By PEDRO VELAZCO
MARION — The Indiana Girls All-Star basketball squad got exactly what it needed Wednesday night. Getting a win over the Junior All-Stars mattered, but what mattered more was the byproduct of that victory: Confidence.
Two nights after losing by six points to the Junior squad, the All-Stars got a jolt of life with an 89-77 victory at Bill Green Arena.
“Sometimes you need a confidence builder,” All-Stars coach Kem Zolman said. “If you get beat twice by the Juniors it’s like, ‘Oh crap, now we’ve got to go up against Kentucky.’ So this is huge, a huge confidence builder.”
The Indiana All-Star boys and girls take on the Kentucky boys and girls Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse and again Sunday in Kentucky.
Maconaquah’s Deja Mattox and Kokomo’s Kayla Drake started for the Indiana girls and helped the All-Stars to victory. Mattox was hot in the first half, scoring 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from the line.
“It felt good that finally, all that hard work turned into a win,” said Mattox, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds. “All together, it’s just practice to get ready for Kentucky.”
Drake scored four points, dished three assists and grabbed three rebounds. She said this game should go a long way to preparing for the Bluegrass girls.
“This game helped us a lot,” she said. “We lost a close game Monday to the juniors, but then we came back with a chip on our shoulder. We really knew what we had to do to win. They’ve just given us a taste of what Kentucky does. We’ve got to work a lot harder these next few days at practice to get ready for Friday and Sunday.”
In dealing with the Juniors, the All-Stars had to contend with a guard-powered squad that was good in transition — much like what Drake said Kentucky offers. She was glad to see the All-Stars win the rebounding battle 57-47 and hit 9 of 22 3-pointers.
“I think we were a lot more focused, and gave a lot more effort,” Drake said. “Our rebounding was way better than the first game and we hit more open shots.”
The All-Stars got scoring from all 12 players who hit the floor. Carmel’s Danielle Havel led the All-Stars with 14 points while Avon’s Kaley May added 13. Ben Davis’ Alexandra Bentley led the Junior girls with 24 points.
Boys game
In the boys game, the Indiana All-Stars beat the Juniors 114-83. Mr. Basketball Tyler Zeller of Washington led the All-Stars with 28 points. Marion’s Scott Wood led the Juniors with 20 points.
Kokomo’s Patrick Hopkins lined up for the Junior boys. He had a rebound and an assist in 15 minutes of action.
“It was a great honor for him to be chosen and a great experience for him to play against tremendous competition and play with really good players,” said Kokomo coach Brian McCauley, who was in attendance. “It’s an honor for him and an honor for our program. Patrick is a really good team player and I think that reflected on our team.”
