Orange County Boys’ All-Star Basketball Game : Keefe’s 26 Points and 11 Rebounds Lead the South to 109-100 Victory

Adam Keefe extended a celebrated prep basketball career by scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead the South to a 109-100 victory Saturday night in the boys’ Orange County All-Star basketball game before 3,500 fans in UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

Keefe, a 6-foot 9-inch center from Woodbridge High School, didn’t miss a shot in the second half until only six seconds remained as the South ended the North’s three-game winning streak.

“I knew, going in, that we had a great team with a great bunch of guys and this was a great way to finish my high school career,” Keefe said. “Erik Martin was the only guy on their team that could match up with us inside.

“Martin had a great first half, but he got the short end of an awfully big stick in this game.”

Martin has played in the shadows over the past two years at Whittier Christian, a 1-A division school on the northeast border of the county. But the 6-5 forward stepped into the spotlight with 18 points in only 17 minutes of play.

Unfortunately, Martin was assessed four quick fouls in the first half and fouled out with 9:24 remaining in the game and his team trailing, 87-70.

The South, which leads the series, 13-10, never trailed, opening a 6-0 lead. Santa Ana’s Bobby Joyce, who will attend Nevada Las Vegas in the fall, set the tone for the evening with a stirring dunk on the game’s first play.

The North managed to stay close in the first half and cut an eight-point halftime deficit to five points, 58-53, early in the second half before the South caught fire.

South guard Joe Small of Bolsa Grande gave his team an 84-64 lead with 11:20 remaining in the game with a three-point field goal, but the North rallied with some long-distance scoring by guard Michael Keith.

Keith, from Kennedy High, made four three-point shots in the second half. But Keefe, who was named the game’s most valuable player, scored 9 of his team’s final 12 points to finish off the North.

“Adam has certainly done it (provided the big plays) more than once for me at Woodbridge over the past three years,” said Bill Shannon, South coach. “The most difficult thing was getting everybody quality time out there.”

Although Keefe, who will attend Stanford, was the star of the game, the South also had some strong supporting players. Tustin forward Leo Parker scored 12 points, making all four of his field-goal attempts and missing only one foul shot.

Small and Joyce added 11 points each, and Bret Johnson of El Toro finished with 9 points and 3 assists.

Keith made 5 of 11 three-point shots and finished with 18 points for the North. Teammate Brian McCloskey of Sunny Hills scored all 16 of his points in the second half, including a crowd-pleasing play in which he bounced an inbounds pass off the South’s Parker, grabbed the ball and scored on a layup.

But Martin was clearly the best player for the North. He said he never doubted his talent despite playing at a small school.

“Maybe they (South players) were thinking I’m just from a small school,” Martin said. “They hear I’m in the 1-A and they tend to write me off. If you have talent, it will show through.

“The foul situation took me out of the game. I would have liked to have played more. I wanted to show I was just as good as the others.”