BENNETT'S MINUTES: Neese, All-Stars ignore turmoil in win

Cooper Neese drives to the basket against Lawrence North’s Kevin Easley.

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PLAINFIELD — The road to the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series has not been an easy one for the Hoosier squad.

Some anticipated talent transferred to prep school last summer, while other key players are either injured or unable to participate due to graduation ceremonies.

At New Albany on Tuesday, a talented team of junior all-stars put a 12-point defeat on the squad.

Cooper Neese shoots a free throw.

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Then on Thursday, two players each from the boys’ team — including Mr. Basketball Kris Wilkes — and the girls’ team were suspended from the final exhibition game that night due to unspecified violations of team rules.

Yet, on Thursday night the eight players who did suit up for the senior all-star squad showed they could overcome all of those issues and responded with an impressive performance in a 134-92 win over a different group of juniors than Tuesday.

The senior team took a 62-46 lead at the half, and poured in 72 points in the second half to show it is ready to extend Indiana’s 16-game winning streak over Kentucky — no matter what else might happen.

Leading the charge for the senior team was 6-10 Jack Nunge, the team’s only remaining post player. The Iowa-bound Nunge had 28 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 11 of 17 from the floor.

Providing support to Nunge’s strong effort was his all-star roommate, Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese.

Neese had an uncharacteristically bad shooting night on Tuesday, but bounced back with a stellar effort on Thursday. Neese hit a pair of long treys in the first half to get himself going, and hit 5 of 6 from long range for the game on his way to 25 points.

Neese added 11 rebounds for a double-double, and also had four assists and four steals.

The only blemish on Neese’s stat line was a “5” in the turnover column.

“Early on he had a few turnovers, and he was trying to make too much out of the play,” Indiana coach Marty Beasley of Carroll (Fort Wayne) said. “He settled down and got into a rhythm, and had a very nice game overall.”

Beasley admitted he hadn’t seen Neese play before practice started last Sunday, and Neese’s penchant for shooting longer-than-required 3-point shots is something new to him.

“For a guard to have a double-double is really good,” Beasley said. “He hit some deep threes — I don’t know if they’re great shots, but they went in. He was on a roll, and he was feeling it.”

Beasley is quickly becoming a fan.

“He’s got a lot of potential,” Beasley said. “He’s got good legs, he shoots the ball well and he can handle it a little bit.

“He blocks out and rebounds the ball, and that’s good,” he added. “He’s got a lot of upside.”

Nunge has played against Neese in summer AAU competition for the past several years and has enjoyed getting to know him this week as teammates and roommates.

Jack Nunge dunks home two of his 28 points.

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“I really like him,” Nunge said. “Being his roommate, I get to know him more than some of the other players. He’s a great guy and a great player, and I’m just enjoying the week.”

The All-Stars had 27 assists on Thursday night against just 13 turnovers, and that fact was not lost on Nunge as he talked about the weekend series.

“Our ball movement was really good,” he said. “Everybody was hitting the open man and doing what we can to take good shots. This game really helped us out and we’ll be ready for Kentucky.”

Neese thought he may have forced some things in Tuesday’s game, and said he changed his approach on Thursday.

“I was just letting the game come to me,” Neese said. “In this game, everything was going well for the whole team. That gets everybody going.”

Neese frequently communicated with his teammates on assignments and floor location, and had an interesting take on which player is “in charge” of those tasks.

Cooper Neese looks to pass against the Junior All-Stars on Thursday night.

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“Nobody is trying to be the boss,” he said. “We are all trying to be leaders — those are two different things. We didn’t drive and kick back out enough on Tuesday, and we have worked hard on that the past two days and it showed.”

Neese is wearing his high school number (11) and is thoroughly enjoying the experience of being an Indiana All-Star.

“To even be able to put the jersey on that says ‘Indiana’ on the front is just unreal,” he said. “To get to wear the number that my dad [Jerry] and my brother [Michael] wore is really special. It gives me chills.”

Neese predictably feels the Thursday win will boost the team’s confidence, and the return of Wilkes and Terre Haute South’s Jaylen Minnett on Saturday will also help.

“We worked hard in practice, even this morning,” he said. “We didn’t care that we had a game [Thursday] night. If we got tired, we just worked through it.

“That carried over into the game,” Neese added, “and should carry over into this weekend as well. We have two more games to go, and hopefully two more wins.”

Neese admits he will feel the experience is not a dream tonight when he is introduced:

“Wearing No. 11, from Cloverdale, Coooooooooper Neese.”

He admits he can only imagine what that moment will be like.

“It’s going to be a dream come true,” he said. “It’s a blessing in the making. I thank [game director] Charlie Hall every day for putting me on the team.”

Cooper Neese takes a rest (right) with roommate Jack Nunge of Castle.

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