GOSHEN, Ky. — Hamilton Southeastern’s Taya Reimer and Brownsburg’s Stephanie Mavunga each posted double-doubles Saturday, pacing the Indiana Junior All-Stars to a 78-68 victory over Kentucky and a sweep of the first-ever two-game Junior series between the states.
Reimer tallied a game-high 24 points and added 11 rebounds while Mavunga contributed 15 points and game-high 12 rebounds as the Indiana girls overcame a 10-point halftime deficit with a dominating second half at North Oldham High School.
Indianapolis Pike’s Zavier Turner scored 14 points to lead four Indiana boys in double figures in the second game, but the Hoosiers dropped an 81-71 decision for a split in the home-and-home encounters.
The Indiana Juniors won both 40-minute games of the opening doubleheader on Friday in at Indianapolis’ Heritage Christian High School — 101-98 by the girls and 126-103 by the boys.
In the girls’ rematch, Kentucky claimed a 39-29 at intermission. But Indiana — which also got 14 points from Indianapolis Roncalli’s Bridget Perry, 10 from Winchester’s Jill Morrison and nine from Indianapolis North Central’s Celeste Edwards — switched to a 1-2-1-1 full-court press that proved pivotal. The tactic disrupted the Kentucky offense and resulted in numerous easy baskets for Indiana as it outscored the hosts 49-29 in the final 16 minutes.
Owensboro Catholic’s Becca Greenwell, who poured in a game-high 44 points Friday, managed a team-high 16 points on 3-of-18 shooting to pace Kentucky. Whitney Hartlage, of Louisville Mercy, added 14 points and Marion County’s Kyvin Goodin-Rogers netted 12 for the Bluegrass girls.
Perry defended Greenwell for much of the game with helpful segments from Edwards and Terre Haute North’s Nicole Anderson. In addition, Reimer, Mavunga, Perry, Edwards, Ariana Simmons of Fort Wayne South and Dakota Weatherford of Hamilton Heights combined to shine in the decisive diamond press.
In the boys’ game, Madison Central’s Dominique Hawkins scored 15 points and Louisville Ballard rising prospect Lavone Holland had 13 to lead four Kentucky players in double figures as it rebounded from its opening-game setback. Darryl Hicks, who would go on Sunday afternoon to lead his Louisville Trinity squad to the Derek Smith Shootout gold-bracket championship at Louisville Southern High School, chipped in 12 points. University of Kentucky commit Derek Willis contributed 10 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds.
Warren Central’s Devin Davis tallied 13 points and 13 rebounds in support of Turner. Also, Zak Irvin, of Hamilton Southeastern, contributed 13 points, and Tipton’s Mike Crawford had 12 to assist Indiana.
Kentucky claimed a 36-35 edge at the half, the lead exchanged sides multiple times over the final two quarters. But the home team used near-flawless ball handling (just five turnovers for the game), 12-of-14 free throw shooting and 45 percent field goal accuracy (32 of 71) to pull away down the stretch.
