Queen outdoes leading hire Flagg in McDonald’s win
HOUSTON– Derik Queen outperformed high school teammate Cooper Flagg, the nation’s top-ranked hire, leading the East team to an 88-86 success over the West on Tuesday night in the McDonald’s All-American game.Queen, a bruising 6-foot-9 center and teammate of Flagg’s at Montverde Academy in Florida who is devoted to Maryland, had 23 points and eight rebounds for the East. He was selected the game’s co-MVP, along with Dylan Harper of the West team.Harper, a 6-6 guard from Don Bosco Preparation in New
Jersey and the No. 3 recruit in the 2024 class, according to the ESPN100 rankings, led first-half scorers with 14 points and finished with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.Editor’s Picks Flagg, the 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year who will dip into Duke next
year, thrilled the crowd in the second quarter with a step-back 3-pointer. A couple of plays later on the protective end, Flagg whacked a layup 25 feet the other way into the very first row. The 6-9 forward is from Newport, Maine, but played his last 3 years of high school basketball at Montverde Academy. He ended up with eight points, six rebounds and three assists.No. 2 recruit Ace Bailey and Harper will play together for Rutgers next season and played on the exact same West group on Tuesday night. Bailey, a 6-10 forward from McEachern High School in Georgia, had six points and 5 rebounds.Boogie Fland, a 6-3 point player signed with Kentucky, had 17 points for the East group and also won the game’s sportsmanship and management award.Tre Johnson,
a 6-6 shooting guard from Dallas who will dip into Texas next season, hit a couple of huge 3-pointers, including one that tied ball game at 86 with a minute staying. He attempted one more at the buzzer for the win however missed, ending up with 17 points for the West.Ian Jackson, a 6-4 small forward signed to North Carolina, had 21 points for the East team.Jalil Bethea, a 6-5 guard dedicated to Miami, won the dunk contest on Monday night. He had 3 points on Tuesday.