Kentucky’s best juniors were down 19 to Indiana. Hustle helped them win going away.

Kentucky’s next class of high school basketball stars took the floor against their Indiana counterparts on Sunday. Their depth and hustle were big difference-makers in a victory.

The Kentucky Junior All-Star boys defeated Indiana’s Junior All-Stars, 115-104, at Mercy Academy as part of two-game series leading up to the annual All-Star exhibition between the state’s senior All-Stars scheduled for this weekend. The juniors will play again Monday at Jeffersonville High School in Indiana.

Kentucky scored 25 points off turnovers to Indiana’s 17 and outgained the Hoosiers 25-12 in second-chance points. Kentucky’s juniors dominated the glass, grabbing 65 boards to 50 for Indiana.

Kentucky led 60-54 at the break despite trailing by 19 — 42-23 — with 10:23 left in the first half. From there it outscored the Indiana juniors 37-12.

Henry Clay star Marques Warrick scored a game-high 19 points, 16 coming late in the second half as Kentucky staved off multiple comeback bids. Collins standout Dayvion McKnight finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds — the only player with a double-double on either side — to go along with seven assists.

Indiana regained the lead, 87-86, with 9:42 to play in the game before an 8-0 run — a putback by Bardstown’s JJ Traynor and back-to-back triples from Warrick — put Kentucky back in front. The Hoosiers again claimed the advantage, 99-98 with 4:35 left, before a 6-0 run but Kentucky up for good; Indiana got within a point with 2:20 left but was held scoreless for the remainder of the contest.

Kenny White — a Madisonville junior who had a highlight from this year’s Sweet Sixteen make SportsCenter’s Top Ten plays segment — scored six of his 11 points in the final minutes to help keep Indiana at bay. Shelby Valley’s Cody Potter (14), Garrard County’s Brayden Sevastian (10) and Male’s Tyren Moore (10) also finished in double-figure scoring.

Girls fall

Kentucky’s All-Star Junior girls saw an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter evaporate, and Indiana rallied for an 89-85 win in the precursor to the boys’ game Sunday.

Sacred Heart’s Kristen Clemons scored off an assist from Mercy’s Hope Sivori to put Kentucky up 79-68 with 5:56 remaining in the game. Indiana from there used a 16-4 run to take a one-point lead with 1:13 left, and the Hoosiers made six free throws down the stretch to keep Kentucky away.

Sivori scored 13 points to lead Kentucky. Maddie Scherr, an Oregon commit who led Ryle to its first state title in March, had 11 points, six rebounds and five steals.

Michigan State commit Kendall Bostic led Indiana with a game-high 27 points. Sydney Parrish, an Oregon commit on the Indiana side, scored 26.

This story was originally published June 2, 2019 at 9:03 PM.