Columbus North’s Sam King and Columbus East’s Julius Dailey secure a rebound during the All-Area All-Star boys basketball game at Columbus Christian School.
All-Star basketball games typically aren’t known for their defense, but on Monday night, a huge defensive turnaround led to a big comeback.
After giving up 33 points in the third quarter to fall behind by 14 at halftime, the White team allowed the Red only 31 the entire second half in the Seventh Annual All-Area All-Star boys basketball game at Columbus Christian. That allowed the White to rally for a 93-90 victory in the game that mostly featured players from The Republic All-Area team.
“We knew we could score,” said Jennings County junior Keegan Manowitz, who helped fuel the White team’s comeback. “We weren’t really playing defense in that first half or rebounding. We really locked in on defense and rebounding (in the second half), and we came back.”
The rosters were set up to pit players from big schools Columbus North, Columbus East and Jennings County on the White side against those from small schools Edinburgh, South Decatur and Columbus Christian on the Red side. All-Area selections from Hauser, Brown County and Trinity Lutheran did not take part in Monday’s game, and a player from Christian Academy of Madison was added to the Red roster.
Then, with North’s Paul Ferguson coaching the White team and Edinburgh’s Keith Witty coaching the Red, underclassmen from North and Edinburgh swapped sides so that they and their coaches weren’t in violation of IHSAA rules.
After the game was tied 26-26 after one quarter, the Red used a 33-19 advantage in the second to take the lead. South Decatur senior Hunter Johnson’s back-to-back 3-pointers to end the half gave the Red a 59-45 lead.
The Red still led 70-56 midway through the third quarter when the White went on a 16-0 run to take its first lead of the game. The Red tied it at 72-72 at the end of the third quarter and again at 74-74 early in the fourth before the White took the lead for good.
The White led by eight with just over a minute remaining, but the Red had a half-court shot from Johnson to tie at the buzzer that bounced off the backboard.
“It was fun getting to play with all these different guys from different schools,” Manowitz said. “Not very much defense, but I like high-scoring games, so it was cool.”
Jennings County junior Owen Law went 7 for 12 from 3-point range and led the White with 27 points and 14 rebounds.
“It was fun,” Law said. “I’ve never done anything like it before. I felt pretty good shooting the 3.”
Manowitz finished with 19 points, and Jennings County senior Carson McNulty scored 13 for White. North senior Sam King scored all 13 of his points in the second half and matched Law with 14 rebounds.
“I was just kind of getting warmed up,” King said. “I’ve had a little break from basketball, and we were on spring break, so this is basically my second day back. It’s fun to be out here. The second half, I turned it on a little bit.”
Edinburgh junior Caleb Dewey added 10 points for White.
Johnson finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Red. His South Decatur teammate, junior Jacob Scruggs, had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Christian Academy of Madison’s Clay Carter scored 12 points and Columbus Christian senior Gabe Ridder, Edinburgh senior Landen Burton and North junior Cooper Horn all added nine points.
Johnson, who led the state in scoring this season, also is playing in the upcoming Hoosier Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game and will compete in the Top 60 Workout in hopes of helping his cause to make the Indiana All-Star team.
“It was a blast getting to play with everybody from the area,” Johnson said. “Everybody was having a good time, and coming out here was kind of a sendoff almost, as a senior. It’s fun to get to play with all these guys. We had a blast.”
The Republic All-Area Boys Basketball team likely will appear in Sunday’s paper. The All-Area girls team appeared this Sunday, and the All-Area All-Star Girls game will be Monday, also at Columbus Christian.
The beneficiary of this year’s games is North junior cheerleader Ariel Roberts, who is battling an embryonal brain tumor.
White 93, Red 90
Red;26;33;13;18;—;90
White;26;19;27;21;—;93
Red: Peyton Rehlander (Columbus Christian) 0 0-0 0, Gabe Ridder (Columbus Christian) 2 4-4 9, Clay Carter (Christian Academy of Madison) 4 0-0 12, Riley Palmeter (Edinburgh) 2 0-0 4, Hunter Johnson (South Decatur) 9 0-0 24, Landen Burton (Edinburgh) 4 0-0 9, Travis Jones (Edinburgh) 2 0-0 4, Jacob Scruggs (South Decatur) 6 1-2 16, Cooper Horn (Columbus North) 4 0-0 9, Luke Harmon (Columbus North) 1 0-0 3. Totals: 34 5-6 90.
White: Caleb Dewey (Edinburgh) 5 0-0 10, Carson Dibble (Columbus North) 0 0-0 0, Jarrett Turner (Edinburgh) 1 0-0 3, Carson McNulty (Jennings County) 4 2-2 13, Owen Law (Jennings County) 10 0-0 27, Keegan Manowitz (Jennings County) 7 0-0 19, Sam King (Columbus North) 5 0-0 13, Rhett Harmon (Columbus North) 1 0-0 3, Julius Dailey (Columbus East) 2 0-0 5. Totals: 35 2-2 93.
3-point goals: Red 17 (Johnson 6, Carter 4, Scruggs 3, Ridder, Burton, Horn, L. Harmon); White 21 (Law 7, Manowitz 5, McNulty 3, King 3, Turner, R. Harmon, Dailey).
