County trio in All-Star Game action; Neese competition set to air Sunday

Although the high school basketball season ended a few weeks ago, several Putnam County athletes will be active this weekend.

Three county players will be competing in the “Post Your Talent” East-West All-Star Games at Knightstown on Saturday.

South Putnam’s Miranda Bieghler will be playing at 2 p.m. for the Girls’ 3-4A East Red Team. Her teammates in that game include Abigail Herrington and Lauren Godwin of Owen Valley.

At 6:30 p.m., Elliot Gross of North Putnam will be playing for the Boys 3-4A Blue Team, which will be coached by Cougar coach Collin McHartt.

On the opposing Red Team will be Cloverdale’s Seth Pfaff.

Seven all-star games will be played at Knightstown High School, with four girls’ games starting at 9:30 a.m. and three boys’ contests beginning at 3:30 p.m.

On Sunday, CBS-TV will air a 90-minute special from 3:30-5 p.m. that will feature Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese in the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships.

Neese won a fan voting competition for the eighth spot, and will look to be the fourth straight winner of the competition from Indiana.

He will face tough competition in the 3-point contest, which is taking place today but not being aired until Sunday on the “off day” of the NCAA Final Four.

Norman North (Norman, Okla.) point guard Trae Young, an Oklahoma signee who won the POWERADE JamFest three-point contest Monday, will compete against sharpshooters such as Collin Sexton, an Alabama signee, and Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) shooting guard and Duke signee Gary Trent Jr.

Other Indiana players competing on the day include Logansport’s Jalen Adaway in the dunk contest and Gary West’s Dana Evans in the girls’ 3-point contest.

Other fan voting winners were Jay Shropshire, a 6-1 guard from Chattooga (Ga.), in the dunk contest and Natalie Sanchez, a 5-8 guard from Burges (Texas), in the girls’ 3-point contest.

The other seven competitors in each competition were chosen by a committee and include several participants from this week’s prestigious McDonald’s All-American Games.

Here are the contestants in each event (the McDonald’s All Americans are denoted with an asterisk):

DUNK

Jalen Adaway – Logansport High School (Logansport, Ind.) – Undecided

Victor Bailey Jr. – McNeil High School (Austin, Texas) – Oregon

Anthony Duruji – St. Andrews Episcopal School (Potomac, Md.) – Louisiana Tech

Savion Flagg – Alvin High School (Alvin, Texas) – Texas A&M

Roberto Gittens – Henry Foss High School (Tacoma, Wash.) – Boise State

Jay Shropshire – Chattooga High School (Chattooga, Ga.) – Undecided

*Lonnie Walker – Reading High School (Reading, Pa.) – Miami

Kyle Young – Jackson High School (Massillon, Ohio) – Butler

MEN’S THREE-POINT

Alex Barcello – Corona Del Sol High School (Phoenix) – Arizona

*Quade Green – Neumann-Goretti High School (Philadelphia) – Kentucky

Cooper Neese – Cloverdale High School (Cloverdale, Ind.) – Butler

Jordan Nwora – Vermont Academy (Saxtons River, Vt.) – Louisville

*Collin Sexton – Pebblebrook High School (Mableton, Ga.) – Alabama

*Gary Trent Jr. – Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) – Duke

Jordan Tucker – Wheeler High School (Marietta, Ga.) – Undecided

*Trae Young – Norman North High School (Norman, Okla.) – Oklahoma

WOMEN’S THREE-POINT

*Rellah Boothe – IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) – Texas

*Mikayla Boykin – Clinton High School (Clinton, N.C.) – Duke

*Chennedy Carter – Timberview High School (Arlington, Texas) – Texas A&M

*Rennia Davis – Ribault High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) – Tennessee

*Dana Evans – West Side High School (Gary, Ind.) – Louisville

*Chasity Patterson – North Shore High School (Houston) – Texas

Natalie Sanchez – Burges High School (El Paso, Texas) – Stephen F. Austin

*Megan Walker – Monacan High School (Chesterfield, Va.) – Connecticut