| 6/20/2002 3:05:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| ALL STAR ACTION: Southwestern head coach Donna Cheatham talks strategy with her Indiana All-Stars before last week’s scrimmage with the Junior All-Stars at Purdue’s Mackey Arena. The All-Stars erased a 12-point halftime deficit to knock off the Juniors Wednesday at Wawasee. (Staff photos by David Campbell) |
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Girls All-Stars get more production in paint in scrimmage with Juniors.
Courier Staff Report
SYRACUSE, Ind. — Carol Duncan limped off the bench and provided a much-needed spark as the Indiana girls’ All-Star scored an 84-80 win over the Junior All-Stars Wednesday at Wawasee High School.
Duncan, a NorthWood grad and Purdue signee, missed Saturday’s game against Kentucky because of a stress fracture in her foot.
On Wednesday, Duncan got a good enough tape job to allow her to play and the 6-foot-1 forward responded with 15 points and eight rebounds as the All-Stars rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit.
“Right now it’s more about heart, getting in there and playing,” said Duncan, whose hometown is a mere 20 minutes from Syracuse. “It was great to get in there and do what I could for the team. The coaches’ confidence in me is what pushed me to do as well as I did.”
Southwestern’s Brianna Howard, who scored 11 points in last week’s scrimmage at Purdue, had four points for the winning All-Stars. Only Duncan and Miss Basketball Shanna Zolman reached double figures in what was a balanced attack for girls All-Star head coach Donna Cheatham of Southwestern.
Zolman, returning to her hometown, scored 27 points on 9-of-18 shots and hit all six free throws to lead the Seniors. Last season, she set a state career scoring record for girls with 3,085 points.
“It was neat to play in front of a crowd that I’ve been almost family with four years,” Zolman said.
Yet Zolman was quick to point out it was Duncan who provided the inspiration.
“She boosted us up a lot with her energy and enthusiasm,” Zolman said. “She kind of brought the whole morale of the team up a little bit because we needed a big body inside to bang around.”
Duncan hit 6-of-8 shots and 3-of-6 free throws.
Cheatham, who won the Class 2A state title at Southwestern this past season, praised Duncan’s performance.
“She’s come a long way on her defense and her moves around the basket,” Cheatham said. “It was nice to see her be able to take the things we worked on and try them in a ball game. She played smart and her size in the game was a big factor.”
In the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series, size has proven important.
Kentucky outrebounded Indiana 59-42 on Saturday in Owensboro, Ky. — keying a 79-77 comeback win for the Bluegrass state. The Junior All-Stars held a more narrow 50-46 rebounding edge.
Beech Grove’s Katie Gearlds paced the Junior All-Stars with 17 points but was just 4-of-15 from the field.
The All-Stars will seek a split with Kentucky on Saturday in the second game of their annual series. The second and final game of the 2002 edition of the annual series is Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
In the boys’ game, Mr. Basketball Sean May of Bloomington North had 13 points to lead an 82-75 victory over the junior Stars. Seth Colclasure of Bellmont, who missed last week’s victory over Kentucky because of the state baseball tournament, added 11 points. Austin’s Anthony Winchester scored just two points.
Peyton Stovall of Lafayette Jeff had 15 points and Adam Liddell of DeKalb added 14 for the Junior All-Stars.
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