Kentucky clocks Indiana girls, 72-67

The Indianapolis Star Indiana All-Star Teams earned a split last weekend at E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
In the girls game, individualism by the Hoosiers spelled doom for the team in a 72-67 loss. Indiana trailed for most of the second half and saw Kentucky build a 15-point lead with 12 minutes to play. The Hoosiers fought back late and briefly held the point before finally succumbing to Kentucky in their first loss in three games.
Corydon Central graduate Dana Beaven had four points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes of action while Tara Miller, a North Harrison grad, was held scoreless in seven minutes of play.
Beaven was a starter for the Indiana All-Stars (becoming the first player from Harrison County to do so) and will play basketball this fall at Bellarmine University. Miller has already started classes at Indiana University on a basketball scholarship.
With five players reaching double figures, Indiana’s boys dominated Kentucky, 94-72, in a game that was officiated by Harrison County native Tom Wallace.
The series resumes this Saturday night at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The girls game begins at 6 p.m. (fast time) and at approximately 8:30 for the boys.
Tickets are still available at prices of $5, $12, $16, $18 and $100 through TicketMaster (502-361-3100), the Conseco Fieldhouse box office or by logging on to ticketmaster.com
Kentucky 72, Indiana 67
At least three players from Indiana admitted things got out of hand in their first loss to Kentucky since the opening contest of 2003.
‘I was forcing things,’ Hamilton Southeastern graduate Kayla Roudebush said. ‘I take full responsibility for the loss because of the way I played in the first half. I know I was frustrated, and I kept forcing it. (Indiana Miss Basketball Jodi Howell) was hitting 3s, (Kim Roberson) was driving to the basket; I just wasn’t looking for it.’
On the web site, HoosierAuthority.com, Howell also said there was too much individualism.
‘We did a lot of standing around and watching on offense. We forced shots, turned the ball over trying to force things, and were simply outplayed,’ Howell wrote in her online diary. ‘Kentucky moved the ball better, didn’t care who scored, and was the better team. Even though we only lost by a couple of baskets, they clearly showed better teamwork than we did.’
Beaven hit a basket to tie the game at 6-6 with 16:52 showing in the first half. The two teams would go on to have three more ties and four lead changes through the opening 20 minutes.
A couple of late threes by Kentucky’s Maggie McKemie and Paige Guffey gave the home team a 34-28 advantage at the half.
Kentucky pushed the lead to 15 with nine minutes left in the game.
Howell, Roudebush and Cathedral graduate Kim Roberson sparked a charge by Indiana, which took a 65-64 lead with 2:59 left.
Kentucky’s Miss Basketball, Carly Ormerod (Sacred Heart) put her team back on top for good with a pair of free throws and then put the final nail in the coffin with a three at the 1:54 mark.
‘We didn’t play as a team,’ Miller said. ‘I know we’re better than that, and I think this will show us that we can’t play one-on-one and win. Kentucky passed the ball and they won.’
Ormerod scored 23 points and was 6-14 from the field to lead all scorers.
For Indiana, Roudebush was 9-20 from the floor and put in 19 points. Howell scored 15 and Roberson 13 before fouling out with just over five minutes left. Beaven led her team with eight rebounds, including seven on defense. She had one block and a pair of steals.
‘You try to push the ball up the court,’ Indiana coach Jack Campbell said. ‘When you have 14 All-Stars, they can all capitalize on one-on-one moves. We forced some shots, but that was also a big part of getting us back in the game.’
Indiana was 27 of 78 (34.6 percent) from the field while Kentucky was 22 of 60 (36.7 percent). The difference in the game came at both stripes: Kentucky was 7-23 on threes and sank 21 of 33 free throws; Indiana was 3-18 on triples and got to the line just 13 times, hitting 10.
Indiana 85, Juniors 84
Playing in front of 3,700 fans, the Indiana All-Stars narrowly avoided a rare defeat to the best of the junior class last Wednesday at the Hatchet House in Washington.
The seniors built a double-digit lead in the second half, only to see the Junior All-stars have a shot to win at the end.
An off-balance attempt by FahKara Malone of Evansville Memorial fell short, however.
Despite an overwhelming 62-33 effort on the boards, the seniors frittered away their huge lead on turnovers, where the juniors capitalized to the tune of 23 points (Indiana had nine points off turnovers).
Indiana’s Jerri Taylor scored 19 in the win on 7-9 shooting from the field and 4-4 beyond the arc. She also had three assists.
Beaven was second in scoring for the victors with 13 in 19 minutes of action. She also had eight rebounds and was 9-10 at the foul line.
Miller was 1-5 from the field, had a pair of rebounds, an assist and a steal in 13 minutes of play.
For the juniors, Audrey McDonald of Kokomo scored 18 points and South Bend St. Joseph’s Melissa Lechlitner had 13.
Corydon Central senior-to-be Stannye Wolfe played a solid role in the game with four rebounds (three were defensive) and a blocked shot.
Indiana was 29 of 72 from the field and hit 19 of 32 at the line. From Trey-ville, the seniors were eight of 20.
The juniors hit 10 of 31 three-point shots, 30 of 72 from the field and were 14 of 23 at the stripe.