Indiana Junior All-Stars with clean sweep of Kentucky in girls and boys games

SCOTTSBURG – Indiana came out on top in both Junior All-Star games in Scottsburg’s Meyer Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. The week of All-Stars festivities in both states got going with the Hoosier side of the Kentuckiana border walking away victorious.

Indiana girls Junior All-Stars dominate Kentucky

Indiana’s girls thrashed Kentucky, 111-76. Indiana made 52.5% of its field goals as it controlled the game.

HSE’s Maya Makalusky led Indiana in scoring with 25 points. The most exciting stretch of the game came when Makalusky drilled four 3-pointers in 2:14 to begin the fourth quarter. The IU commit had 11 points after three quarters, and she exceeded that mark just a few minutes into the fourth period.

“I think it was the girls, they continued to motivate me and find me the ball,” Makalusky said. “They were like, ‘Come on, you got it. Keep going.’ And I think I was doing other things too. Once I started rebounding and kind of putting myself in the game rather than just trying to shoot, that definitely helped.”

Before Makalusky’s avalanche, the tone was set by Lawrence Central’s Jaylah Lampley and Noblesville’s Meredith Tippner. Lampley and Tippner combined for 19 first-half points to give Indiana a 21-point halftime advantage. Lampley finished with 23, while Tippner had 18. Their play helped a group of girls who aren’t typically teammates pass the century mark on the scoreboard.

“We have great chemistry with each other and it’s fun creating new bonds,” Lampley said. “We’re still able to win with a different room, a different group of people. And it will help us at the collegiate level because it’s going to be the same way.” 

Lampley — who won this year’s 4A state championship at LC — did a little bit of everything Sunday. She added five rebounds and four assists to the stat sheet while scoring effectively from all three levels of the floor. That scoring versatility is something she hopes to bring to her senior year.

“After winning state, I think I just have a chip on my shoulder that I just want to continue to stay aggressive and show the state of Indiana that I am a top player in the state of Indiana,” said Lampley, who holds offers from IU, Purdue and a bevy of other power conference schools.

As always, the juniors are excited for Wednesday night, when they’ll face the senior All-Stars in Kokomo’s Memorial Gym at 6 p.m. It’ll be another chance to play together, and an opportunity to see what they can do against the older girls.

“It’s such an honor to be an Indiana kid and to play Indiana basketball,” Makalusky said. “And I think it’s so good for girls basketball, too. The showout was great, and it’s just a fun time. You play against girls that you’ve been competing against since you were little so it’s super fun.”

Indiana Junior Boys All-Stars dominate, too

Indiana won the boys game in similar fashion, a 130-103 takedown of Kentucky. 

New Palestine guard Julius Gizzi had the hot hand, scoring 27 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Gizzi drilled four 3s and consistently got to his spots inside the arc. 

“The guys were finding me,” Gizzi said. “I hit that first 3 and I saw it go down and I was like, ‘Just go have some fun, it’s an All-Star game.’”

Indiana won due to a well-rounded effort that saw six different players score double-digit points, with two others finishing with nine points. All 11 active players scored at least five points.

“I think everybody on the team plays the right way,” Heritage Hills’ Trent Sisley said. “Everybody was passing, sharing the ball. So it made for a good day for all of us.” 

Sisley was the second-half star of the boys game. The 6-8 forward — who has offers from IU, Purdue and Notre Dame — scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half to extend Indiana’s lead.

“Just getting some easy ones going in the second half and I hit a 3 and just got everything going. People were sharing the ball, it was good,” Sisley said.

Both of Indiana’s Junior All-Stars teams won in dominating fashion over their Kentucky counterparts on Sunday. Now, they’ll have a shot to beat their in-state upperclassmen before diving fully into their last summer of high school.