Durham, N.C. — John Wall took a dribble to his right at the top of the key, stopped abruptly, and looked to his right while slinging a one-handed pass to his teammate down low Ryan Kelly, who finished the play with an explosive dunk.

As Wall trotted back on defense, he glanced toward the wooden bleachers and put his index finger to his mouth as if to shush the fans inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Or, Wall might have been saying, "There's much more of this to come."

And indeed there was. Wall is one of many high-profile high-school players who are participating in the 15th annual Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, which began Friday and runs through Sunday at sites Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh.

Wall, who plays for Word of God Christian Academy and the Greensboro-based AAU team D-One Sports, is ranked the No. 1 player in the class of 2009 by rivals.com and No. 3 by scouts.com — and the nation's best point guard by both recruiting services.

The player who received many of Wall's passes, Kelly, is ranked No. 29 by scout.com in the class of 2009 and showed great offensive versatility Saturday, scoring on layups, dunks, turnaround jumpers and even a 3-pointer.

And Saturday evening, Mason Plumlee got his second chance — his first was Friday night — to play on the court he will share with his brother, Miles, beginning in the fall of 2009. Plumlee, scout.com's 15th-rated prospect, has already given a verbal commitment to play for Duke. Miles will be a freshman for the Blue Devils in the fall.

Add to the local stars the nation's No. 1 2009 prospect Derrick Favors — according to scout.com — who played for the Atlanta Celtics Saturday, and spectators had plenty of talent to watch for a full afternoon inside Duke's gym.

Before any of the aforementioned players took the court, Duke fans got a treat when two guards the Devils are chasing — rising senior Kenny Boynton and rising junior Brandon Knight — put on a show for Team Breakdown of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

At one point, the 6-foot-3 Knight converted on five shots in a row, including a 3-pointer on which he was fouled, and Boynton, also 6-3 and the No. 10 2009 prospect, had his moments as well from the perimeter.

Then the locals got their chance to shine, as the 6-4 Wall and 6-9 Kelly worked well together in a victory over the Arkansas Hawks.

Wall started off slow, turning the ball over a couple times and suffering a few defensive lapses, but once he got his engine started, he showed his full array of moves. Although he's right-handed, during warm-ups he was throwing down left-handed dunks, and throughout the game he showed his dexterity.

On one fastbreak, Wall dribbled behind his back twice, zigzagging from the right side of the court to the left, before winding back to the rim for a finger-roll layup.

"I don't really work on it," Wall said of finishing shots with both hands. "I've always dunked with my left hand. I just started dunking with my right hand."

Wall, who named Miami, Virginia, Duke, Florida State and his home city school of North Carolina State as the schools he's looking closely at, said he will spend the summer in Greensboro working with his AAU coach Dwon Clifton.

"Getting stronger, my defense and my shot," Wall said of what he needs to improve the most.

Kelly, while not as highly touted as Wall, had a great all-around game, scoring from all over the court and blocking several shots on the defensive end. He said that becoming a flexible player is one of the goals he has in mind when he wakes up every morning at 6:30 a.m. to work on his game.

"I think that's one thing, when people see me they like my versatility and ability to score in a lot of different ways," Kelly said. "Offensively, defensively I can do a lot of things and that's kind of what people see in me, I think."

Kelly hopes to narrow down a long list of schools he's interested in — from Georgetown on the East Coast to Stanford on the West Coast — during the summer.

Favors didn't have the kind of game that would prove why he's being recruited by dozens of schools, including national champion Kansas. Foul trouble kept him on the bench for a good chunk of the first half, and when he was on the court, he looked a bit slow on defense and mishandled a pair of entry passes to the post.

There were glimpses, however, of the 6-9, 220-pound Favors' potential. On one possession, he received a pass at the free-throw line, drove left around his man and finished a layup with his right hand. And at the other end of the court, he stuffed an opposing player's shot and grabbed the rebound in a swarm of players.

They were plays reminiscent of the NBA's Dwight Howard, who played for the same AAU team before being drafted No. 1 overall out of high school in 2004. And, Favors, said, people tell him all the time that he looks a lot like the 6-11 Howard, though he disagrees.

But despite the rankings and praise, Favors knows he still has plenty to work on heading into his senior season at South Atlanta High School.

"My jumper and my ballhandling, and post moves too," Favors said of the main things he needs to hone.

The late afternoon belonged to the committed, as in players who have already chosen their colleges.

A pair of class of 2009 North Carolina State recruits, C.J. Leslie and C.J. Williams, competed in consecutive games.

First Leslie, Wall's Word of God teammate, took the court for K-2 Renegade Black, an Atlanta-based team. The 6-7, 185-pound Leslie — the fourth-ranked power forward in his class — is undersized, but he showed good strength in corralling a rebound in traffic and scoring a layup among bigger players.

"I do pretty good dribbling off the ball," Leslie said. "I can work on shooting, but as far as (being on the) wing and driving, I'm pretty good at that."

The 6-4, 200-pound Williams played for the Chris Paul CP3 All-Stars, but didn't contribute much in his team's victory.

North Carolina class of 2010 recruit Reggie Bullock is Williams' teammate, but he missed the tournament because of tendonitis in his quadriceps.

Plumlee, a 6-10 power forward, plays for Christ School in Arden, N.C., during the high-school season, but the Indiana native is a member of the Indiana Elite AAU squad. On Saturday he showed agility and smoothness, occasionally dribbling in the open court.

Plumlee even got fancy, attempting a behind-the-back pass and a through-the-legs pass in transition. He got mixed results, committing a turnover on one possession and setting up a teammate for free throws on another — and he threw a wild one-handed pass in the half-court offense that was intercepted.

So will Plumlee be trying trick passes as a freshman for Mike Krzyzewski?

"Not if they don't work," he said. "They didn't work tonight; better keep those in the bag, I guess."

But there were more highlights than lowlights for Plumlee, though his outside shot was off. He ran the floor extremely well and was a defensive presence down low, blocking a few shots.

"I just think getting stronger is the biggest thing I need to work on," Plumlee said. "Get in the weight room, so I can finish stronger around the basket and play better defense."