| 4/15/2002 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Rebs’ Howard scores 16 in All-Star outing.
By: David Campbell, Courier Staff Writer
NEW ALBANY — Fountain Central’s Candace Dark connected on three straight baskets early in the game and the North All-Stars never looked back, producing an 86-72 win in the Reebok North-South All-Star Game in New Albany.
Dark, who is headed to Ohio State in the fall, finished with a team-high 15 points as the North built a 16-point, first-half lead and never trailed despite two spectacular rallies by the South.
“Falling behind early, that really hurt,” said Southwestern’s Donna Cheatham, the South head coach. “We missed some key shots and we didn’t hit our free throws, that was the key. But after that first three minutes, we were right there with them.”
The game marked the first time the 2002 Indiana All-Star team was assembled on the same floor, although many members of the team were busy playing against each other.
Cheatham, who will coach the Indiana team in its two games against the Junior All-Stars and two games against the Kentucky All-Stars in June, had six of the 13 all-stars on her South team. Four of the remaining members were on the North while three, including Miss Basketball Shanna Zollman from Wawasee, skipped the game.
Southwestern’s Brianna Howard, who finished with 16 points in the game, missed the opening shot on a layup after the opening tip was won by the South in volleyball fashion.
Taking Dark’s lead, the North sprinted out to a 14-4 lead in the game’s first five minutes and led 36-20 before the South made its first comeback.
Spurred on by the Purdue-bound Howard’s 3-pointer, the South cut the lead to three at 40-37 before Turkey Run’s Bridgett Branson, an Indiana University recruit, scored four points at the end of the half to give the North a 44-37 advantage.
In the second half, the North went ahead 61-52 lead before Howard got hot, outscoring the North 7-2 at one stretch to close the gap to one. But the South never got any closer after that.
To Howard, it was a case of too many good players doing what they’ve done all season.
“I think we reverted to instinct,” said Howard, Southwestern’s all-time leading scorer. “We’re so used to making plays when our team was down, that we forgot that we’re playing 12 other players who are used to doing that as well. You just can’t play like that in a game like this.”
Howard finished with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting after missing her first three shots. Fellow Purdue recruit Sharika Webb from Indianapolis Cathedral led all scorers with 20 points.
IU-bound Cyndi Valentin from Bloomington South added 13 points for the South.
Valentin, who will play for the Indiana All-Stars in June, said playing for Cheatham, Indiana all-time winningest girls basketball coach, was fun.
“She (Cheatham) was going over some new things for us already, showing us what she wants to do,” said Valentin. “It was important for us to get together and to get know each other.”
Branson and Decatur Central’s Dana Collins, a Ball State signee, scored 10 points each for the North with Collins adding eight assists.
New Washington’s Sonya Wahl, who will play at Southern Indiana, scored five points while Jennings County’s Jenny Pfieffer, a University of Kentucky signee, and Ashley Elmore, whose headed to Indiana-Fort Wayne, added two points each. Pfieffer also dished out 11 assists.
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2002 Reebok North-South All Star Game
April 14, 2002
at New Albany High School
NORTH 86, SOUTH 72
NORTH — (g)Dark 6-8 2-3 15, (g)Collins 6-8 0-0 10, Branson 1-4 8-10 10, Bechtold 5-10 0-1 9, Merrill 3-7 4-4 9, (f)Dossen 2-5 4-4 8, (f)Webster 4-11 0-0 8, Carey 3-6 0-0 6, Guy 3-4 0-0 5, Hayes 2-9 0-0 4, (c)McAfee 1-5 0-0 2.
SOUTH — (g)Webb 7-11 5-5 20, (f)Howard 5-10 4-8 16, Valentin 5-11 0-0 13, Liffick 2-8 2-2 6, Wahl 2-2 1-2 5, (f)Wright 1-11 0-0 5, Elmore 0-3 2-4 2, Holbrook 1-3 0-3 2, (g)Pfieffer 1-7 0-0 2, Huggins 0-0 1-2 1, (c)Scherer 0-2 0-0 0.
Halftime — North 44-37. 3-Point Goals — North 5-13 (Collins 2-2, Guy 1-1, Bechtold 1-3, Merrill 1-3, Webster 0-1, Hayes 0-3), South 7-26 (Valentin 3-6, Howard 2-5, Webb 1-4, Wright 1-4, Liffick 0-2, Pfieffer 0-4). Rebounds — North 33 (McAfee 6, Merrill 6, Branson 5), South 27 (Wright 7). Assists — North 25 (Collins 8), South 22 (Pfieffer 11). Free Throws — North 18-21 (86%), South 15-26 (58%). Total Fouls — North 23, South 18. Fouled Out — None.
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