'There's a lot of bragging rights.' Ertel goes for record 36 points as Juniors beat All-Stars

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

GREENFIELD — Other than the 80-plus degree temperature outside, it felt like March at Greenfield-Central High School on Wednesday night.
The boys Indiana All-Stars were tested, pushed and eventually lost to the Junior All-Stars 117-114 in a game that was as physical and hard played as one at the end of the high school basketball season. Mt. Vernon's Luke Ertel was again the catalyst for the Junior All-Stars, setting a junior record vs. the seniors with 36 points.
'I obviously don't go around watching other all-star games around the country but, I mean, that was about as competitive of an all-star game as you could possibly get,' All-Stars coach Marc Urban of Chesterton said. 'The energy of the crowd was good. We just have to figure out how to play harder, longer. And make those tougher plays more consistently.'
It appeared the senior All-Stars had put themselves in position to finally get some distance from the Juniors after Jeffersonville's Michael Cooper keyed a run to put the All-Stars ahead 92-83 with 8:50 left. A little more than a minute later, Crown Point's Dikembe Shaw fouled out for the Juniors, leaving the game with 26 points.
Game over? No. The fun was just beginning.
'There's a lot of bragging rights,' Shaw said.
The Junior All-Stars kept coming, tying the game on a shot by Ertel, who matched his point total in the win over the Kentucky Junior All-Stars on Sunday at Charlestown. The Juniors took a six-point lead with 3:45 left after the senior All-Stars were whistled for a technical.
But the senior All-Stars were not done, getting it tied at 108-108 on a basket by Brady Koehler with 1:16 left. After Justin Curry made one of two free throws to put the Juniors ahead by one point, Ben Davis' Mark Zackery IV scored and IndyStar Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins, playing his final game on his home floor, made two free throws with 28.9 seconds left to give the All-Stars a 112-109 lead.
Then it really got crazy.
Terrence Hayes Jr. of Gary 21st Century drove the lane, narrowly avoiding a travel call, and turned and whipped a pass to Lawernce North's Brennan Miller under the basket to bring the Junior All-Stars to within one point. A tipped pass led to a turnover and Haynes pushed ahead and tossed an alley-oop to Fishers' Kai McGrew, who laid the ball off the class just over the outstretched hand of the 6-9 Koehler for a 113-112 lead for the Juniors.
Jeffersonville's Tre Singleton drove the left side of the lane, attempting to give the senior All-Stars the lead. But his shot was blocked by McGrew and Ertel corralled the rebound. His two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining gave the Juniors a 115-112 lead.
On the next possession, Zackery was fouled before the seniors could get a look at a 3-pointer. He made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to cut the Juniors lead to 115-114. Miller was fouled and made two free throws for the Junior All-Stars before the ball was inbounded by make it 117-114. Mullins got off a final heave from beyond halfcourt that was just left of the basket and bounced off the backboard.
'It was a good test for the two games with Kentucky,' said Mullins, who finished with 17 points and four assists. 'We haven't played together at all and (the Junior All-Stars) got to play a game together. I'm not going to use that as an excuse. They played harder than us tonight. But I think we'll gel more this week and I think we'll be better this weekend.'
The All-Stars will play the Kentucky All-Stars on Friday at Lexington Catholic High School before returning home for the rematch on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Cathedral's Koehler, a Notre Dame recruit, matched Mullins for team-high scoring honors with 17 points. Singleton and Fishers' Justin Kirby each had 11 points. Dezmon Briscoe of Crispus Attucks had 10 points and nine rebounds and Zackery also had 10 points.
'We have a good rotation of guys,' said Mullins, a UConn recruit. 'It's just a matter of who wants to play hard or not. I think that's really going to determine how our team is going to play. I think we just didn't play hard enough. But I think our coach is going to get on us (Thursday) and we'll be better. There's no reason you should be losing to the juniors as seniors, especially playing one last time on this court.'
Ertel's 36 points broke the record a junior against the seniors, a mark that was shared by Greg Oden and Eric Gordon with 29 points. Ertel is second all-time for points in junior-senior rivalry behind Park Tudor's Trevon Bluiett, who scored 44 for the seniors in 2014.
Ertel left the game briefly with blood on his jersey in the second half. Urban joked that he needed to stay out of the game for a longer look at the jersey.
'I thought his effort and how competitive he was and how hard he played was outstanding,' Urban said. 'That was my first time seeing him live and he was really, really good.'
Ertel called it 'just an all-star game at the end of the day.' But there was no denying how hard he played during the game.
'It's a joy playing with Luke,' Shaw said. 'On the court, he's a dawg. He fights tooth and nail. We could be going against first graders and I know he'd give 100 percent.'