By Staff
SOUTH BEND, Ind.- Rarely do sporting contests match the hype.
But Wednesday night in South Bend the McDonald's All-American games not only matched the hype for me but surpassed it.
Despite a slow start to the girl's game, I was most intrigued by what I saw.
Watching this game on television is nothing like seeing it live.
For those of you who did not travel to Notre Dame on Wednesday, let me only say that you really missed out.
The girls put on quite a show after going practically the first 19 minutes without much offense.
In fact, I would say that I saw more offense in the final minute of the first half than the first 19.
That was just a tease.
The final 20 minutes of basketball was quite a display, especially by the winning West squad.
At halftime, according to game Most Valuable Player Courtney Parish and Notre Dame recruit Lindsay Schrader, the team got together and decided it was time to play team basketball.
The end result was a dramatic victory.
Paris impressed everyone in the building with her ability to get up and down the floor, handle the basketball, shoot, rebound and play defense.
One look at her 6-foot-4, 245-pound frame and you think that she cannot be that agile.
But believe me she is.
Schrader was also impressive and will fit in well with the Fighting Irish next season.
Michigan State-bound Tiffanie Shives also was impressive and will certainly be a welcomed addition to the Spartans.
The boy's game was showmanship at its best.
The athleticism of the players on both teams was impressive.
I went into this game with a mind-set that Benton Harbor's Wilson Chandler should have been on the squad.
That didn't really change, although I can see why players get left off the squad.
Notre Dame-bound Luke Zeller didn't get much court time and when he was in there he didn't exactly impress me.
Hopefully he was just worn out from winning a state championship Saturday night.
All-in-all it was great way to wrap up the high school basketball season.
Michiana can be proud of what it accomplished in bringing the McDonald's All-American Game here in the first place.
The game has never been in a market the size of South Bend.
Congratulations to all who made it possible.