton (Wis.) West High School in the first half during the McDonald's All American Game. By Ron Schwane, AP James of St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio), who will likely opt for June's NBA draft, had 27 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, satisfying a record crowd of 18,728 at Gund Arena, who saw his final amateur game in Ohio. "Early in the game I wanted to get my teammates involved," James said. "Once they (were) in the flow of the game, they told me to take over and shoot more. The best of the best talent like this brings out the best in me." James, who earlier in the day won the Morgan Wootten Award, given annually to the top scholar-athlete in the McDonald's game, also will play in Monday's EA Sports Roundball Classic in Chicago and the Jordan Capital Classic on April 17 in Washington, D.C. Box score EAST 122, WEST 107 West — Ebi 4-9 2-2 11, Powe 7-12 1-3 15, Perkins 3-5 0-0 6, Brown 9-17 3-5 23, Brooks 2-8 0-0 5, Cotton 0-5 1-2 1, Wafer 3-8 1-1 8, Humphries 7-16 1-4 16, Giddens 6-10 1-1 16, Butch 3-4 0-1 6. Totals 44-94 10-19 107. East — Villanueva 7-12 3-5 17, James 12-24 3-4 27, Lang 7-8 1-2 15, Paul 1-3 1-2 4, Jones 5-9 2-2 13, Harris 1-3 0-0 2, Shakur 4-9 1-2 9, Lavender 5-8 0-0 11, Outlaw 5-7 0-0 10, Bass 5-7 3-5 14, Butler 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 52-94 14-22 122. Halftime: East 60-51. 3-Point goals: West 9-25 (Giddens 3-6, Brown 2-5, Wafer 1-2, Ebi 1-3, Brooks 1-4, Humphries 1-4, Cotton 0-1), East 4-18 (Bass 1-1, Paul 1-2, Lavender 1-2, Jones 1-5, Villanueva 0-1, Shakur 0-1, Outlaw 0-1, James 0-5). Fouled out: Lang. Rebounds: West 53 (Powe 12), East 50 (Lang 10). Assists: West 17 (Brooks 4), East 26 (Paul 10). Total fouls: West 13, East 17. A: 18,728. "It's great when your best player is knowledgeable and (has been) well-coached," said East coach Ron Hecklinski of Anderson, Ind. "He's as dominant a player I've seen since Oscar Robertson," said legendary former UCLA coach John Wooden, the McDonald's game's chairman. James had 10 points and five assists in the first half as the East took a 60-51 lead. He also had three crowd-pleasing dunks that drew standing ovations from front-row luminaries such as rapper Jay-Z and Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Dajuan Wagner, USA TODAY's Player of the Year in 2001. Michigan State-bound guard Shannon Brown of Proviso West (Maywood, Ill.) led the West in scoring with 23 points. In the girls game, the West beat the East 92-72 as four players scored in double figures. The West has won both games in the series, which started last year. Katie Gearlds of Beech Grove (Ind.) scored nine of her game-high 17 points in the opening half to help the West to a 49-36 lead. The Purdue-bound Gearlds was named MVP, making her the second Indiana girl to win the honor. Shanna Zolman of Wawasee (Syracuse, Ind.) shared the honor with Ann Strother of Highlands Ranch (Colo.) last year. "This is a pretty big honor considering there were 23 of the top players in the nation here," said Gearlds, who was named Indiana's Miss Basketball after averaging 30.1 points and leading her team to the Class 3A state championship. Cori Chambers of Ursuline School (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Ivory Latta of York (S.C.) Comprehensive led the East with 12 points apiece. Naismith Award: James was named the boys Naismith Player of the Year on Wednesday, and Candace Parker of Naperville (Ill.) Central was picked as the girls winner. James averaged 30 points, 9.5 rebounds and nine assists a game. He is USA TODAY's reigning player of the year and was the first sophomore picked on the paper's All-USA first team. Parker, who averaged 24.2 points and 14.2 rebounds this season, is the first junior named Naismith player of the year.