TRENTON, N.J. -- A week off had no effect on LeBron James. In fact, he was better than ever.

	LeBron James scored 52 points, hitting on 21 of 34 shots from the field, including six 3-pointers.

Playing for the first time since a judge restored his eligibility, James scored a career-high 52 points to lead top-ranked St. Vincent-St. Mary of Akron, Ohio, past Westchester of Los Angeles 78-52 in the Prime Time Shootout on Saturday night.

"I told my teammates today, even before I got on the court, that I was feeling it,'' said James, who made 21 of 34 shots from the field, including six 3-pointers. "I felt like tonight was my night.''

Not only did James get two points more than his previous career high against Mentor earlier this season, but he did it with the national and international media on hand to watch his every move.

James more than answered the challenge, just like he did about a month ago when stories appeared questioning whether his mother should have been allowed to buy him a $50,000 Hummer H2.

"If you remember earlier this year after the Hummer incident, I came back and scored 50,'' James said. "This time I got 52. If something happens again, I am going to score 52 points again.''

James, who's expected to be the No. 1 pick in the next NBA draft, was simply phenomenal in single-handedly matching the point total of Westchester (22-3), which entered the game ranked seventh nationally by USA Today.

With the sellout crowd expecting to see the 6-foot-8 Kobe Bryant clone dominate inside, James put on an outside shooting performance that would have made any professional jealous.

He was 12-for-20 in the first half and scored 31 points as St. Vincent-St. Mary took a 41-24 halftime lead. His last points came on a running 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer, the last of his five 3-pointers in the half.

"We could have put three guys on him and he would have hit those shots,'' Westchester coach Ed Azzam said.

The second half turned into showtime for James, especially the opening three minutes. James got the Fighting Irish (15-1) going by converting an alley-oop dunk off a nice pass by Corey Jones.

James then showed he could play defense. He had consecutive steals at midcourt and finished off the fast breaks with dunks that started with takeoffs from the foul line.

The second one brought the fans out of their seats and sent James running down to the other end of the court, where a ball boy caught up in the emotion jumped into his arms.

The crowd ate it up, just as it did when James exited the game with 2:30 to go. The fans rose and gave James a standing ovation, and he milked it, extending his arms to take it all in.

"There was nothing we could do,'' said Westchester's Trevor Ariza, who was held to 12 points. "When we contested his shots, he knocked them down. When we double-teamed him, he found the open man.''

The only moment of concern came late in the third quarter when James seemed to land wrong after taking a 3-pointer from the left corner. He limped up the court a couple of times and eventually left the game for about a minute before returning and playing into the fourth quarter.

"I was tired,'' said James, who was playing for first time since Jan. 26. "I was exhausted.''

The performance capped an unbelievable week that started with James sitting on the bench last Sunday for a game against Canton McKinley after the Ohio High School Athletic Association revoked his eligibility for accepting two sports jerseys valued at $845 from a Cleveland clothing store. Four days earlier, the association ruled that James hadn't violated any rules by accepting the SUV from his mother as a present for his 18th birthday.

A state judge restored his eligibility on Wednesday after James went to court, although the judge ruled James will have to miss one more regular-season game.

James was so happy to be back in front of a crowd before the game that he seemed to skip on the court. After reaching half court, he bounced the ball up to his chest and then started to talk to himself, almost as if he was psyching himself up.

As the teams got their layup lines ready, James pranced like a boxer trying to relieve the tension in the moments leading up to a big fight.

Once the layups started, he got the crowd going with a big slam dunk.

After doing little in the opening minutes, a fan sitting at courtside yelled to him:

"Show me something, LeBron.''

Did he ever.

"This court, this basketball court, is like my house,'' James said. "I think missing a game last week gave me a little more motivation.''