By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
INDIANAPOLIS – Coming of age, going crazy from long range, Indiana’s Junior All-Stars had the looks that kill – open looks from distance – while leaving their Senior peers lifeless on the floor. Stunning in its complete domination, the next generation was way too cool, all the rage, during a smackdown of historic proportions.
The Juniors had a sole purpose: prepare the Seniors for the looming weekend home-and-home series with Kentucky. Well, they went above and beyond, recording a rare win in the scrimmage history and doing so with a blowout that shellshocked the elders.
Splashing 3-pointers, pressing and outhustling the favored Seniors, the young guns shot their way to a 102-75 triumph on Wednesday night at Cathedral. With five scorers in double figures, the Juniors set a record for points scored and winning margin. Of course, their sample size is small because that’s only the 11th time the Juniors have won in the 52-game series that started in 1996.
Bedford North Lawrence’s Chloe Spreen contributed 8 points, while sharpshooter Alli Harkness drilled five treys and totaled 19 points to lead the assault, which left the Seniors in blank-stare mode. Not exactly the springboard toward success against the southern rivals. But Juniors coach Zach Newby had promised a competitive challenge, rather than just provide road kill for the Seniors. His team just took it to the next level.
“I’m a competitor, so if I’m going to coach in a game, I’ll try to win it,” Newby said. “And with a group of kids like that, you would never know they had not played together. Unselfish, and when you shoot the ball that well, you got a chance to win.”
Not just a chance, a lock. The Juniors buried 18 treys. That’s a remarkable number. Once they caught fire, erasing the early Senior surge to a 19-8 lead, the fire was unquenchable.
“It was a really good feeling,” said Harkness, a Western Michigan recruit who didn’t look like a threat (with those thick goggles masking her true identity). But wow, those glasses must be equipped with radar. “Winning both games (including the Juniors win over Kentucky on Sunday) is like a dream come true. When you’re all good, it just clicks.”
The Juniors took control with a shocking run, a 23-3 burst that covered the finish of the first quarter and half the second. They kept the flames fanned while rolling to a 48-33 lead at the half, then punctuated the runaway by zooming to a 29-point lead in the fourth. They hit the century mark, much to the delight of the spectators, with 1:24 left.
“We really did want to win,” Spreen said. “But 100 is crazy.”
What happened? The Seniors had size and length, but the Juniors had a press and a collective chip on their shoulders. The Seniors were guilty of 29 turnovers, and they were a miserable 5 of 25 from 3 range. That’s a wicked combination.
“Very surprised,” BNL’s Karsyn Norman, a starter for the Seniors, said after the smoke cleared. “I thought we had them. Everybody played one-on-one, we didn’t play as a team.”
The irony is the Senior coaches, wary of Kentucky’s expected strategy, suggested a press. That definitely falls in the category of being careful what is asked.
“It wasn’t some genius idea,” said Newby, who coaches at Lapel and thought the phone call offering him the Junior team was a joke. Nobody is laughing now. “They wanted us to press them, because Kentucky presses. We did a good job of executing it.”
Jordyn Poole, the star from the Junior win over Kentucky at Jeffersonville, had 15 points, Joh’nea Donahue added 13, Camryn Bishop totaled 12 (with three treys) and Jennings County star Juliann Woodard added 11 (with three more treys). Woodard also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Reagan Wilson had 5 assists. There wasn’t a stat the Juniors didn’t dominate.
“The thing that boggles my mind is how unselfish they are,” Newby said. “They move the ball and share the ball. That was a ton of fun. I just sat back and watched.”
“They had a lot of size on us,” Spreen said. “But once we got going, we were going. We just came together. I had a lot of fun. The experience was great, an honor to be here. Playing at a high level, it was fun to compete.“
On the receiving side, the perspective was completely different. Laila Hull, the Miss Basketball, had 17 points and 12 boards while Amber Tretter added 13 points. Norman finished with 9 but struggled with her shot (3 of 13). Of course, she was not alone. The Seniors were 27 of 72 (37.5 percent) overall.
“This was embarrassing,” Norman said. ”We all know it. This is a really good group of girls. We just have to figure it out. It’s just a little setback. We’ll be fine.”
They can prove that on Friday, when Indiana visits Kentucky (in Owensboro) for the renewal of the series. The rematch is set for Saturday night in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
In the boys scrimmage, the Juniors completed a rare scrimmage sweep (only the second time, with the first coming in 2010) with a 105-100 victory. Micah Davis had 26 points and Brownstown’s Jack Benter totaled 24 for the Juniors, who pulled away from a 98-98 deadlock with a late surge.
Markus Burton had 23 points and Myles Colvin added 18 for the Seniors.
