Neese's 19 not enough in OT loss

Sunday, June 19, 2016
Cooper Neese dives for a loose ball during Friday's All-Star Game at Anderson.

ANDERSON -- Cooper Neese had a much better statistical game on Friday evening in the Class Basketball All-Star Game than he did in the Indiana Junior All-Stars' game against the senior squad earlier this month.

But one thing sticks out more to him than anything else.

"I wish we could have gotten the W," he said, following his team's 98-96 defeat in double overtime after also losing the earlier game this month. "Both games were competitive, and both were fun. Everybody on both teams showed a lot of passion."

Cooper Neese gets off a shot during Friday's All-Star Game at Anderson.

Neese thought the game was especially well played since the teams did not meet to practice prior to tipoff.

"We just wanted to come out here and compete against some of Indiana's best," he said. "There were a lot of good players on both teams."

Neese scored 19 points, second best on his team, shooting 8 of 20 from the field (3 of 11 from 3-point range). He hauled in a team-high 10 rebounds, and also added five steals and three assists.

While he was one of the smaller players earlier this month for the Junior All-Stars, Neese jumped center in this particular game. He also found himself handling the ball a lot, running the point position on several possessions.

"I'm normally pretty good with the ball," Neese said. "My passing has gotten a lot better since last year. It was working; we were up 10-15 points when I had the ball in my hands.

"I was just trying to make things happen," he added. "It obviously didn't happen there at the end of the game, though. It's definitely something I've been working on."

Michael Ertel of Mount Vernon (Fortville) paced Neese's White team in scoring with 35 points, while Jacob Redding of Fort Wayne Carroll had 18 and Christian Stewart of Roncalli had 11.

Haden Deaton of Class 4A state runnerup McCutcheon had 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Red team and won game Most Outstanding Player honors.

RED (98) -- Nate Patton (Tri-County) 1-7 1-2 3, Haden Deaton (McCutcheon) 10-17 0-1 25, Dave Hanyard (Laf. Jeff) 6-10 0-0 14, Vincent Miranda (NorthWood) 6-11 5-7 18, Josh Brewer (Ben Davis) 2-10 0-0 4, Cohen Nies (Lewis Cass) 1-5 0-0 2, Tim Leavell (Marion) 6-19 2-2 17, Grant Smith (Connersville) 6-14 2-3 15. Totals 38-93 FG, 10-15 FT, 98 TP

WHITE (96) -- Daniel Anderson (Madison) 0-4 0-0 0, Cooper Neese (Cloverdale) 8-20 0-1 19, Jacob Redding (FW Carroll) 8-13 0-0 18, Landon Balch (Rensselaer) 3-8 1-3 7, Christian Stewart (Roncalli) 4-9 0-0 11, Michael Ertel (Mt. Vernon Fortville) 13-24 6-7 35, Jalen Paul (FW Centerbury) 0-5 2-2 2, Teyon Scanlon (Indpls. Attucks) 1-7 1-2 4. Totals 37-90 FG, 10-15 FT, 96 TP

3-point goals -- Deaton 5, Hanyard 2, Miranda 1, Leavell 3, Smith 1, Neese 3, Redding 2, Stewart 3, Ertel 3, Scanlon 1.

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