Trio of Utah players highlight McDonald's All-American Games, including BYU signee AJ Dybantsa

SALT LAKE CITY — It may have been the McDonald's All-American Game, with two games dividing teams into East and West, but Team Utah showed out Tuesday night in Brooklyn, New York.

Utah Prep's AJ Dybantsa scored 17 points with five rebounds and two assists to lead the West to a 105-92 win over the East at the Barclay's Center, including going coast-to-coast for a dunk in the final minute that put an exclamation point on the West's first win the all-star showcase since 2018.

Wasatch Academy's Isiah Harwell scored all 16 of his points in the second half for the East.

The consensus No. 1 prospect in the country and BYU signee, who dunked over WNBA star Angel Reese a night earlier, started and ended the game with a pair of dunks, while hitting an array of shots in the West's win. Starting alongside Louisville commit Mike Brown Jr., Houston-bound Chris Cenac, Kansas signee Darryn Peterson and North Carolina's Caleb Wilson.

Dybantsa also played some defense (yes, in an all-state game), forcing a couple of steals and finding Peterson for a dunk to help the West lead by as much as 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Peterson had 18 points to earn MVP honors for the West. Duke-bound Cameron Boozer scored 16 to take MVP honors for the East.

Dybantsa scored 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting as the West closed the half on a 14-2 run to lead 48-40 at the break. Harwell opened the second half for the East with a 3-pointer, and had a third to tie the game briefly at 60-all with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.

Harwell, the Gatorade Utah Player of the Year who has signed with Houston, scored 11 points in the third quarter to lead the East, who went on a 16-4 run before the West scored 9 in a row go back up, 73-66 en route to a 74-70 advantage before the final frame.

Dybantsa, who averaged 21.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists for Utah Prep after the Brockton, Massachusetts, native transferred from Prolific Prep, is the first McDonald's All-American committed to BYU since Garner Meads in 2000. The 6-foot-9 jumbo wing is the sixth Cougar all-time to play in the game, joining Shawn Bradley (1990), Michael Smith (1983), Greg Kite (1979) and Devin Durrant (1978).

Not bad for a player who wasn't terribly interested in basketball, until his father, Ace, bought him a hoop patterned after America's favorite web slinger to keep his interest, he told the ESPN broadcast.

"I bought him a Spider-man hoop, and he fell in love with it," Ace Dybantsa said, adding he wanted his son to "rebound a little more" but mostly "just go out there and have fun."

Next up for Harwell is Chipotle Nationals, where ninth-seeded Wasatch Academy opens Wednesday night against eighth-seeded IMG Academy. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. MDT at Hamilton Southeastern High in Fishers, Indiana.

In the girls' game, Ridgeline star Emilee Skinner helped her squad to an 18-0 start as the Duke signee and the West ran past the East 104-82.

UCLA signee Sienna Betts had 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists to earn MVP honors for the West squad, who led by as much as 23-2 in the first quarter.

Skinner, the No. 7-rated player in ESPN's Top 100, did what she's been used to doing after going 104-4 with three 4A state titles with the Riverhawks: win, after getting off to an 18-0 start. The 6-foot guard showed off her multi-ranged game, driving to the rim for an and-one bucket midway through the fourth quarter to help the West squad pull away with teammates that include top-rated Aaliyah Chavez, who has committed to Oklahoma, and second-rated Betts from the Denver area.

Skinner had 3 points, four rebounds and six jaw-dropping assists in the first half as the West led the East 54-45 at the break — including an insane pass to Betts to save an errant ball going out-of-bounds for an easy bucket.

Later, Skinner found Betts inside for 2 to push the West's lead to 92-76 with less than five minutes remaining.

The two-time Utah player of the year by the Deseret News, MaxPreps and Gatorade is also scheduled to play in the Nike Hoop Summit on April 12.

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