They ran up and down the court, tossing in baskets from beyond the arc and from underneath the rim, and even after 60 minutes of frenetic action a winner could not be decided as the Rising Stars Summer Basketball League All Star game ended in an 87-87 tie.

Darkness prevented an overtime session.

The All Star game was the first step taken in the final week of the 2005 summer season – weather permitting, the playoffs commenced on Wednesday night (after presstime) with Syracuse battling North Carolina at 6 pm. The semi-finals were held Thursday with Duke taking on UCLA and UConn battling the winner of the Wednesday play-in game.

The finals are slated for Friday at 6 pm at Treadwell Park.

The kind of effort one should expect in the playoffs was displayed during the All Star game on Monday night as 11 different players scored in double figures.

But it was not just the points that were eye-popping; it was the plays being made on the court.

For the East, it was Joe Cappiello leading the way with 16 points while Christian Steimle, Dan Greenwood and Matt Datin canned 12 points apiece and Andy Lapple tossed in 10.

Lapple and Cappiello shared the team MVP honors as Lapple dished off several assists and played solid defense while Cappiello was strong off the “glass.”

Greenwood had a couple of big shots and some big assists while Connor Quinn (9 points) and Cappiello hooked up for three very slick fast breaks.

Kelly Anne Brophy had a great court game as Dan Clement (9 points), Brendan O’Connell (5 points) and Alex Grant (2 points) contributed to the offense.

For the West, it was Ben Miles leading the way with 12 points and 14 rebounds to earn the team MVP honors. Steve Musco tossed in  16 points while Ryan Goodridge added 14 and Josh Engler and Ishan Tatake tossed in 10 apiece.

Tatake made a driving layup and converted a free throw for a traditional three-point play to bring the West to within three with one minute left and Engler made a great drive to the hoop with eight seconds left for the tie.

Ralph Sergiovanni tossed in eight points while Dan White dished off eight assists. Trevor Todd added two points as Ryan O’Keefe and Megan Condon had solid efforts.

Each team had the opportunity win the game in the final seven seconds, but could not convert.

NOTE: Also selected to participate in the All Star game, but unable to play, were Daniel Quinn, George Zaruba, Connor Collier, Ed White and Lexi Black.