Total domination: Indiana All-Stars obliterate Kentucky counterparts for series sweep

The Indiana All-Stars left no doubt.

After splitting the annual series with Kentucky each of the past two seasons, the Indiana All-Stars reasserted its dominance with a pair of blowout wins. After a 33-point drubbing of Kentucky in Louisville on Friday, Indiana topped it with a 120-74 win on Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in front of 5,683 fans.

It is the first time in the history of a series that dates to 1940 (the teams started playing two games in 1955) that both games were decided by more than 30 points. Saturday’s win marked the second-highest margin of victory, surpassed only by Indiana’s 54-point win in 2013.

“I think the first night we really caught them off guard,” Center Grove’s Trayce Jackson-Davis said. “(Saturday) we just brought it to them again and I think it proved that we were the better team coming out and the most prepared team. All the work we put in at practice really paid off.”

As it did on Friday, the Indiana All-Stars buried Kentucky early. Jackson-Davis, the IndyStar Mr. Basketball, scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the first half as Indiana built a 49-36 halftime lead.

It was more of the same in the second half. Jalen Windham (Ben Davis) finished with 16 points, John-Michael Mulloy (Carmel) had 12 and Dawand Jones (Ben Davis) and Alex Hemenway (Castle) each added 10 points.

Kentucky was expected to put up more of a fight going into the weekend. But other than a decent first half on Saturday, it was complete domination from Indiana in both games.

“Their director said this was their best team in 20 years,” Jackson-Davis said. “So I think we put a chip on our shoulder that we were as good as them and wanted to bring it to them. That really brought us energy in how we play together as a team.”

Indiana All-Star coach Criss Beyers had little trouble motivating this group. But he did pull Jackson-Davis aside after Wednesday’s game against the Junior All-Stars at New Castle and ask him for more. He responded, along with the team.

“I think it says a lot about the players we have,” Beyers said. “They took on the challenge. I know these guys well because I’ve coached against them for four years and they took the challenge and took it personally. They (Kentucky) said they were going to sweep us and had their best team in 20 years. These guys are Indiana basketball players and went out and proved something.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.