A pair of incoming Niner freshmen got their final taste of HS action Monday night at the East-West All-Star Game held at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Shawn Lester scored 20 points on 7-13 shooting (3-7 from beyond the arc) to take home MVP honors in leading the West squad to a 107-97 victory over the East squad. Fellow frosh-to-be Denzel Ingram playing for the East All-Stars led all players with 23 points in the losing effort.

Highlights from the action:

First, a caveat: This is a HS All-Star game in July. It was not top flight competition (there were only two other DI players besides Lester and Ingram). The defense was respectable but these were unfamiliar squads playing for a friendly but competitive game.

Lester is a very good athlete and probably was the best on the court. Very fast with the ball in transition but in control. Looked to get his teammates involved early more than looking for his own shot. Had a scary moment where he was fouled going for a dunk and hit the ground hard. Fortunately he popped right back up. Jumper is solid but not spectacular. Connected on 3 of 7 from outside but a couple were bad misses. Elicited comparisons to Terrance Williams (with a better jumper) and DeMario Mayfield (if you could imagine him playing his freshman year for us). His two-handed alley-oop dunk might have been the highlight of the night.

Denzel Ingram is definitely an offensively-oriented PG who has a polished game but has the tendency to take too many bad shots. Probably explains his HS shooting percentage more than a lack of shooting/scoring ability. Hopefully being in a system with other good players and not being relied upon as the sole scorer will help with his shot selection. Denzel showed no fear in going to the basket and had a nice mid-range game. Outside shooting has a chance to get better with work. In a role where he can come off the bench he could be a nice change of pace substitute for Pierria’ Henry. Comparison wise, worst case he seems like a Kendrick Smith type. Best case a “rich man’s” Dijuan Harris and that’s not meant to be a dig on Dijuan. No, he is not the next Sean Colson. Don’t be mad.