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Indiana All-Stars vs. Junior All-Stars Peck getting some notice
Ex-Cathedral player quizzes governor, excels vs. juniors
By Michael Pointer
Indianapolis Star
June 10, 2009
OXFORD, Ind. -- Errick Peck was one of the last players named to the Indianapolis Star Indiana All-Stars. But no player on the roster may get more out of the experience than the former Cathedral High School standout.
Peck led the All-Stars with 19 points and added six rebounds as they rolled to 105-83 victory over the state's Junior All-Stars in an exhibition game at Benton Central High School on Tuesday night.
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One day earlier, Peck and his teammates had an audience with Gov. Mitch Daniels. Most of the All-Stars were content to shake hands and nod politely, but not Peck.
He quizzed the governor on how to get a position in state government and handed out business cards. All-Stars coach David Wood joked afterward that the team learned Peck was quite the politician -- which he meant as a compliment.
"He (Daniels) gave me the name of one of his assistants and an e-mail address,'' said Peck, who will play collegiately at Cornell. "He shook my hand and that was it.''
The governor might have paid even more attention to Peck if he had been in Benton County on Tuesday.
"I had a couple of lucky opportunities and a couple I made for myself,'' Peck said. "No matter who I play with, I just want to go out there with a smile on my face and let my play speak for itself.''
Wood, the coach at West Lafayette, admitted he knew little about the 6-7, 210-pound Peck until being named the All-Stars coach. But he's been impressed ever since.
"He's strong,'' Wood said. "He can play outside and play inside. He'll guard. He'll rebound and he's a high-character young man.
"He probably was one of the last guys to make this team because he didn't have gaudy numbers (at Cathedral). But he's going to be awfully important as we go through this process. He was awfully good (Tuesday night).''
But the All-Stars got a layup from Evansville Harrison's Kendal Brown on their next possession and led 45-41 at the break.The juniors tied the score briefly early in the second half, but they struggled mightily after that -- especially when top players like North Central's Terone Johnson (Purdue commitment) and Fort Wayne Luers' Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) weren't on the floor.
"I thought we defended them really well,'' Wood said. "We made them take tougher shots. Secondly, I thought we slowed down a hair on offense. I think it's normal that you speed up a little the first time you're in front of people. And finally, we made some shots.''
The All-Stars were 24-for-48 (50 percent) from the field in the second half. Marion's Scott Wood finished with 17 points. Mooresville's Matt Kenney had 14 points and Lawrence North's Stephan Van Treese had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the All-Stars. Like Peck, none of them started.
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BOYS
Indiana All-Stars 105, Junior Stars 83
Junior Stars -- Carroll 3-4 1-3 7, Ferguson 1-4 1-1 3, Jones 1-3 1-2 3, Thomas 3-8 7-9 15, Johnson 3-11 4-6 12, Hale 3-7 3-4 9, Byrd 1-4 0-0 2, Berry 2-6 0-0 5, Welker 3-5 1-2 9, Kitchell 3-7 3-4 10, Harris 3-3 0-0 6, White 0-4 2-3 2. Totals: 26-66 23-34 83.
By Tom Davis
Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel
June 10, 2009
OXFORD – It certainly looked at times like one team had just met that day, while the other had met only a few days earlier. Such was the case in the game between the Indiana Boys All-Star basketball squad and a select group of juniors from around the state.
The two teams squared off Tuesday at Benton Central High School, and the elder class pulled away midway through the second half to easily win 105-83.
“(We) just tried to give them a little bit of structure and help the senior All-Stars out,” Carroll coach Marty Beasley said.
Beasley was nominated to serve as an assistant coach for the Junior All-Stars and enjoyed the task despite the loss.
“(The All-Stars) only having two or three days to get organized showed tonight,” Beasley said. “Us having an hour and a half also showed tonight.”
The seniors missed their first five shots and didn’t score until Mr. Basketball Jordan Hulls of Bloomington South hit a three-pointer at the 16:54 mark of the first half.
The juniors only missed their initial three shots. They generally threw the ball away before they could even get a shot off.
“We were just having fun,” Blackhawk Christian junior Russell Byrd said. “We tried to beat (the seniors), but we just couldn’t get it done in the second half.”
Byrd, who has verbally committed to play at Michigan State, scored a pair of points and grabbed two rebounds in 10 minutes of action.
The seniors took an early 16-13 lead as North Side guard Justin Jordan lofted an alley-oop to Mooresville guard Matt Kenney for a vicious slam.
“(All-Star coach David Wood of West Lafayette) told me to just play my game because I was thinking too much about our offense,” Jordan said of his wanting to pass the ball more than his normal shooting role. “At Thursday’s game I’ll probably be back to (shooting more).”
Jordan, who starts summer school at Saint Louis University on June 15, missed all three of his three-point attempts, but did distribute three assists to go with his two points.
Kenney was a surprise for many in the crowd. The Valparaiso recruit soared for a pair of “SportsCenter”-worthy dunks and finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
In fact, it was the lesser-known players that stood out with their play, while the highly-acclaimed players took a lesser role.
Hulls ran the offense well, but finished with just five points, four rebounds, three assists and as many steals. The second-leading vote getter for the prestigious award, Bruce Grimm Jr. of Rochester, missed four of his six shots and totaled just seven points. Purdue-recruit D.J. Byrd (North Montgomery High) grabbed five rebounds, but missed all three of his shots and failed to score at all.
Meanwhile, an Ivy League recruit who won’t even be on athletic scholarship (Ivy League schools don’t offer them) was the most productive player on the floor.
Cathedral’s Errick Peck, who will play at Cornell, finished with 19 points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of action. Peck had a pair of dunks and missed just three of his dozen attempts. Also shining was Marion’s Scott Wood, a North Carolina State recruit, who notched 17 points.
Following Kenney’s slam, the seniors ran off 13 straight points to claim a 29-13 advantage. The streak was capped by Louisville-recruit Stephen Van Treese (Lawrence North), who hit a bucket off an assist from Evansville Harrison’s Kendal Brown, a Southern Illinois recruit. Van Treese finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Brown did a nice job of backing up Hulls at the point, totaling seven points and a game-high five assists.
In the second half, the juniors pulled to within 54-52 on an offensive put-back from South Central’s Jake Kitchel. The 6-8 small forward who is seriously considering a scholarship offer from Oregon State scored 10 points for the youngsters. However, from that point on, the seniors began to dominate the glass, pulled away on a 9-1 run and were never threatened again.
The seniors out-rebounded the juniors 62-38 (26-10 on the offensive boards). In particular, the senior reserves proved too much to handle, as they outscored the juniors 81-43 off the bench.
A bright spot late in the second half for the juniors was the play of Bishop Luers’ Deshaun Thomas.
Thomas hit a three-pointer and began to assert himself on the boards, as he led the younger class with 15 points and five rebounds. The 6-7 forward, who had to sign multiple autographs following the game, has made a verbal commitment to play at Ohio State and is already excited about that prospect, despite it being 15 months away.
“(Ohio State) is getting some good players,” Thomas said. “We plan on going there and work hard, win a national championship and get drafted (into the NBA).”
The two teams – sort of – will play again Thursday at New Albany High School. The boys game will tip off approximately at 8 p.m., following the girls game, which starts at 6 p.m. The cost is $6.
The squad of juniors that participated Tuesday will feature several of the same players Thursday, but not all of them. Thomas will join Travis Carroll (Danville High and Purdue recruit), Dominique Ferguson (Lawrence North), Terone Johnson (North Central and Purdue recruit), Donnie Hale (New Albany) and Jesse Berry (Lafayette Jeff), along with six others, to battle the seniors.
