Juniors Take Down Indiana All-Stars

The Indiana All-Stars dominated the offensive glass, had fewer turnovers and more assists but still lost by 12 points Tuesday night in New Albany. The Junior All-Stars used 19 three-pointers to defeat their elders.

It seemed like the Junior All-Stars would be in a tough spot with Romeo Langford not playing due to playing in adidas Eurocamp. The Indiana All-Stars were also short-handed. Fort Wayne natives Jaylen Butz and Malik Williams will not be playing in any games. Zach Gunn, Sasha Stefanovic and Jermaine Couisnard did not play Tuesday night. Stefanoviic missed Tuesday due to graduation. Cousinard is out with a knee injury. 

Early in the game, it was the Kris Wilkes show. He had 16 points in the blink of an eye. The 2017 Mr. Basketball was determined to put on a show, and he did. Wilkes was definitely the bright spot for the Indiana All-Stars. The UCLA-bound scored in every way possible. Wilkes finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds. 

The seniors jumped out to an early lead and kept it until the second half. It seemed like the Indiana All-Stars outplayed the juniors in the first half, but De'Avion Washington knocked down five three-pointers in order to keep the juniors in the game. Washington tallied 19 of his 21 points in the opening half. The seniors were up 56-50 at the half.

The second half was dominated by the juniors. Eric Hunter, Mekhi Lairy, Musa Jallow, Aaron Henry and Damezi Anderson all came alive in the second half. Lairy got things started early in the second half with a couple of threes. Hunter had the highlight of the game in the first half as he made a defender stumble to the ground as he knocked down a 17-footer, but his second half was more impressive. He scored nine of his 13 in the second. Jallow tallied 13 of his 15 points after halftime. Aaron Henry had a number of head turning plays including a blow-by dunk in a one on one situation. It was Damezi Anderson that stole the show late. He scored 17 of his team-high 24 points in the second half. Anderson was huge late in the game.

The game was back and forth from the 12-minute mark on. That's when the juniors took the lead for the first time in the game. The seniors answered eight back with an 8-0 run. Turnovers played a major part in the game. The one that sealed the game for the juniors was when Damezi Anderson created a steal against Cooper Neese with a little more than a minute to play. It was a really fun and exciting game down the stretch.

The juniors won going away 122-110. The Junior All-Stars pulled away in the final minute to make the score look worse than it was. The Junior All-Stars are now on a two-game winning streak since they won the second exhibition game last year. The Indiana All-Stars are now 37-10 in the series.

The Indiana All-Stars will take on the North Junior All-Stars at Plainfield on Thursday night. 

Junior Indiana All-Stars - Eric Hunter 13 points (5-8 FG, 2-3 3FG, 1-2 FT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal; Mekhi Lairy 8 points (2-6 FG, 2-5 3FG, 2-3 FT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 steals; Musa Jallow 15 points (6-9 FG, 2-4 3FG, 1-2 FT), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 blocks; Robert Phinisee 14 points (6-9 FG, 2-3 3FG), 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 turnover; Aaron Henry 13 points (6-12 FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-1 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 blocks, 1 steal; Sean Easter 2 points (1-2 FG), 2 assists, 3 steals; De'Avion Washington 21 points (8-11 FG, 5-8 3FG) 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 steals; Jalen Moore 7 points (1-4 FG, 1-2 3FG, 4-4 FT), 2 assists, 2 turnovers; Chance Coyle 2 points, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal; Jarron Coleman 3 points (1-4 FG, 1-2 3FG), 5 rebound, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal; Damezi Anderson 24 points (10-16 FG, 4-8 3FG), 5 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 2 steals

Indiana All-Stars - Kris Wilkes 33 points (15-32 FG, 3-7 3FG, 0-2 FT), 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 block; Jack Nunge 13 points (5-8 FG, 0-1 3FG, 3-4 FT), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 3 steals; Jaylen Minnett 0 points (0-4 FG, 0-2 3FG) 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal; Cooper Neese 9 points (4-11 FG, 1-5 3FG), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals; Grant Smith 9 points (4-9 FG, 1-2 3FG), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal; Mack Smith 14 points (5-12 FG, 3-6 3FG, 1-2 FT), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers; Kyle Mangas 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-2 3FG), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers; Jalen Adaway 15 points (7-9 FG, 1-2 3FG), 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 turnovers, 2 blocks 2 steals; Michael Ertel 7 points (3-8 FG, 1-4 3FG), 3 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 turnvoers, 1 steal