By KEVIN HARRIS
LOUISVILLE – The Indiana Star Girls let a 15-point lead slip
away in the fourth quarter in the 20th annual Battle of the Bridges
on Saturday at MidAmerica Sports Center and lost to Kentucky 67-62. In the
final quarter, the Bluegrass Stars outscored the Hoosier Stars 31-13.
Kentucky turned up the heat in its full-court press defense,
forcing Indiana into several turnovers in the fourth period. As a result, the
Bluegrass Stars converted those miscues into points to spearhead their
comeback.
“We just weren’t making the smart passes. We wanted to
dribble through (the press) instead of moving the ball,” said Indiana head coach
Keith Phillips, who also was the sideline boss for the Indiana Star Boys team. “You’ve
got to understand situations. The ball can’t stop. You can’t dribble through a
press every single time. You have to move the basketball for the best shot.”
In the opening stages of the fourth, Jeffersonville senior
Jaylynn Brown hit two free throws to put Indiana up 51-36. But Kentucky went on
an 11-0 run to cut its deficit to 51-47 with 4:58 left in regulation.
With Indiana up 54-50, the Hoosier Stars scored four
straight points to increase their lead to eight.
Kentucky, though, did not go away. The Bluegrass Stars went
on another 11-0 spurt to take a 61-58 advantage with less than two minutes
left. Kentucky grabbed the lead for good at 59-58 when Louisville Male senior
Ciaja Harbison hit two free throws at the 2:16 mark.
Mishawaka senior Meghan Urbanski nailed two foul shots with
1:46 remaining to pull Indiana within 61-60. But Kentucky responded with six
unanswered points to go up 67-60 with 38.1 seconds left.
Leading 17-12, the Hoosier Stars went on a 10-2 run in the
second quarter to go up 27-14 late in the stanza. At the 4:13 mark, Indiana
upped its lead to 38-24 when Jeff senior guard Jacinta Gibson put her own
missed shot back into the bucket.
Late in the third, the Hoosier Stars claimed a 47-32 lead
thanks to a pair of free throws by Castle senior Jalaya Dowell.
“We were sharing the ball and we were moving it. We were
making smart decisions, good passes and not turning it over,” Phillips said. “But
then they started pressing us and we lost our minds. We kind of got on our
heels and backed down from it.”
Brown and Urbanski each paced Indiana in scoring with 13
points. Urbanski, who was named the Indiana Team MVP, scored 11 of her 13
points in the second half. Dowell had eight points and Heritage Christian
senior Hadassah Harris added seven.
George Rogers Clark senior Sha’maya Behanan captured the
Kentucky Team MVP award with a game-high 14 points. Eleven of her 14 points
came in the fourth quarter.
Louisville Manual’s Tyonne Howard had 11 points with seven coming
in the final stanza. Harbison chipped in 10 points. Also for Kentucky, Manual
senior A’Niah Griffin tallied nine points and Louisville Central junior Darian
Neal scored eight.
BATTLE OF THE BRIDGES
STAR GIRLS GAME
KENTUCKY 67, INDIANA
62
Kentucky 8 10 18 31-67
Indiana 11 17 21 13-62
Kentucky:
Sha’maya Behanan 14, Tyonne Howard 11, Ciaja Harbison 10, A’Niah Griffin 9,
Darian Neal 8, Cameron Browning 5, Joelle Johnson 4, Jaida Wiggins 4, Maleaha
Bell 2, Alexis Smith 0.
Indiana: Jaylynn
Brown 13, Meghan Urbanski 13, Jalaya Dowell 8, Hadassah Harris 7, Hannah
Wolford 5, Jacinta Gibson 4, Rachel Stewart 4, Kelsey Taylor 4, Julyen Condra
2, Sophia Kreag 2, Ryann Bunting 0.
3-point field goals:
Kentucky 3 (Griffin 1, Howard 1, Neal 1); Indiana 2 (Urbanski 1, Wolford 1).
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