Indiana

Girls Indiana All-Stars on wrong end of buzzer beater against Kentucky All-Stars

Published

1 month ago

June 6, 2026

Press Room

Girls Indiana All-Stars on wrong end of buzzer beater against Kentucky All-Stars

Brianna Wilkins made a game-winning shot at the buzzer to give the Kentucky All-Stars a 59-57 victory.
The Indiana All-Stars rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to briefly take the lead.
Ashlinn James led Kentucky with 22 points, while Brooke Zartman led Indiana with 13 points.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The play was not necessarily designed for Brianna Wilkins to take the final shot.

With 3.2 seconds left in the girls’ Indiana All-Star game against the Kentucky All-Stars on Friday night, Indiana’s Brooklynn Renn drilled two free throws to tie the score. Kentucky called timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt (a rule that is used in women’s college basketball in the final minute of the fourth quarter and overtime).

Kentucky Miss Basketball Ashlinn James, an Indiana recruit, took the ball out of bounds and fired it to teammate Brianna Wilkins in the right corner.

“The original plan was I was going to catch the ball, and Ash was going to cut and get it back,” Wilkins said. “But there was only three seconds left and I was counting down in my head.”

Indiana had James well covered. But not Wilkins. The Marshall University recruit made a move, went baseline, and drained the game-winning shot at the buzzer to give the Kentucky All-Stars a 59-57 win over the Indiana All-Stars at Lexington Catholic High School.

“It was drawn up for me to go back door,” James said. “But I think they knew that was coming. They were like, ‘Back door, back door.’ I was hoping Bri had a plan and she did her thing.”

It was as frustrating night for the Indiana All-Stars, who were blanked for more than five minutes to start the second half and trailed 52-41 with just under 6 minutes remaining. Indiana rallied with an 11-0 run and took the lead 55-54 on a 3-pointer by Warsaw’s Brooke Zartman with 1:52 left.

But a steal and layup by James gave Kentucky the lead and she added a free throw to make it 57-55. After an Indiana miss, Renn corralled a loose ball under the basket and was fouled with 3.2 seconds left, calmly hitting both free throws to tie the score.

Then, Wilkins’ drive. Ballgame.

“I was concerned,” Indiana All-Stars coach Joe Huppenthal said. “I don’t know if it was the drive or what, but we just didn’t have that giddy-up. That was concerning. Then we found out about KK (Holman) and that put us in a bad spot. I’m not making excuses but that hurt.”

Holman, the Hamilton Southeastern guard and Oregon commit, was out due to illness. The point guard’s absence was notable considering how poorly Indiana shot, going just 8-for-30 (26.7%) from the field in the second half and 32.8% for the game.

“I don’t know how many times we got the ball in the paint and didn’t finish,” Huppenthal said. “You can’t win if you do that.”

The Indiana All-Stars were led by Zartman (Miami, of Ohio) with 13 points. She was 3-for-8 from the 3-point line, accounting for half of Indiana’s 3-pointers (6-for-23). Lawrence Central’s Lola Lampley (LSU) added nine points and five rebounds. Pike’s Komari Booker added eight points and Renn added seven points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

“I thought for the most part we were solid (defensively), we just didn’t score,” Huppenthal said. “You have to be able to score the basketball. We had some decent looks. We had a stretch there where we got to bombing a bunch of threes.”

James finished with 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Kentucky and Wilkins, a Marshall recruit, added 21. James and Wilkins are normally rivals, playing at Louisville Assumption and Louisville Sacred Heart, respectively.

Together, they led Kentucky to a win. Indiana will attempt to even the rivalry and gain a spilt on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“You can’t just give up and unguarded layup there with 3.2 seconds left,” Huppenthal said. “We have to come back (Saturday) and fight. That’s the biggest thing. We have to fight.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

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Indiana

Where to watch Seattle Storm vs Indiana Fever on July 17: TV channel, start time and streaming

Published

4 hours ago

July 17, 2026

Press Room

The WNBA has returned with a brand new collective bargaining agreement and a league full of loaded rosters as the 2026 season tips off.

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