The girls 33rd District nearly had a starting five at Saturday’s Kentucky-Ohio All-Star game at Thomas More’s Connor Convocation Center.
The Ryle pair of Quinn Eubank and Sarah Baker, Cooper’s Liz Freihofer and Conner’s Anna Hamilton teamed up with the rest of the top seniors in the state to take on their competitors from the North.
While all four never got to be on the floor at the same time, they each produced in a variety of ways as Kentucky took down Ohio, 103-80. Kentucky finished the game on a 20-0 run and led nearly wire-to-wire in the victory.
Claire Johnson was the driving force in the flurry of a finish for Kentucky, scoring 16 of the 20 points in the decisive game-ending run and taking home MVP honors for the Kentucky team. The McCracken County senior finished with 26 points and will be playing her college basketball at Samford.
The quartet of Northern Kentucky hoopers that hail out of the 33rd District in Boone County combined for 24 points, Freihofer and Hamilton scoring eight apiece, Eubank with five and Baker with three.
“It’s a testament to our area and how strong it is,” Baker said.
All four are going to play Division I basketball next year, Freihofer at Eastern Kentucky University, Hamilton at Northern Kentucky University, Baker at Youngstown State University and Eubank at Belmont University.
“The relationships we created throughout these past couple days, they’ve been pretty cool,” Hamilton said. “We’ve always been against each other. So one final time we got to be together and then next year, we’ll be against each other again.”
Freihofer provided some perimeter shooting with a triple in the first half and then made a layup to go with three free throws for her damage in the box score.
Hamilton scored all eight of her points down the stretch to help hold off an Ohio run as they got within three points after facing as much as a deficit as 19 in the first half.
Eubank provided the intangibles like she did on a nightly basis in a Ryle uniform, teaming up with Baker for the last time together after the two have been on the Raiders varsity team since seventh grade.
“I’ve always wanted to be back on the same team as everyone. Me and Liz got to play AAU together and it really helps grow your game when you play with other people,” Eubank said.
Baker was her physical self in the post, helping keep possessions alive with rebounds and providing tough perimeter defense.
“It’s a great thing to experience this,” Baker said. “A game similar to how college is going to be and the pace of the game that college is going to be. It’s good to see where I’m at personally and where everybody else is at and what I need to improve on.”
The All-Star game not only provides an opportunity to compete against another state’s best, but also time to scrimmage, compete in 3-point contests and skill competitions and hang out on and off the floor. The four soaked it all in.
“It’s really cool because we’re usually just going against each other,” Freihofer said. “Spending time with each other outside of the courts, spending time at the hotel together getting to know each other more than just competitors is a lot of fun.”
Emily Bratton took home MVP honors for Ohio, finishing with 13 points.
The game was played with 20 minute halves and a 30-second shot clock. With each roster having roughly 15 players each, they played in five-minute increments, subbing out five for five after every five minutes of game play.
Kentucky’s second unit helped create the separation in the first half, turning a 15-13 lead at the 15:00 mark into a 29-15 advantage by the 10:00 mark. Kentucky led 43-24 before Ohio ended the half on a 19-9 run to get within 52-43 by the break.
Ohio was able to cut the deficit to three on four different occasions in the second half, including 83-80 with four minutes to play. Johnson hit four 3-pointers during the 20-0 run.
Kentucky now leads the all-time series, 17-13.
The Kentucky-Ohio All-Star Game originated as an idea to help the Ronald McDonald House charity, by organizing an All-Star Basketball Game between senior boys and girls.
The game organized in 1991, with the first games being played between boys and girls occurring in April of 1992 at the James A. Rhodes Athletic Center on the campus of Shawnee State University in downtown Portsmouth, Ohio. The game has been played at Thomas More since 2002.
Teams are picked by a committee of people that have played a big part in organizing and strategizing the event over the years.
KENTUCKY ALL-STARS 103, OHIO ALL-STARS 80
OHIO — 43-37 — 80
KENTUCKY — 52-51 — 103
Scoring
OH — Bruce 14, Bratton 13, Allen 12, Ingram 7, Fohl 5, Shafer 5, Haas 5, Campbell 4, Harrison 4, Scohy 4, Mueller 3, Lavy 2, Blount 2,
KY — Johnson 26, Varney 11, Bolin 10, White 10, Hamilton 8, Freihofer 8, Jones 8, Darrington 6, Eubank 5, Knight 5, Bradley 3, Baker 3