CONWAY -- The West made it a game while a pair of area players thrilled the crowd.
Malvern's Andre Jones was named the West outstanding player with a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds and Jessieville's Hunter Daley the East outstanding player with 16 points, the latter helping the East hold off the West for a 100-97 victory in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star game Thursday night at the Farris Center.
"What I'm more impressed with than anything is that our kids never quit," said Kirby coach Marty Smith, serving as a West assistant to West Fork's Cody Vaught. "They just kept playing. A lot of times you go to an All-Star game, and they're just out there about themselves. They actually wanted to win. They were playing their heads off. That was fun to watch."
With about a minute left, the AHSCA doled out the game honors, including Episcopal Collegiate's Kelvin Robinson, the Appalachian State signee, the most valuable player with 19 points on 7-of-9 floor shooting. Earle's Marcus Brown led the East with 20 points and eight rebounds.
But the West was determined to make the organization look foolish, Morrilton's Chave Zackery hitting a pair of free throws after a fouled three-point attempt and Little Rock Hall's Dayton Artis hitting a layup after a steal in the backcourt to make it 96-92.
"We had a good week and a lot of good kids, and they proved that they are good kids," said Malvern coach Chris Meseke, also serving as a West assistant. "And there are good programs where they came from because they just kept battling and kept playing to the very end. They wanted to win, and that says a lot about the kids we had this week."
The East made four last-minute free throws, the last two after an intentional foul, and the West could get no closer than the final margin on Jones' buzzer-beating three.
"I think I did pretty well individually, but as a team, we just couldn't come up with the victory," said Jones, playing for Arkansas-Little Rock next season. "I was putting my all out. I told the guys after they gave me the award that we can still win this. We can still win this with like two minutes left."
Jones logged a game-high 25 minutes, much to the fans' delight. Six of his points came on three dunks, the second a tip-slam of an offensive rebound and the last a flight from about 12 feet. The only thing that went wrong was his clanging of a windmill attempt off a steal in the fourth period (of five).
"I was just trying to give people what they came to see," Jones said. "They wanted to see an All-Star game, but we wanted to win. We gave it our all on both ends."
Getting Jones from Little Rock McClellan for his senior year, Meseke was proud of the way Jones represented the Leopards one last time.
"Nothing he does out there surprises me," Meseke said. "Andre is a great player and has been a good player for a long time, and he's proved it. He did that again tonight, and it's been my honor and my pleasure to coach him."
Daley, the two-time Garland County player of the year signed with Arkansas-Monticello, helped the East build its winning position with 10 first-period points, the most of any player in the first three frames (considered the first half). Daley, 4 of 8 on three-pointers, added a trey to start each of the final two periods, steadying his side after the West fought back with an 18-10 third period and briefly took the lead early in the fourth.
"I was just out there trying to shoot it," said Daley, who averaged more than 20 points per game his final two years with the Lions.
The last three was memorable, falling away and skying his shot that banked in from 24 feet.
"It was a heat check," Daley said. "I was hitting like four in a row, so I decided to have a heat check. So I just pulled it with confidence."
Daley also had a pair of assists, each one resulting in dunks.
"I just wanted to throw a couple of (alley-oops) to them," Daley said. "I didn't know I was going to get about three or four looks."
The county also had a rep on the other side, Hot Springs grad KaJuan Christon, signed with Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., tallying seven second-half points after a scoreless first.
"It felt really good to hit some shots toward the end of the game," said Christon, the three-time all-state guard. "I couldn't hit anything in the first half, but in the second half, I got myself going a little bit."
Zackery, Daley's future Boll Weevil teammate, added 15 points for the West, which also got 12 from Emerson's Tavion Revels. Kirby forward Lee Whisenhunt scored an inside basket near the start of the second period, pulling the West within 19-18 and making Smith proud.
"Lee is the third kid in his family that has gotten to play in this game," Smith said. "It's a lot of for him, and it's meant a lot to his family to see him play one more time. We've had a great week. It's been a lot of fun."
The West is still winless since 2009, the East improving to 42-29 in the all-time series.
East 19 20 10 21 30 -- 100
West 16 12 18 18 33 -- 97
East: Brown 20, Robinson 19, Daley 16, Franklin 7, Langston 7, Grayson 5, Hunter 5, Randle 5, Clifford 4, Hunt 4, Crain 3, Walker 3, Mayo 2.
West: Jones 25, Zackery 15, Revels 12, Pippins 9, Robinson 8, Artis 7, Christon 7, Breathitt 4, Luster 4, Sanchez 4, Whisenhunt 2.
Sports on 06/25/2016