Last-second shot gives the Kentucky all-stars a win over Indiana
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Kentucky-Indiana High School All-Star Classic basketball series started on Friday.
- Kentucky claimed the girls’ opener, while Indiana rolled to a win in the boys’ game.
- The Kentucky-Indiana High School All-Star series continues Saturday in Indianapolis.
The annual Kentucky-Indiana High School All-Star Classic basketball series returned to the hardwood Friday night in Lexington.
Senior standouts from the two border states faced off in a girls-boys doubleheader at Lexington Catholic High School in the first of a two-night series between the prep stars before they depart for college.
In the opener, a dramatic last-second basket lifted the Kentucky girls to their third straight win over Indiana.
In the nightcap, the Indiana boys continued their recent dominance over Kentucky by pulling away in the second half for a comfortable 23-point win.
Kentucky girls defeat Indiana for the third straight time
For the third straight time, the Kentucky girls all-stars defeated their counterparts from Indiana. And just like last year’s series, Friday night’s win was dramatic.
Brianna Wilkins of Sacred Heart Academy banked in the game-winning basket as time expired to give Kentucky a 59-57 edge over Indiana.
Kentucky led by 11 points with less than six minutes left in the game, but that advantage slipped away. Despite that, Wilkins’ heroics at the end meant Kentucky scored a third consecutive win over Indiana for the first time since 2013.
Kentucky Miss Basketball winner Ashlinn James led the hosts in scoring with 22 points. The former Assumption star will begin her college career at Indiana. James also led Kentucky with nine rebounds. Wilkins, who is set to play at Marshall, had 21 points for Kentucky.
No other player scored in double figures for Kentucky.
Teigh Yeast of Sweet 16 state champions George Rogers Clark had three points, seven rebounds, two assists and a game-high four steals. Yeast was named the Girls’ Sweet 16 tournament MVP earlier this year.
All 15 players on the Kentucky roster logged game time in Friday’s contest.
Indiana was led by 13 points from Brooke Zartman, who will be a freshman at Miami (Ohio) later this year. Just before Wilkins made her game-winning shot for Kentucky, Brooklynn Renn — a cousin of former Purdue men’s basketball star Trey Kaufman-Renn who is heading to Kansas to begin her college career — made a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left to tie the game at 57.
Vanessa Rosswurm had 11 rebounds for Indiana, the most of any player in the game. Gracyn Gilliard, Indiana’s Miss Basketball who is heading to Stanford, had four points and two rebounds and a block.
Myah Epps, who is recovering from back surgery, and Kennedy Holman didn’t play for Indiana.
Indiana now leads the all-time girls series over Kentucky by a 55-44 margin. The girls series began in 1976.
In 2025, the Kentucky girls swept both games of the all-star series over Indiana behind two historic performances from ZaKiyah Johnson, a former Sacred Heart legend who is now at LSU.
Johnson, the 2025 Kentucky Miss Basketball award winner, and Malachi Moreno, the 2025 Kentucky Mr. Basketball award winner, were both at Lexington Catholic for Friday’s games and took part in on-court ceremonies during the event.
Moreno recently announced he would be returning to UK for his sophomore college season after going through the NBA draft process and withdrawing from the draft prior to the deadline to do so.
Indiana boys continue to dominate Kentucky
After leading by only three points at halftime, the Indiana boys pulled away from their Kentucky counterparts for a 106-83 victory.
Kentucky Mr. Basketball Jake Feldhaus, a South Florida signee from Madison Central, led the hosts with 23 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Feldhaus is a son of former UK standout Deron Feldhaus, who was part of the Cats’ “Unforgettables” team during the 1991-92 season.
Jeremiah Jackson, a St. Xavier product, paced the Kentucky all-stars with 24 points.
Amari Owens — a Herald-Leader All-State first-team selection at Bryan Station who is the all-time leading scorer in Lexington boys high school basketball history with 2,606 points — recorded seven points. Owens will begin his college career at Eastern Kentucky.
Demarcus Surratt, a former Frederick Douglass standout and a Herald-Leader All-State first team selection who is heading to Bellarmine, went for two points and a steal.
Malachi Ashford of Sweet 16 state champions George Rogers Clark recorded three rebounds. Ashford earned MVP honors for Clark County in the Sweet 16 state tournament.
Indiana’s big win was spearheaded by 24 points from Dikembe Shaw and 20 points from Brennan Miller. In addition to his 20 points, Miller grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double.
Indiana also got a double-double contribution from Noah Smith, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, the Purdue-bound Luke Ertel, had eight points, five rebounds and a game-best 10 assists.
Indiana now leads the all-time boys series, which began in 1940, 108-46 over Kentucky. Indiana has now defeated Kentucky in 36 of the past 41 meetings.
Kentucky-Indiana High School All-Star Classic series shifts to Indianapolis
The back end of the Kentucky-Indiana High School All-Star Classic basketball series will take place Saturday night in Indianapolis.
The Kentucky and Indiana all-stars will face off for a second time in as many nights at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.
The girls game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis begins at 5 p.m. Saturday, with the boys matchup to follow around 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for Saturday’s games in Indianapolis can be found on Ticketmaster.
This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 10:13 PM.
