Published: June 14, 2008 12:10 am            

HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS: Hobbs helps Indiana All-Stars defeat Kentucky, 83-82

INDIANAPOLIS - New Albany's Braydon Hobbs finally got an opportunity to play at Conseco Fieldhouse on Friday night.

And it was enjoyable.

The Bulldog star scored six points and made three steals to help the Indiana All-Stars defeat the Kentucky All-Stars in Game 1 of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Series, 83-82.

Indiana now leads the all-time series, 80-41. It was the Hoosier stars’ eighth consecutive win in the series and their 18th victory in the last 20 matchups.

Hobbs and his New Albany teammates fell short of playing at Conseco for the Class 4A state championship game last March when they lost to eventual state champion Brownsburg in the Southport Semistate.

Kentucky got off to a fast start. It bolted out to an 18-8 lead after a fadeaway jumper by Tennessee recruit Scotty Hopson at the 13:29 mark of the first half. After the Hoosier stars scored seven unanswered points to cut their deficit to three, Kentucky responded with a 13-5 spurt to take its biggest margin of the half at 31-20. Butler-bound Shelvin Mack capped off the run with a 3-pointer at the 7:40 mark.

Indiana countered with a 14-4 spurt to trim its deficit to 35-34. Brownsburg's Gordon Hayward ended the run in convincing fashion by nailing two 3s.

After the Bluegrass stars extended their advantage back to 38-34, Indiana closed out the half with a 6-2 spurt to deadlock the game for the first time at 40.

Hobbs had a lot to do with tying the game.

The Evening News and Tribune Area Player of the Year hit the second free throw of a two-shot situation at the 2:13 mark to make the score 38-35. After Kentucky's Corey Sorrell made a layup to up the advantage to 40-35, Hobbs nailed a trey from the left wing with 53 seconds remaining to pull Indiana within two.

On the half's final play, Hobbs made a steal and then flicked the ball to teammate Larry Stone Jr., who converted a layup right before the intermission buzzer for the 40-40 tie.

Hobbs scored all six of his points in the first half, along with one assist. Indiana Mr. Basketball Tyler Zeller tallied 12 points in the half, while Hayward added 10.

Indiana finally got the lead at the 16:01 mark of the second half when New Castle's Chase Stigall hit a 3 from the right corner, putting the Hoosiers up 52-51.

The Bluegrass stars retook the lead quickly, as Kentucky Mr. Basketball Darius Miller hit a fadeaway shot and Hopson hit a trey to go up 56-52 with 15:01 left in regulation. But Indiana countered with a 21-9 run to take a 73-65 advantage at the 5:27 mark. Stone capped off that spurt with a 17-foot jumper and a layup off a Hayward outlet pass.

But Kentucky refused to quit.

Trailing 79-72 with less than two minutes remaining, the Bluegrass stars went on a 7-0 run to deadlock the game at 79.

Mack had a lot to do with that spurt. He nailed a 3 with 1:13 left to slice the deficit to 79-77. Then teammate Aaron Morris blocked a Stone shot, came up with the ball and threw an outlet pass to Mack, who converted a layup with 42.4 seconds left.

Mack's night ended shortly after that, as he committed his fifth foul at the 31.4-second mark. Indiana's Alex Young nailed four straight free throws down the stretch to put Indiana up 83-79.

The game had a thrilling ending when Hopson hit a three-quarter court shot at the final buzzer.

Zeller scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds to win the team's most valuable player honors. Stone had 12 points, Hayward tallied 11 and Young had 10. Hobbs played 14 minutes, 11 coming in the first half.

Mack scored a game-high 24 points, while Hopson added 14.

In the girls' game, Kentucky snapped a five-game losing streak to the Hoosiers with a 76-59 victory. Bloomington North's Alex Guyton led Indiana with 12 points.

It was Kentucky's first victory in Indianapolis since 1992. Indiana still leads the all-time series, 36-29.

The second round of the All-Star series will be Sunday at Louisville Gardens. The girls' contest will be at 2 p.m., followed by the boys’ game at 4:30 p.m.

        

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