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In a game that came down to the final possession, the East squad held off a second-half rally by the West to secure an 85-82 victory in the 52nd edition of the North Carolina Coaches Association (NCCA) East-West All-Star Girls Basketball Game on July 20.
With the victory, the East extended its winning streak to four games dating back to 2023 and widened its lead in the historic all-time series to 29-23.
While the West outscored the East in three out of four quarters, a single dominant frame ultimately dictated the outcome. Trailing 25-22 after the first period, co-head coaches Serena Smith (Whiteville) and Brian Graham (Cape Fear) watched their East squad put on a clinic in the second quarter.
The East outscored the West 27-10 over those ten minutes. The decisive point came just ahead of the halftime buzzer, when Najiha Allen sank a 3-pointer from the right wing to cap off her 9-point first-half performance which sent the East into the locker room with a commanding 49-35 cushion.
Terry Sanford High School star Ameya Brown was the driving force for the East all evening, earning Game MVP honors after leading all scorers with 17 points.
Brown’s scoring touch, combined with a dominant inside presence from South Central’s Brook Evans—who posted a mammoth 9-point, 16-rebound stat line—kept the East in control for most of the second half.
Despite facing a double-digit deficit for much of the game, the West team—coached by Brett Lamb (Highlands) and John Shearin (T.W. Andrews)—refused to be defeated quietly.
Late in the third quarter, Hickory Ridge’s Ma-Kaela Gidney converted a dramatic 4-point play with six seconds remaining to trim the deficit to 76-63. That moment set off a wild fourth-quarter push.
Defense fueled the rally down the stretch, led by Maiden’s Khiara Culliver, who delivered two clutch blocks in the final minutes to repeatedly give the West a chance to equalize. Out of a timeout with 1:56 remaining, Laneigh Scales scored on an inbound play to bring the West within a single point, 81-80, though she missed the potential tying free throw.
After Claire Barber answered with a layup for the East, Southeast Guilford’s Morgan Odom raised the drama to a peak, drilling a huge 3-pointer from the right corner with just over a minute left to make it 83-82.
With the game hanging in balance, the East relied on textbook ball-handling and execution under pressure. Claire Barber drove into the paint and delivered a crisp dish to a wide-open Brook Evans, who converted the easy layup to push the East lead to 85-82.
Forced to throw up perimeter shots as time ticked away, the West missed two outside attempts on their final possession. The East pulled down the defensive rebound as the clock hit zero, officially sealing the three-point victory.
