Game Report: Indiana All-Stars 98 Kentucky All-Stars 89

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It has been a busy week following the annual Indiana All-Star series. The week got started with the Indiana Junior All-Stars defeating the Kentucky Junior All-Stars on Sunday at Charlestown High School. Then, on Monday, the Indiana Futures All-Stars from the North defeated the South squad. On Wednesday, the Indiana Junior All-Stars pulled a mild upset defeating the Senior All-Stars 117-114. However, the focal point of the week is always the two-game "home-and-home" series played on Friday and Saturday between the Indiana All-Stars and the Kentucky All-Stars. Friday night's game was played at Lexington Catholic High School and Saturday's contest will be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This game started out very sloppy. Both teams, despite being the best of the best from two basketball-crazed states, clearly needed some time to adjust to what could only be described as a unique ball. Layups were missed, dribbles were lost, and there was no real flow to the first few segments. Eventually, Kentucky went on the first real run of the game rattling off a 10-0 spurt that eventually got them up 37-29 heading into the under-4:00 minute media timeout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins (Greenfield-Central H.S. 2025) gave the Indiana All-Stars a late push going into the half, but they still trailed Kentucky 44-41. Kentucky Mr. Basketball Malachi Moreno (Great Crossing H.S. 2025) was causing problems with his size while his high school team Vince Dawson (Great Crossing H.S. 2025) led the way in scoring at the half. Indiana was just 9-29 from two-point range in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The game remained very competitive through the first 10-12 minutes of the second half with Kentucky continue to keep Indiana at arms length. However, when Michael Cooper (Jeffersonville H.S. 2025) got hot from three-point range it changed the game. The Wright State signee hit three consecutive three-point shots that brought Indiana from down 72-69 to up 78-72 in the manner of seconds. They would never look back from there as the backcourt duo of Mark Zackery IV (Ben Davis H.S. 2025) and Azavier Robinson (Lawrence North H.S. 2025) put the game on ice with some excellent plays, on both ends of the floor, in the final minutes. The Indiana All-Stars went on to win 98-89 to improve their series record to 106-46.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>UConn signee Braylon Mullins (Greenfield-Central H.S. 2025) led all scorers with 24 points and 6 rebounds for the Indiana All-Stars. He certainly looked the part where the coveted Mr. Basketball #1 jersey. Wright State signee Michael Cooper (Jeffersonville H.S. 2025) was next in the scoring column with 21 points and six three-point shots. Northwestern bound Tre Singleton (Jeffersonville H.S. 2025) added 14 points before fouling out while Notre Dame Football signee Mark Zackery IV (Ben Davis H.S. 2025) chipped in 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the loss for Kentucky, Kentucky Mr. Basketball and Kentucky signee Malachi Moreno (Great Crossing H.S. 2025) led the way with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocked shots. Morehead State bound Vincent Dawson (Great Crossing H.S. 2025) added 21 points and 7 rebounds. East Tennessee State recruit Maddox Huff (Harlan County H.S. 2025) put up 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->