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Sunday, February 16
Updated: July 22, 5:18 PM ET
 
James ends regular season with 22-point effort

Associated Press

DAYTON, Ohio -- When Kettering Alter forward Andrew Stichweh blocked Lebron James' shot Sunday, the Alter student section began to chant "overrated!''

James silenced those fans a minute later when he stole a pass and unleashed a tomahawk dunk that had the crowd gasping.

James' final regular-season game was regular in one sense -- he dominated.

The nation's top high school player had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 1 Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary to a 73-40 victory over Kettering Alter before a sellout crowd of more than 13,000 at the University of Dayton Arena.

Although James didn't reach his 33 points per game average, his acrobatics wowed the audience. James unleashed five dunks and displayed a full arsenal -- alley-oops, one-handed and tomahawks.

The 6-foot-8 senior forward is expected to be the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft. And he showed it.

The Knights (11-8) played a two-three zone to try to slow down James and the Irish (17-1) with no luck. With the game tied at 2, St. Vincent-St. Mary went on a 10-0 run to set the tone for the game.

In that span, James scored four points, fired a crosscourt pass for an assist and blocked a shot, flattening 5-foot-11 Alter guard Jack Hilgeman in getting the rebound.

During the third quarter, James seemed content to feed his teammates. But he did score on an alley-oop and a tomahawk dunk on a breakaway.

James' 22 points moved him to seventh place on the Ohio high school basketball career scoring list with 2,463 points. He passed former Middletown High School and Ohio State star Jerry Lucas, who had 2,460 points.

James scored 46 points Friday against Zanesville and had a career-high 52 points in his previous game, against Westchester of Los Angeles. But he seemed content to get his teammates into the act Sunday.

Junior guard Corey Jones scored 20 points, and after the game James presented Jones the MVP trophy that James was awarded.

"I think somebody played better than me,'' James announced to the crowd.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association had ruled the 18-year-old James ineligible for accepting two free retro sports jerseys worth a combined $845.

But Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge James Williams temporarily reinstated James on Feb. 5 and has scheduled a hearing for March 5 to decide whether to permanently block the association's ruling or uphold it.

Under the judge's ruling, James will sit out his team's final regular-season game against Toledo Scott on Feb. 23, but he can play in the playoffs, at least until the March 5 hearing.




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