Skip to main content
KSRKSR Plus
KSBoard
Kentucky
Join KSR+

How Kentucky's signees performed in the Girls McDonald's All-American Game

Screenshot 2023-11-10 at 1.25.30 PMby: Phoenix Stevens04/01/26PStevensKSR

The 2026 Girls McDonald’s All-American Game took place on Tuesday, and each of Kentucky’s signees — Maddyn Greenway, Emily McDonald and Savvy Swords — participated in the event.

In the Sprite JamFest on Monday, McDonald won the girls three-point shootout by scoring 23 points, and she recorded 18 points to win the boys vs girls competition against future Missouri Tiger Jason Crowe Jr. She and her current teammate in Swords and her future teammate in Greenway all took the court in the biggest high school all-star game there is, and here’s how each of them performed.

Sword and McDonald played for the East team, while Greenway suited up for the West team. It was a close game for maybe two-thirds of it, but the East team pulled away to secure the 91-71 win. USC signee Saniyah Hall, the top overall prospect in the 2026 class, was named MVP.

Maddyn Greenway draws charges, shows off flashy passing

Kentucky’s future point guard was impressive on Tuesday, but it wasn’t necessarily with her scoring. With the best talent in the country along her side, she showed off her ability to pass the ball. She had more than a few good-looking dimes that set her teammates up for easy buckets. Of course, she made sure to get hers as well.

She cashed in on a couple of field goals, but what made Greenway’s outing truly standout from her counterparts was her competitive fire. In what was an exhibition all-star game, there was a lot of selfish basketball being played — players not really passing, taking low-percentage shots — but that didn’t apply to Greenway.

The 5-foot-8 point guard used her quickness to get some steals on defense, but multiple times throughout the game, she set herself up to draw some charges and put her body at risk to get the calls.

Exhibition all-star game or not, Greenway showed that when she’s on the court, she’s playing to win. That’s certainly a trait you want your point guard to have.

Savvy Swords makes smart plays and finds good looks

Swords didn’t look like an incoming college freshman in the McDonald’s All-American Game because she was making plays offensively to put herself in good positions to score. She looked more like a college sophomore or junior out there at times.

Whether it was fighting for positioning down low to set herself up in the paint or making a swift backdoor cut, Swords was doing everything she needed to without the ball in her hands in order for her to be effective once she did get the ball.

Like Greenway, Swords also had a few nice passes which resulted in some points for her team — one of those assists helped spark the East’s big run at the end of the game to take a commanding lead. Her rebounding was pretty solid too. Overall, Swords just seems like the ultimate hustle player. She’ll be a perfect fit under Kenny Brooks.

Emily McDonald continues to knock it down from deep

When McDonald won the three-point contest at the Sprite JamFest, you probably would have figured that she would knock one down in the actual McDonald’s game. You would have been right. Even when a defender was closing in on her with their hand up right in her face, the future Kentucky guard was able to cash in from beyond the arc.

All of Kentucky’s signees showed off their defensive prowess, and that certainly incudes McDonald. She was often matched up against some of the West’s top perimeter scorers, and she didn’t give up too many buckets. Even if she was matched up against bigger players, she held her own defensively.

We’ve come to learn that McDonald is one of the best shooters in the 2026 class, but like Greenway and Swords, she has a lot of talent and can contribute a lot on both ends of the floor. The future of Kentucky women’s basketball certainly looks bright with three McDonald’s All-Americans as the core for the next four years.

Discuss This Article

Comments have moved.

Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.

KSBoard

2026-05-20