Indiana senior girls rout juniors 80-46 in All-Star exhibition

The senior girls did more than beat the juniors at Mt. Vernon High School. They used the second half to show why this All-Star group looks deeper, bigger and more interchangeable than most Indiana fans expected, pulling away for an 80-46 rout Wednesday in Fortville.

LSU commit Lola Lampley set the tone with 12 points and seven rebounds, Brooklynn Renn added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Gracyn Gilliard, Indiana’s Miss Basketball, finished with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals. That mix of size, scoring and ball movement was the difference once the seniors settled in. They did not need one player to carry the offense, and they repeatedly turned pressure into easy points as the game opened up.

The juniors had moments, especially from Kenzie Koch, who led them with 12 points and six rebounds, but they never found a way to sustain a run against the senior pace. Indiana’s veteran group kept forcing the issue on both ends, and the margin only grew as the seniors began to string together stops, rebounds and transition chances. The result looked less like a showcase and more like a class that had already found its rhythm.

That matters because the exhibition was not an isolated game. It was part of All-Star week, with the seniors trying to sharpen rotations before the Kentucky series that begins Friday, June 5, and closes Saturday, June 6, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The senior roster was announced March 18 and includes 13 players, with Joe Huppenthal of Lake Central as head coach and Amy Shearer and Brian Smith as assistants. The group also brings real resume weight: Gilliard, Lampley and Vanessa Rosswurm all have state championship experience, and Gilliard, Lilli Barnes, Joslyn Bricker and Renn were all first-team IBCA Academic All-State selections.

Indiana’s All-Star program dates to 1939, and the girls’ All-Star and Miss Basketball piece was added in 1976, which is part of why this annual stretch still carries so much meaning. Gilliard’s No. 1 jersey and Miss Basketball honor already made her the headliner, but this game showed the senior class is more than one star. If the rout was any indication, Indiana’s girls are entering the Kentucky series with a roster that can score in waves, defend in waves and change the conversation about how strong the top end of the state really is.