Basketball star power will return to Thomas More University this weekend for the annual Ohio-Kentucky Senior All-Star basketball games.
Many top seniors from Buckeye and Bluegrass states will participate in the games at TMU’s Connor Convocation Center. The girls play at 5 p.m. Saturday, followed by the boys at 7 p.m. Admission is $9 for one game or $15 for both.
A “Slam Jam” festival will take place Friday evening in the arena, with numerous skill competitions. Entrance is free for this.
On Tuesday, 16 Greater Cincinnati seniors are expected to participate in games.
The lists include both the new Mr. Basketball winners from Ohio and Kentucky and the new Miss Basketball from Kentucky. Ohio Ms. Basketball Dee Alexander of Purcell Marian is a junior.
Who are the best women’s basketball players in the All-Star Game?
Residents are well represented on both sides.
Representing Ohio are Celina Blount (Lakota East), Brittany Campbell (Winton Woods), Laila Harrison (Mount Notre Dame), Rylie Homan (Edgewood), Kassie Ingram (Kings), Maddie Mueller (Lebanon) and Peyton Shafer (Goshen). Harrison and MND reached the DI regional final. Ingram was a first-team all-district and second-team player for Blount and Shafer.
For the Bluegrass girls, state semifinalist Cooper is represented by Liz Freihofer, who averaged 12 points per game for the Jaguars and helped Cooper win three straight regional titles.
Sarah Baker and Quinn Eubank of Ryle are on the Kentucky team, as is Anna Hamilton of Conner. Eubank was a Miss Basketball finalist, posting over 1,800 points and 1,300 rebounds for her career at Ryle.
Kentucky has 10 Miss Basketball finalists on the list, led by Pikeville’s Trinity Rowe, the Miss Basketball winner who led the Panthers to the Sweet 16. She will play in college for Southern Mississippi.
Two players from state semifinalist Louisville Butler are on the team, plus one from state runner-up McCracken County.
Playing on the Ohio side will be three of the four senior Ms. Basketball finalists: Emily Bratton of Bloom-Carroll, Corri Vermilya of Loudonville and Berry Wallace of Pickerington Central.
Wallace, an Illinois signee, is a McDonald’s All-American honoree and Division I player of the year. Vermilya is the DIII player of the year.
Fairland’s Bree Allen (DII) and Bellbrook’s Taylor Scohy (DI) are also first-team all-state picks.
Who are the best men’s basketball players at the All-Star Game?
Leading the local contingent were Moeller’s Eric Mahaffey and AJ McBride, who finished 26-2 and reached the Division I regional final.
Tyler McKinley, a Winton Woods senior who signed with the Cincinnati Bearcats, will play, along with Hamilton’s Andrea Holden and Fenwick’s Bailey Temming.
McKinley averaged 19 points per game for the Warriors and shot 61.7 percent. He was first-team all-state in Division I, one of the first five DI members on Ohio’s roster. He is also one of four Mr. Basketball finalists on the Ohio roster.
Ohio Mr. Basketball Ottawa-Glandorf’s Colin White makes the team as an Ohio State commit averaging 25 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists this year.
The other two Mr. Basketball finalists who will compete are Mason Shrout (Preble Shawnee) and Alex Bruskotter (Shelby).
Shrout, a Purdue Fort Wayne signee, averaged 24 points and eight rebounds this season and was first team all-state in Division III. Bruskotter, a Wright State commit, averaged 24 points per game and was Ohio’s Division II player of the year.
Besides McKinley, other first-team All-Ohio picks in DI are Luke Skaljac (Brecksville-Broadview Heights), Cade Norris (Hilliard Bradley), Jesse Burris (Delaware Hayes) and Jonas Nichols (Akron Hoban).
Kentucky’s roster has no local seniors.
Leading the outside players playing at Thomas More is Lyon County senior Travis Perry, the 2024 Mr. Basketball who signed with the Kentucky Wildcats. His father, Lyon County head coach Ryan Perry, is Kentucky’s head coach for the game. They led the Lyons to the Sweet 16 state championship in March. Travis Perry set Kentucky’s all-time scoring record this season by averaging 28.8 points. Lyon teammate Brady Shoulders, a Mercer commit, averaged 17.5 points.
Kentucky’s roster has four other players who played in the Sweet 16, including semifinalists Great Crossing and Evangel Christian. Four Mr. Basketball finalists also play.
Lists
Ohio Girls: Bree Allen (Fairland), Celina Blount (Lakota East), Emily Bratton (Bloom-Carroll), Kylee Bruce (Fairland), Brittany Campbell (Winton Woods), Alley Haas (Miamisburg), Laila Harrison (Mount Notre Dame), Rylie Homan (Edgewood), Kassie Ingram (Kings), Airah Lavy (Nelsonville York), Maddie Mueller (Lebanon), Taylor Scohy (Bellbrook), Peyton Shafer (Goshen), Corri Vermilya (Loudonville), Berry Wallace (Pickerington Central). The head coach: John Buchanan (Fairland). Coach’s Assistant: Tyler Batos (Loudonville).
Kentucky Girls: Sarah Baker (Ryle), Hayden Barrier (Montgomery County), Jeannae Bolin (Pleasure Ridge Park), Dea Bradley (Hart County), Ayanna Darrington (Frederick Douglass), Quinn Eubank (Ryle), Liz Freihofer (Cooper), Anna Hamilton (Conner), Claire Johnson (McCracken County), Destiny Jones (center), Jasmine Jordan (Boyd County), Mariah Knight (Butler), Sydney Martin (Pulaski County), Trinity Rowe (Pikeville), Abby Varney (Barren County), Ramiya White (butler). The head coach: Candyce Wheeler (Butler). Assistant coach: Deshawn Pendleton (Center).
The Ohio Boys: Dominique Aekins (Walnut Ridge), Alex Bruskotter (Shelby), Jesse Burris (Delaware Hayes), Bransyn Copas (North Adams), Andrea Holden (Hamilton), Caleb Lovely (South Point), Eric Mahaffey (Moeller), Anthony McBride ( Moeller), Tyler McKinley (Winton Woods), Jonas Nicholas (Hoban), Cade Norris (Hilliard Bradley), Mason Shrout (Preble Shawnee), Luke Skaljac (Brecksville-Broadview Heights), Bailey Temming (Fenwick), Colin White (Ottawa- Glandorf). The head coach: Steve Mehalik (Brecksville-Broadview Heights). Assistant coach: Adam Vincenzo (Delaware Hayes).
Kentucky Boys: Daniel Allen (Larue County), Derrell Bateman (Christian County), Christian Doerr (Evangel Christian), Tyler Doyle (Lexington Catholic), Emmanuel Dut (Danville Christian), Ayden Evans (Elizabethtown), Jamison Glass (center of Todd County), Jeremiah Godfrey (Great Crossing), Max Green (Oldham County), Quel’Ron House (Seneca), Damone King (DeSales), Travis Perry (Lyon County), Mason Ritter (Bowling Green) , Brady Shoulders (Lyon County), Kade Unsold (Warren Central). The head coach: Ryan Perry (Lyon County). Coach’s Assistant: Steve Page (Great Crossing).