Columbus North’s Damon Edwards drives against Cooper Horn during the All-Area boys All-Star game at Columbus Christian, Monday, March 27, 2023.
Monday night’s All-Area All-Star boys basketball game provided longtime teammates a chance to square off against each other and for longtime foes to play together as teammates.
With the six Columbus North and six Jennings County players split evenly among the Navy and Red teams, the game stayed close most of the way before the Red pulled away late for a 123-114 victory.
“It was definitely fun playing with some of the guys from around the area, and it was fun to play with some of the guys I played baseball with and some guys on my own team,” said North senior Cooper Horn, who was named the Red team’s MVP. “It was overall fun, but I’m a really competitive guy, so I was glad we could come out on top.”
Horn finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Jennings sophomore Carter Kent hit seven 3-pointers and led the Red with 29 points.
“It was fun to come and play with my teammates and play with some of the best people in the area,” Kent said. “It was a nice to beat some of my former teammates. I had a little laugh with them.”
That included senior Owen Law, who scored 14 points and was named the Navy team’s MVP.
“I thought it was a great time and a great experience to come out here and join my teammates,” Law said.
North senior Damon Edwards led the Navy with 23 points. South Decatur senior Dale Peters scored 15, North seniors Tyler Blythe and Luke Harmon each added 11 and Columbus East senior Zane Moravec chipped in 10.
Edwards, who played mostly inside during the high school season, hit four 3-pointers.
“I can always shoot,” Edwards said. “My role this year was to rebound and play the 5 (center). I didn’t need much of the outside shots. I could kick it to Luke or Tyler or Cooper or Ty. I just got the rebounds and did the dirty work.
East senior Ben Sylva scored 18 points for the Red. South Decatur junior Jacob Scruggs had 17, North senior Ty Ferguson added 10, Hauser sophomore Ledger Gelfius scored nine, Edinburgh’s Jarrett Turner chipped in eight points and Jennings senior Lane Zohrlaut added eight points and 12 rebounds.
Sylva got to the game just before tipoff after he coached a travel baseball team practice in Brownstown.
“It was just fun getting to play with and against North guys and friends,” Sylva said. “Overall, I thought it was fun. We made a decent comeback. We were down most of the game. It’s nice to come out with the win and have some fun.”
Red 123, Navy 114
Navy;28;35;20;29;—;114
Red;26;28;34;35;—;123
Navy: Zane Moravec (East) 4 0-0 10, Keegan Manowitz (Jennings) 3 0-0 8, Taeshaun Tungate (Hauser) 2 0-0 5, Eli Ballard (Trinity) 2 1-2 5, Connor Ramey (Edinburgh) 3 0-0 7, Dale Peters (South Decatur) 5 0-0 15, Damon Edwards (North) 9 1-4 23, Tyler Blythe (North) 5 0-0 11, Luke Harmon (North) 4 0-0 11, Owen Law (Jennings) 6 0-0 14, Justin Ramey (Jennings) 1 0-0 2, Noah Edwards (Columbus Christian) 2 0-0 4. Totals: 46 2-4 114.
Red: Carter Kent (Jennings) 11 0-0 29, Ben Sylva (East) 7 0-0 18, Ledger Gelfius (Hauser) 4 0-0 9, Jarrett Turner (Edinburgh) 3 0-0 8, Jacob Scruggs (South Decatur) 7 2-2 17, Jordan Burton (CC) 1 0-0 2, Ty Ferguson (North) 5 0-0 10, Cooper Horn (North) 6 1-1 15, Lane Zohrlaut (Jennings) 4 0-0 8, Drew Schiefer (North) 0 3-4 3, Parker Elmore (Jennings) 2 0-0 4, Peyton Walden (CC) 0 0-0 0. Totals: 50 6-7 123.
3-point goals: Navy 21 (Peters 5, D. Edwards 4, Harmon 3, Moravec 2, Manowitz 2, Law 2, Tungate, C. Ramey, Blythe); Red 17 (Kent 7, Sylva 4, Turner 2, Horn 2, Gelfius, Scruggs).
