Indy Star Indiana Girls All Stars Named

Fourteen players have been selected for the 2021 IndyStar Indiana Girls All-Stars, All-Stars game director Mike Broughton announced Monday (March 15).

      Those chosen to the team will play three games in June — one exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars as well as home-and-home contests against the Kentucky All-Stars.

       The 2021 Indiana Girls All-Stars, listed alphabetically, are: Ally Becki of Brownsburg, Madelyn Bischoff of Roncalli, Courtney Blakely of Hammond Noll, Katie Burton of Fishers, Kaitlyn Costner of Penn, Bridget Dunn of Carmel, Sydney Jaynes of Trinity Lutheran, Chloe McKnight of Bedford North Lawrence, Meg Newman of North Central, Vanessa Shafford of Linton-Stockton, Brynn Shoup-Hill of Goshen, Jayla Smith of Lawrence North, Trinity Thompson of Michigan City and Ariana Wiggins of Heritage Christian. Dunn is injured and is not expected to play in the games.

      The coaches for the 2021 All-Stars will be the same staff that was to guide the All-Stars a year ago, as the 2020 All-Star events were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The head coach will be Jeff Allen of Bedford North Lawrence. He will be assisted by Donna Buckley of Noblesville and Doug Springer of Northridge.

       The 2021 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball will be announced from within the group of All-Stars listed later this month. A group of Miss Basketball finalists is expected to be released later this week in The Indianapolis Star. Later in the month, the 2021 Miss Basketball winner also will be announced in The Star.

        The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 9 at a site to be announced. The first game against Kentucky will be June 11 at the Owensboro SportsCenter in Owensboro, Ky. The final game against Kentucky will be June 12 at Southport Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The games in Indianapolis are at Southport because Bankers Life Fieldhouse is unavailable this summer because of another phase of renovations that will be occurring there.

      All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar Indiana Boys All-Stars.

      The Indiana Junior All-Stars will play just one game this year — June 9 against the seniors. There are no Junior All-Star games against Kentucky this year. .

      The Indiana All-Stars program was founded in 1939 when the Indiana Boys All-Stars played the state champion Frankfort Hot Dogs. The series with Kentucky began in 1940, and the girls portion of the All-Stars was added in 1976. The Junior All-Stars, boys and girls, were added in 1996. The All-Star senior girls have played Kentucky every year since 1976, except 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic). The All-Star senior boys have played Kentucky in all but three years since 1940 — 1943 (World War II), 1944 (World War II) and 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic).

        The Indiana portion of the All-Star Games is organized and produced by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The Indianapolis Star, with its IndyStar brand, is a title sponsor.

        Miss Basketball is selected through a balloting process of coaches and media overseen by game organizers from the IBCA. The remainder of the team is finalized by Broughton after observing numerous games and events throughout the season, conferring with coaches, school officials and media across the state. Broughton also reviews votes submitted by coaches and media who each could recommend up to 10 players.

        A complete list of those chosen as 2021 IndyStar Indiana Girls All-Stars follows.

Ally Becki, Brownsburg, 5-8, G, 18.0, Ball State

Madelyn Bischoff, Roncalli, 5-9, G, 21.4, undecided

Courtney Blakely, Hammond Noll, 5-7, G, 31.7, undecided

Katie Burton, Fishers, 5-9, G, 21.9, St. John’s

Kaitlyn Costner, Penn, 5-6, G, 11.4, Ohio State

^ Bridget Dunn, Carmel, 6-3, F, 12.7, Kent State

Sydney Jaynes, Trinity Lutheran, 6-3, F, 19.0, Butler

Chloe McKnight, Bedford North Lawrence, 5-9, G, 13.7, Saint Francis (Ind.)

Meg Newman, North Central, 6-3, F, 10.4, Arizona State

Vanessa Shafford, Linton-Stockton, 5-9, G, 18.1, Southern Indiana

Brynn Shoup-Hill, Goshen, 6-3, F, 17.9, Dayton

Jayla Smith, Lawrence North, 6-0, G, 19.4, Purdue

Trinity Thompson, Michigan City, 6-0, F, 22.6, Northern Kentucky

Ariana Wiggins, Heritage Christian, 5-7, G, 27.6, Michigan

       Head coach: Jeff Allen, Bedford North Lawrence

       Assistant coaches: Donna Buckley, Noblesville; Doug Springer, Northridge

       ^ injured; unable to play in games