• Indiana Miss Basketball Maya Makalusky lead the All-Stars with 29 points, but Kentucky got finished off the series sweep Saturday night.

INDIANAPOLIS – After the marathon double-overtime battle between the girls Indiana All-Stars and Kentucky ended Saturday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hamilton Southeastern’s Maya Makalusky sat near the scorer’s table to decompress.

Exhausted after Indiana’s 106-103 loss to rival Kentucky in the finale of the two-game series’ 49^th running, Makalusky didn’t absorb her team’s sweeping defeat as much as the overall experience.

On Friday night at Lexington Catholic High School, the Indiana All-Stars girls lost 84-73 to Kentucky by the series’ largest single-game margin since 2022.

The next evening back in the Hoosier State, Indiana attempted to stave off Kentucky’s first series sweep since 2012 and 10^th all-time since 1977.

Following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Laila Abdurraqib (Lawrence Central/New Mexico) at the end of regulation to tie the score 76-76, it seemed Indiana had the momentum on its side.

Indiana’s 11-4 run to deadlock the game countered Kentucky’s 17-5 run that erased an earlier five-point deficit.

However, two five-minute bonus quarters proved enough time for Kentucky Miss Basketball’s ZaKiyah Johnson (Louisville Sacred Heart/Louisiana State) to secure the sweep.

Johnson tied the score in overtime by sinking 3-of-3 free throws in the final seven seconds after drawing contact on a desperation 3-point heave at the top of the key, and she dropped in eight of her game-high 34 points in the double overtime to lock down the win.

Johnson set a new single-game series record for points scored by besting both Kentucky’s Amiya Jenkins (31 in 2022) and Indiana’s Tiffany Gooden (1994) while establishing a two-game record with 62 points to again beat Gooden’s mark of 55.

Makalusky, the 2025 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball honoree, had a team-high 29 points. The Indiana University commit finished with 47 points for both games before fouling out with 27.4 seconds remaining in the final bonus period. She was named the Hoosier Shooting Academy MVP.

“Obviously, we have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Makalusky, who posted a team-high 14 rebounds with two assists and three steals. “I mean, we got double overtime. We played hard, and we should be proud of what we gave.”

What the Indiana and Kentucky All-Stars gave the downtown Indianapolis crowd was a historic show.

Marking the series’ first double-overtime game and third overtime contest in history.

Saturday’s game set a new single-game record for combined points scored at 209, while adding new standards for most combined field goals (72) that broke the record of 68 in 1994. Kentucky’s 106 points were the most scored by the neighboring All-Stars in a single game. The previous high was 101 in 2008 and 2022.

“We gave the crowd a game, and it’s all you could ask for,” Makalusky said. “It’s super exciting, and it’s great to see girls sports having their moment and the amount of support. Obviously, we want to go out winning, but at the end of the day, we have nothing to hand our heads about. The energy was up, and we were ready.”

Indiana led 16-15 after the first quarter and carried a 35-32 lead into halftime. Indiana took a 45-42 advantage in the third quarter on an and-1 layup by Makalusky and were up 53-48 entering the fourth.

In the game’s final five minutes of regulation Kentucky’s run created a whirlwind 15 minutes of tug-of-war with 13 ties and 13 lead changes.

Peyton Bradley (Meade County/Louisville) had 26 points, eight assists, five steals and seven rebounds for Kentucky as one of four players in double figures.

Abdurraqib finished with 11 points, four assists and eight rebounds. Indiana had five players with 10 or more points, including Jaylah Lampley (Lawrence Central/Mississippi State) and Addison Baxter (Columbia City/Butler) with 17 each. Monique Mitchell (South Bend Washington/Akron) had 10, while Brooke Winchester (Warsaw/Ball State) had 11 rebounds and eight points.

Kya Hurt (Lawrence North/Illinois State) dished out a team-high seven assists with eight points and three steals.

“I’m just glad I finally got to play on this team with everybody and enjoy this moment,” Hurt said. “We wanted this one really bad, especially because it went to double overtime. I was excited because we got a chance to play again and try to win the game.”

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The Belmont Stakes-G1 is back at Saratoga for the second year in a row, and it looks to be a highly competitive race. With Belmont Park still under construction, the race has shifted north and the distance has been trimmed to 1¼ miles, same as the Kentucky Derby-G1. The change has transformed the traditional “Test of the Champion” into a Travers-G1 preview.

This year’s race includes a rematch of the top three finishers from the Kentucky Derby: Sovereignty, Journalism, and Baeza. Sovereignty, the Derby winner, skipped the Preakness-G1 to rest and is the second favorite on the morning line at 2-1. 

Journalism, who finished second in the Derby and won the Preakness in thrilling fashion, is favored at 8-5, while Baeza, who was third in Louisville has been assigned 4-1 morning line odds. 

The field also includes Hill Road, winner of the Peter Pan Stakes-G3, and Rodriguez, trained by Bob Baffert, at 6-1. 

Longshots Uncaged and Heart of Honor round out the eight-horse lineup.

The race is set for Saturday, June 7, with a post time of 7:04 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on FOX and streamed on FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports app. 

Trainer Michael McCarthy expressed confidence in Journalism’s condition and adaptability, pointing out that his charge is the only horse to compete in all three legs of this year’s Triple Crown. 

“Obviously, he put forth a heck of an effort in the Preakness, and he’s coming back here in three weeks’ time,” McCarthy told the Times Union, adding that the colt’s last — and only — workout since the Preakness was “solid,” with “little to no urging.”

Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who has been in the saddle for six of Journalism’s seven career starts, was also impressed with his mount’s June 1 work, noting afterward that the son of Curlin “looks like he didn’t even run two weeks ago.”

John Shirreffs, who will saddle Baeza on Saturday, was also optimistic about his chances, telling the New York Post that jockey Flavien Prat said “he didn’t get all the run he could have out of Baeza had he had an opportunity to get out a little sooner.”

Meanwhile, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty, is looking to prove that his 1½-length victory wasn’t a fluke. As it is, his jockey, Junior Alvarado, faced controversy and was fined and suspended for alleged whip overuse during the Derby, a ruling he is currently appealing. 

Here’s a look at the field:

Belmont Stakes: Is Journalism Running On Fumes?

There Will Be an Upset in the Belmont Stakes

Icon Racing: A Gateway to Horse Racing for the Modern Sports Fan

SARATOGA SPRINGS — While many horse racing fans are expecting Saturday’s Belmont Stakes to be a rematch, it just might turn into a threematch.

Baeza made a late rush from the back of the pack in the May 3 Kentucky Derby, coming up less than two lengths short of winner Sovereignty, with Journalism in between.

Journalism then won the Preakness two weeks later, while Sovereignty rested.

Now, in the second Belmont Stakes to be conducted at Saratoga during Belmont’s renovation, Baeza is the third-favorite at 4-1 to get his slice of the Triple Crown pie.

“I had a hard time finding him [in the Derby] because it was so muddy that day, but once he got out and made his move, he was obviously finishing faster than any horse in the race,” trainer John Shirreffs told The Post. “After the race, [jockey] Flavien [Prat] said he didn’t get all the run he could have out of Baeza had he had an opportunity to get out a little sooner.”

Shirreffs is best known for training 2005 Kentucky Derby champion Giacomo and 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Zenyatta.

Prat has two Triple Crown wins — the 2019 Kentucky Derby aboard Country House and the 2021 Preakness with Rombauer.

Baeza himself is in position to claim a place in history.

With a victory on Saturday, his broodmare, Puca, would become the first to have produced three Triple Crown race champions, and she would have done it in consecutive years.

Mage won the Kentucky Derby in 2023 and Dornoch captured the Belmont Stakes last year.

Both were by Puca and Good Magic.

Baeza was sired by McKinzie. Like Mage and Dornoch, Baeza spent his first year and a half of life at Runnymede Farm in Paris, Ky.

“[Baeza is] a dream to train. I mean, there’s nothing I would want to change about that horse,” Shirreffs said. “He’s the perfect weight. He’s the perfect size. He’s got a beautiful stride. He’s got this great appetite. He’s the total package.”

Baeza is named after Hall of Fame jockey Braulio Baeza, who in 1963 became the first Latin American rider to win the Kentucky Derby aboard Chateaugay.

Owner Mike Repole, the billionaire benefactor of St. John’s basketball, has a Belmont Stakes championship with Mo Donegal in 2022 and a second place with Mindframe last year.

On Saturday, he sends 30-1 Uncaged to the post with trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Luis Saez.

Saez won last year’s Belmont Stakes aboard Dornoch.

Repole’s Fierceness will be hunting for an automatic bid to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile when he runs in the $1 million Metropolitan Handicap, Saturday’s eighth race.

Fierceness won the Travers Stakes in 2024, the signature event of Saratoga’s summer meet.

Giants board director Chris Mara made it to the winner’s circle on Friday.

He’s part of the ownership group of Bellacose, who won the first race for jockey John Velazquez and trainer Wesley Ward.