Norman, Indiana Junior All-Stars welcome Kentucky to BNL FIeldhouse

BEDFORD — A combination of indicators told Karsyn Norman she was playing in the friendliest of confines Sunday when she and the Indiana Junior All-Stars came to  BNL Fieldhouse Sunday to face off against Kentucky.

She received, by far, the loudest ovation of anyone during introductions, and she had familiarity with the background and shooting zones at Damon Bailey Court on her side.

The biggest sign that Norman was home, however, is that her team won.

The Bedford North Lawrence point guard, who is readying for her senior season with the Lady Stars, has sampled the rancid flavor of defeat in her building just thrice in three years at BNL. She wasn't about to let it happen against the insurgents from the south Sunday.

Battle for state bragging rights

This duel for bragging rights became quite a battle as the Bluegrass girls cut a 23-point deficit to one, but the Hoosier gals held on for a 92-89 triumph in front of a crowd of around 900 at its peak.

"It was an awesome experience from beginning to end," said Norman, who finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal. "I told all the girls when we got here I was really nervous because I didn't want to let anybody down, but I guess I played okay.

"When everybody started screaming for me in the introductions it felt like a home game. We have such a great basketball community, and to have this many people come out on a Sunday to support me means so much. And I definitely was familiar with my spots on the floor. So yeah, it really felt like a home game.

"I definitely did not want to lose this game at home against Kentucky. We started feeling comfortable — probably a little too comfortable — with that big lead, but we got the job done."

Lapadot glad Norman on his team

Indiana Junior All-Star head Bob Lapadot of Garrett is certainly glad that Norman is one of the girls on his side after she swished three of four 3-pointers, including a step-back from extremely deep that slowed Kentucky's run and gave Indiana an 83-74 lead with 4:32 remaining.

"This is her floor and Karsyn knew her sweet spots," he said with a big smile. "That one was from way deep and it was a really big shot. She hit several big shots, and for her to be as good a point guard as she is, she can still score in a lot of ways.

"I know all about the BNL program from doing the Damon Bailey Camps down here for many, many years. It's a great program and Karsyn is another in a line of great players. She came out and hit big shots and also was a very good leader.

"We also put her on Kentucky's leading scorer (Kensley Feltner of, ironically, Lawrence County, who averaged a state-best 26.9 ppg) leading scorer at the start, and she shut her down in the first half. Karsyn has a really high basketball IQ and you saw it out there today."

Indiana sets early tone

Indiana came out blazing at both ends at the outset and raced to a 25-9 lead after one quarter, which were 10 minutes to match college-length periods. The Hoosier girls rolled despite not having Maryland-bound Amiyah Reynolds of South Bend Washington, who is out with an ankle injury.

Her teammate, guard Rashunda Jones, picked up the slack with 8 points in the quarter and a team-high 20 for the game.

"Jones also showed a lot of leadership," Lapadot said. "We have a Core 6 group and she's part of it (as is Norman), but we can't start six kids. We asked Rashunda to go with the second group and it was no problem, she just came out and played her tail off when she was out there."

Kentucky gathered itself and cut the margin down to 10 in the second stanza before Indiana got a boost from East Central's Josie Trabel and Forest Park's Amber Tretter to take it back to 46-31 at halftime. Norman was very much in point-guard mode in the first half, attempting just two shots while looking to facilitate her teammates as she dished two assists and grabbed three boards.

Norman seeks shots in second half

That approach was altered during the intermission.

"I'm always trying my best not to force anything," Norman said. "But coach (Lapadot) pulled me aside and told me to just play my normal game, not to change and just be a passer only.

"So I did look for my opportunities a little more in the second half."

It started on the first possession of the third quarter when Norman found herself in a clear-out and utilized a trademark crossover dribble for a blow-by layup to start the scoring. Kentucky dug in again and got it down to 51-41, but Norman drilled back-to-back 3-pointers.

Indiana then got a spark from Columbus East's Saige Stahl, who pumped in seven points, including a trey, to push the lead back to 70-49 going to the fourth quarter.

Kentucky kids come back

Kentucky was unfazed by the deficit and began whittling away behind 5-5 Haven Ford of Rowan County and Brianna Byars of George Rogers Clark. A 10-2 burst to start the final period made it a game.

It was down to 80-74 when Norman stepped back and swished about a 25-foot three that had Kentucky fans shaking their heads in disbelief, and momentarily stemmed the tide.

"I didn't realize it was from the volleyball line, but I shoot from there quite a bit in AAU, and I'm definitely comfortable shooting it from there here at home," she said. "It actually slipped a little bit out of my hand, but it went in, so that's all that matters."

Kentucky kept coming, however. Ford scored 13 of her 18 points and Byars had 10 of her 18 in the fourth quarter. Ford hit a long trey, Byars battled for a rebound basket and when Feltner hit two free throws it was down to 90-89 with :23.8 showing.

Indiana was able to inbound the ball and work 14 seconds off before Lapadot used a timeout at :10.9. Again, the inboun play was executed and Tretter was fouled. She hit two free throws :08.1, and Indiana fended off Kentucky's final attempt.

"The free-throw line hurt us a little bit there, and Kentucky hit some really tough shots, but I told the kids that a lot of teams, especially one that hasn't practice together except once, would've lost that game," Lapadot said. "That Kentucky team beat their Senior All-Stars by 20 points the other day, so they're very good.

"So there aren't many teams who could've held them off on a run like they were on. But our girls are great players, exceptionally talented, and I think it's one of the better Junior All-Star teams I've ever seen."

Norman concurred.

"We knew Kentucky would make a run at us," she said. "They have a lot of great players and they blew their seniors out by 20. But we have a great team skill-wise and attitude-wise, and we weren't going to let it get away."

Feltner finished with 12 points for Kentucky.

Tretter and Stahl added 13 each, while Ashlynn Shade of Noblesville had 9 points and 12 boards for Indiana.

The Indiana Boys Junior All-Stars downed Kentucky, 112-102, in Game 2 Sunday.

What's next

The Indiana Junior All-Stars will face the Indiana Senior All-Stars Wednesday night at Mt. Vernon in Fortville. Tge girls play at 6 p.m., with the boys game to follow.

The first game the Indiana and Kentucky All-Stars senior doubleheader is set for Friday night at Owensboro Sports Center in Owensboro, Ky., with the girls starting at 5:30 CDT (6:30 local).

The finale is Saturday night at Southport Fieldhouse with the girls game starting at 5 p.m.

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Norman, Indiana Junior All-Stars clash with Kentucky at BNL Sunday