Three Hamilton County senior basketball players are among those that will play at the 30th annual North/South Indiana All-Star Classic, which takes place Saturday at John R. Wooden Gymnasium at Martinsville High School.
The Classic is a doubleheader, with a girls game at 5 p.m., followed by a boys game at 7 p.m. Noblesville’s Emily Kiser and Carmel’s Tomi Taiwo will play for the North girls team, with Guerin Catholic’s Jack Hansen playing for the North boys team.
The North/South Indiana All-Star Classic is sponsored by Martinsville High School, Hoosier Basketball Magazine and Pacesetter Sports in Terre Haute.Twenty-four girls will compete in the first half of this doubleheader, including 10 players that have been named to the 2018 Indiana All-Star team. The second game, the boys, features three future Big Ten basketball players as well as the state’s leading scorer.
Kiser and Taiwo are among the five Indiana All-Stars on the North girls team. Kiser, a Michigan recruit, averaged 21.0 points and 13.4 rebounds per game in her senior season. Taiwo, an Iowa commit, scored 16.4 points per game and was a 41 percent 3-point shooter.
Among the other North All-Stars are one of the state’s leading scorers, Leigha Brown of DeKalb. The Nebraska commit averaged 28.0 points per game.The remaining Indiana All-Stars for the North are Jenasae Bishop of East Chicago Central (Boston College) and Cassidy Hardin of Center Grove (Purdue).
More Division I talent is showcased by Ellen Ross, Fort Wayne Dwenger (Butler) and Ajah Stallings, North Central (Purdue-walk-on). Two other North high scorers are Cameron Cardenas of Beech Grove and Kendall Fisher of Tindley, both averaging 22.5 points. The North girls will be coached by Eric Kundich of East Chicago Central and Mark Hurt of Mooresville.The South girls’ roster also includes five Indiana All-Stars. Two are 20+ point per game scores—Angel Baker (21.7 ppg) of Pike (Wright State) and Kayana Traylor (21.4 ppg) of Martinsville (Purdue). The other three are Mackenzie Blazek of Whiteland (Illinois), Anna Newman of Evansville North (Evansville) and Michaela White of Pike (Indiana State). The South also features Kyra Whitaker of 2018 class AAA state runner-up Greensburg and Division I signee Sadie Hill of Perry Meridian (Murray State). The South girls will be coached by Vince Cerbone of Martinsville and Kyle Shipp of Whiteland.Twenty-four boys compete in the second game of this doubleheader, including Guerin Catholic’s Hansen, an IUPUI commit. Hansen averaged 17.6 points and 9.0 rebounds this season for the Golden Eagles.
Hansen will play on a North squad that is led by two future Big Ten Rivals— Eric Hunter (27.8 ppg) of Tindley (Purdue) and Damezi Anderson (19.1) of South Bend Riley (Indiana). Three others are committed to Division I colleges: Hansen, Jamal Harris of Indianapolis Crispus Attucks (New Orleans) and Myja White of Brebeuf Jesuit (Miami-Ohio). The North also boasts the state’s top scorer in Jalen Moore of Cloverdale, who scored over 1,000 points this season with his 36.8 average. Two more high scorers are Tyler Watson of Tri-West (26.8) and Jared DeHart of Indian Creek (23.3). Warren Central’s Antwaan Cushingberry is an IHSAA state champion. The North boys will be coached by Criss Beyers of Warren Central and Patrick Rady of Cloverdale.
The South roster features Aaron Henry of the Class 4A 2017 IHSAA state champion Ben Davis, a Michigan State recruit, along with Mekhi Lairy (26.2 ppg) of 3A runner-up Evansville Bosse (Miami-Ohio) and Hayden Langkabel (26.6) of class 1A state champion Morristown. Additional high scoring support for the South team comes from two Division I-bound players: Gavin Bizeau (22 ppg) of Plainfield (Duquesne) and De’Avion Washington (20.3) of Terre Haute South (Indiana State). Chance Coyle (20.0) of Bloomington South and Glen Rouch (22.6) of Boonville will both play for Division II Southern Indiana next fall. Sean East was a member of 4A New Albany’s 2016 IHSAA state championship team. The South boys will be coached by Mark James of Ben Davis and Maynard Lewis of Terre Haute South.
The 2018 Classic Game Director is Athletic Director Kip Staggs of Martinsville. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from Martinsville High School by calling (765) 342-5571, ext. 4026.
Emily Kiser (Kent Graham/File photo)
Tomi Taiwo (Kirk Green/File photo)