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GREENSBORO -- If this was the last time Greensboro saw Trumae Lucas for a while, she certainly left a good impression. The former Grimsley star, now at Florida, scored seven of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter en route to MVP honors in a 78-73 victory for the West in the 34th annual East-West All-Star Game at the Greensboro Coliseum on Monday.

"It was a great way to finish," said Lucas, who scored or assisted on all but two of the West's 13 fourth-quarter points.

It was Lucas' final game as a high schooler and her first in Greensboro since heading to Gainesville earlier this month for summer classes and conditioning.

Fellow Whirlie Krystin Fields, whose career will continue at Towson, also made a triumphant return from campus, posting 10 points and eight rebounds. All five of Grimsley's starters from a year ago will play Division I ball this fall.

Secily Ray of Thomasville added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the West, which won for the first time since 2005. Southwest Guilford's Tyisha Bridges, a Norfolk State commitment, had three steals in 15 minutes.

Lucas, a steamroller of a point guard who moves defenders around like chess pieces, hit the final two baskets of the first quarter, including a layup just before the buzzer that capped a 10-2 run and put the West up 21-13.

The East stormed back with a 14-3 run of its own to open the second, capped by a transition layup from Hoke County's Shamia Brown. The High Point signee led the East with 18 points and 12 rebounds. A layup by Amanda Sinclair a few moments later gave the East its largest lead of the game at 37-29.

Once again, the West counterpunched, closing the half with an 11-2 spurt. Lucas followed a basket plus the foul with a 3-pointer to pull the West within one, and a triple seconds later by Kurie Washington put the West back on top. It took a 40-39 edge into the break.

The East regained the lead briefly midway through the third quarter, but the West sprinted to another run, this one a 15-2 burst, to close the quarter with a 65-56 lead.

Ray, a Wake Forest signee, scored seven consecutive points during the spurt, including a basket plus the foul that put the West back up 57-54.

"I didn't even know (the score) was that tight," said Ray, who attended three classes at Wake on Monday morning before driving over for the game.

The East scored the first nine points of the fourth to even things at 65, but Lucas, as she did so many times for the Whirlies, decided that was just about enough. She muscled her way into the lane for a basket that put the West back on top with 6:50 left, then added a pair of free throws and fed Ray for a bank shot in the lane to stretch the lead to four.

The East pulled within two and had the ball under its own basket with 35 seconds left, but Lucas intercepted the inbound pass and pushed it ahead for a backbreaking layup.

Phil Weaver, who retired as Grimsley's coach after last season, watched it all unfold from the scorer's table.

"I had the mentality that we were going to pull it out," Lucas said. "It was a game of spurts," West coach Tim Epley said, "and I guess we got the last spurt."

When Lucas has a say in the matter, that's usually how it goes.

East -- Brown 18, Hanzer 16, Menendez 7, Best 7, McRae 7, Sinclair 7, Jackson 6, Cotten 3, McKoy 2.

West -- Lucas 21, Sealey 15, Ray 13, Fields 10, Washington 6, McMinn 5, Belcher 4, Culler 4.

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com