“We take it personally.” No technical difficulties this time in Indiana All-Stars’ win over Kentucky

INDIANAPOLIS — The last time Kentucky won the Indiana Stars in the annual high school basketball series, “Top Gun” – the original – was the best-selling film in theaters. It was in 1986.

“I’m sure I didn’t want that to happen to us,” said Indiana All-Star Aaron Fine of Noblesville. “I didn’t want to be part of that and get into the record books. I wish I could tell my kids we won at least one game.”

Fine’s future children will be able to scroll down the results list someday and see that the Indiana All-Stars found a way to split the series. The All-Stars held off a late Kentucky rally for a 92-89 victory Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse before 5,445 fans.

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It was a highly motivated Indian All-Stars team coming out Friday night loss 103-82 in Kentucky, in Lexington. This game changed when IndyStar Mr. Basketball Flory Bidunga from Kokomo was whistled to a technician – his fifth foul – with Indiana trailing by one point. He watched the last 10 minutes from the bench as Kentucky poured it all in.

“We take it personally,” Bidunga said.

When the 6-9 Bidunga takes it personally, the results usually come. O Kansas recruit and the McDonald’s All American had a dominant performance on Saturday, with 31 points, 17 rebounds, five blocks and four assists in 38 minutes. He was supported by Purdue recruit Jack Benter as the Brownstown Central star finished with 16 points and four rebounds.

“I thought we played a more complete game tonight,” Benter said. “(Friday night) we played well for about 25 minutes and the other minutes we didn’t play so well. We played a more complete game.”

The Indiana All-Stars, similar to Friday’s game, were dominant early. Indiana closed the half on a 10-0 run, capped by a 3-point run from Benter, to take a 50-31 halftime lead. It seemed like Indiana All-Stars coach John Peckinpaugh’s challenge to “take it personally” fell on the team.

“Some things didn’t happen and were out of our control,” Peckinpaugh said of the Kentucky loss. “I stated (Friday) that I didn’t do a good job dealing with adversity and it kind of snowballed for our players. We address that and challenge them to step up and try their best to defend some guys who can make really tough shots. I think we did a good job of that for most of the game. They have some guys there that make really, really difficult throws.

To name a few: Max Green, Quel’Ron House and Tyler Perry. Green, a 6-6 guard heading to Holy Cross, torched the All-Stars on Friday for 36 points. He scored a team-high 25 points on Saturday, including 16 in the second half. House, a 6-foot-2 guard signed from Jacksonville State, scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half. And Perry, Mr. Basketball and a Kentucky commit scored 12 of their 17 after halftime.

This resulted in a small scramble for the All-Stars in the final minutes. Kentucky had the ball, and a chance to tie, in the final seconds after an Indiana turnover, but couldn’t get a clean look and missed short.

“It was good to get the win, but I think we still felt like we could have played better,” Ben Davis’ KJ Windham said. “Just us being competitors. Especially me. When you’re too high and you make things harder than they are, it gets a little frustrating. But I’m happy we got the win.”

Largely due to the presence of Bidunga, who sank several official dunks, the Indiana All-Stars had 11 more rebounds. Bidunga shot 13 of 21 from the field and 5 of 8 from the free throw line.

“He’s been very special to our community and to our basketball program in Kokomo,” Peckinpaugh said of Bidunga, who came to Kokomo from the Republic of Congo before his sophomore year. “He is a wonderful boy and will have a great future. He is a hard worker and will continue to improve. We had many good memories together. He might say I yelled at him too much, but it was a fun trip and I’m glad I got to coach two more games before he went to college.

Windham had 13 points, including 11 in the first half, before leaving for Northwestern. Eastern Kentucky recruits Micah Davis de Franklin scored 11 points and Jesuit guard Brebuef and Butler recruits Evan Haywood had 10 points and six rebounds. Keenan Garner of the Fishermen, a UI Indy recruitfilled the stat sheet with nine points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

For everyone in the locker room, it was their last high school game before beginning the college experience. Most players leave on Sunday. Coming out on a positive note and improving the series’ all-time record to 105-46 was significant.

“I feel like we all have one goal in mind: to win,” Benter said. “After (Friday night), we all got together and hung out tonight and had a good connection.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared in the Indianapolis Star: Basketball Flory Bidunga gets revenge in Indiana All-Stars victory