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PG Mike Conley (1st Team All BIG, NBA All-Star, Oscar Winner, Minnesota Timberwolves)

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5/7/06

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Clint Keller/The Journal Gazette
Bill Hensley, middle, director of Gym Rats Basketball, greets Greg Oden after his jersey was retired Sunday at Spiece Fieldhouse.



Standouts get star treatment

Spiece frames Conley, Oden jerseys

By Greg Jones

High school sports editor


It is certainly an honor for players who are still relative infants in their basketball careers.

But then again, Mike Conley and Greg Oden are anything but typical when it comes to basketball in this state.

The Lawrence North pair delivered a state record-tying three straight Class 4A state championships to the school as well as national recognition for themselves.

And each spring and summer, the two would play AAU basketball for Indy Spiece and make frequent trips to the Spiece Fieldhouse in Fort Wayne.

For those efforts, the two had their McDonald’s All-American jerseys framed for prosperity and were presented these unique mementos of their high school careers in a ceremony Sunday.

“I never thought it would be in a glass case this early in my career,” Conley said of his No. 11 jersey. “They are recognizing us for playing for Spiece and all the stuff they did for us and what we did for them. This just goes to show you how far our relationship goes.”

The two, along with future Ohio State teammate Daequan Cook (No. 14), were honored as members of the Spiece Wall of Fame before the championship games of the Run ’N Slam Classic.

“It is pretty cool,” Oden said of seeing his No. 50 jersey in a glass case.
“I enjoyed playing in the McDonald’s game; it was a lot of fun. It is an honor.”

Both players spent most of their time before the jersey ceremony signing autographs and talking with basketball fans at one of the largest basketball tournaments Spiece Fieldhouse hosts.

“The freshman, sophomore and last year seemed like it was ‘oh my gosh, it is so long.’ But when it finally comes, you are like ‘dang, that went by so quick,’ ” Oden said of his high school career.

Oden and Conley were champions on almost every court they played on, from Conseco Fieldhouse for the state titles to Las Vegas for the Big Time Tournament for the Spiece team, where they won the open division in 2004 and 2005.

The winning won’t stop in high school, the pair said.

“We don’t have the mindset that we are freshman, and we need to adjust,” Conley said of heading to Ohio State in the fall.

“We want to be able to fit right in and have an impact from Day 1.”

That idea was echoed by Oden, who was named Indiana’s 2005 Mr. Basketball last month.

“Anybody who comes into college, their expectations are high because you always want to be that person who turns a program around and bring a championship to that program,” he said.

Oden, projected to be the top pick in the NBA draft before a rules changed meant he had to stay at least a year in college, is looking to remain at Ohio State for half of his college eligibility.

“I have to get there first,” Oden said. “I will stay longer than two years, I am pretty sure of that. I want to get my education, that’s always first.

“That’s the plan.”

In June, Oden and Conley will pair up again as Indiana All-Stars in the state’s annual two-game series against the Kentucky All-Stars on June 17 and 24.

Also part of the Indiana All-Stars are Huntington North’s Chris Kramer and Homestead’s Grant Leiendecker.

“We have a whole bunch of talent on the team,” Conley said. “They have not gotten as much recognition or TV time as the city schools

(Indianapolis), but there are a lot of players around the state who are well deserving of being in the spotlight like we are. It will be a show, and a lot of people should come out and watch.”
 
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IndyStar

6/15/06

Indiana All-Stars

Gordon leads Juniors over All-Star squad

North Central star scores 29 points in boys' upset, while Panthers' Amber Harris leads girls with 17 points

FERDINAND, Ind. -- The Greg Oden-less Indiana All-Stars received a wake-up call Wednesday night.

With The Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. Basketball sidelined because of a wrist injury, Eric Gordon of North Central scored 29 points and E'twaun Moore of East Chicago Central added 22 to lift the Junior All-Stars to a 121-107 victory in the Forest Park High School gym.

That came after Miss Basketball Amber Harris of North Central scored 17 points and Audrey McDonald of Kokomo chipped in 14 as the girls All-Stars overcame a sloppy first half for a 75-71 win.

Mike Conley of Lawrence North tallied 19 points and Luke Harangody of Andrean had 17 to top the boys All-Stars, who looked anything but sharp in what was supposed to be a tune-up for Saturday's opener in the annual home-and-home series against Kentucky at Bowling Green, Ky.

"This means a lot," Gordon said of the Juniors' win, the fourth time in 22 games that the younger class has prevailed since the Junior-All-Star exhibitions started in 1996. "They're seniors, the best seniors of Indiana, and we're the best juniors. And this is a real great group. We've got guys at each position who can play."

With that talent, the Juniors grabbed a 69-49 lead at the half. At one point, the Juniors reeled off 19 consecutive points as part of a 25-4 surge that gave them a 66-41 command late in the period.

The All-Stars narrowed their deficit to 77-63 relatively early in the second half on a 3-pointer by Bloomington South's Cole Holmstrom, but the Juniors countered with a 14-5 burst. The seniors later cut the margin to 13 on several occasions in the final five minutes, but the Juniors responded each time and the outcome never was in jeopardy.

"(This) has got to be a wake-up call, but we've got enough guys who can get the job done," said All-Star coach Chris Benedict, whose squad shot just 35.8 percent (34-of-95) while allowing the Juniors 52.6 percent (41-of-78). "But we've got to defend much, much better, and we've got to get after rebounds much better."
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IndyStar

6/18/06

Boys All-STar Game: Indiana 90, Kentucky 74
Understudy steps into winning role
Harangody starts for injured Oden, has team-high 16 points

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- No Greg Oden. No problem.

At least not this Saturday night.

Despite losing the nation's top high school basketball player to a wrist injury, The Indianapolis Star Indiana Boys All-Stars downed Kentucky 90-74 at Western Kentucky University's E.A. Diddle Arena.

Andrean's 6-8, 255-pound Luke Harangody, who started at center in the 7-foot Oden's place, led the way with team highs of 16 points and 14 rebounds.

"Luke did a tremendous job going to the glass on both ends of the floor," Indiana coach Chris Benedict said. "He owned the inside for us."

Indiana, which now leads the annual series with Kentucky 76-41, held a 65-35 rebounding edge.

The Notre Dame-bound Harangody said he knew many would be watching his performance.

"Definitely real big shoes to fill," he said of replacing Oden. "When I heard (Oden was out), I knew I had some responsibilities. I just tried to come out hard every time and I knew had some great guys backing me up."

Indiana point guard Mike Conley, who teamed with Oden to win three Class 4A state titles at Lawrence North, proved he could get the job done without his close friend, too.

Conley contributed 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

"As big of a loss as it was, I thought it was a great opportunity for me to show a lot of people that I can play without him and lead my team to victory even though he's not there in the low post," said Conley, whose team rebounded from a 121-107 loss to Indiana's Junior All-Stars on Wednesday night.

Oden had surgery to repair the torn ligament in his wrist Friday and did not make the trip.

Benedict said Conley, who will join Oden at Ohio State, quickly took over as leader of the team.

"When things get tough, Mike really demands the ball and wants the ball," Benedict said. "Everyone is a little more in control when Mike is in the game and he just did a tremendous job of attacking against the press. He made great decisions when to penetrate and when to pull it back out."

Guards Chris Kramer (Huntington North) and Vaughn Duggins (Pendleton Heights) benefited from Conley's passing decisions. Both finished with 15 points.

Kramer, headed to Purdue, nailed 7-of-11 shots and Wright State-bound Duggins was 4-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
Trailing 14-13 early, Indiana used a 13-0 run to grab control. Conley started the run that put Indiana up for good.

Kramer capped the run by hitting a 3-pointer to give Indiana a 26-14 lead with 10:02 left before intermission. Indiana led 47-32 at halftime.

Indiana pushed the lead to 55-35 in the first 2 minutes of the second half. Kentucky narrowed the deficit with an 11-0 run. A driving basket by Conley halted Indiana's scoreless streak.

"We got loose with the ball in the second half," Kramer said. "We gave them uncontested 3-pointers to let them back in the game. But once we settled down, we got the ball to Mike and let him break it down and get us in an offense. He got us some easy buckets."

The teams will meet again Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Call Star reporter Mark Ambrogi at (317) 444-2806.
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6/23/06

Glitzy game pleases fans

All-Stars serve plenty of no-look passes, great layups, three-pointers.

By Nick West

[email protected]

HUNTINGTON — It wasn’t until the 17:22 mark of the second half that somebody finally dunked the basketball.

Six-foot-five Bradley-bound Andrew Warren broke into the open floor after teammate Mike Conley intercepted a pass and then Greg Oden’s prep sidekick beautifully placed the ball in front of Warren for the one-handed slam.

The play sparked a 24-4 run and the Indiana Boys All-Stars went on to defeat the Junior All-Stars 106-94 in an exhibition in front of 1,452 fans at Huntington North High School on Thursday evening.

Conley, who will join Oden as incoming freshmen at Ohio State, finished with a team-high 20 points and eight assists.

Playing without Oden, who has missed the All-Star series because of a wrist injury, has been unusual for the former Lawrence North point guard.

“It’s kind of lonely out there without him,” Conley said. “When the offense breaks down, I’m used to being able to find him all big and tall out there to get the ball to.”

The dynamic duo led Lawrence North to three straight Class 4A state titles.
The game was filled with all of the glitz of an All-Star spectacle — high scoring, three-pointers, nifty layups and no-look passes.

Well, most of the glitz.

Unlike the 20-minute warm-up session before the opening tip, there weren’t many slam dunks. Opportunities were there but nobody was willing to allow freebies. The teams combined for 54 free- throw attempts and 43 fouls.

Warren had two of the game’s three dunks. The other belonged to Huntington North’s Chris Kramer.

“It gave me a little hop in my step,” said Kramer, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half.

But for many of the players, it wasn’t about the flamboyant moves or eye-popping stats. Rather, the satisfaction came from playing against athletes at their level.

“This experience is unbelievable,” said Kramer, who will play basketball at Purdue next year. “It really helps you for next year and for both teams playing against the next level of competition. The speed of the game has definitely picked up. You have to hit your open shots when they’re given to you. And you have to defend theirs.”

Excluding Oden, Kramer and Conley were two of four teammates who will play against one another next season in college. Homestead’s Grant Leiendecker and Pendleton Heights’ Vaughn Duggins are both Horizon League-bound. Leiendecker, who started but didn’t score, will attend Butler.

Duggins is enrolled at Wright State.

“It kind of helped me out a little bit,” Kramer said of playing with Conley. “I got to see some of the tendencies of what he’s got, so we’ll see what happens next year.”

This was the third and final tune-up game for the Indiana seniors as they will take on the Kentucky All-Stars at 7 p.m. Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Indiana downed Kentucky 90-74 in the series’ first game at Western Kentucky University last Saturday.

Indiana boys and Columbia City coach Chris Benedict said the team must improve its defensive consistency if it wants to claim state bragging rights after Saturday’s game against Kentucky.

“They’ve done a better job and improved a little bit,” he said. “Two weeks is not a long time, but a short span of time to play together.”

The Junior All-Stars had won the previous two exhibition games.

South Side’s Justin Hairston scored five points in 13 minutes for the junior team.

On the girls side, it was the seniors beating the junior stars 92-78. Concordia Lutheran’s Chanell Ridley scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds in 15 minutes for the Indiana seniors, who will also look to win the second game against Kentucky at 5 p.m. Saturday. The senior stars are 4-0, including three exhibition wins against a junior team that Thursday featured Canterbury’s Megan King and South Side’s Sha’la Jackson.

In Thursday game, the seniors ran a crisp offense of screens and cuts and shot 46.3 percent from the field, including 11-of-21 from three-point range.

Ridley, who will play for Miami of Ohio next season, said the success has come because players have accepted their roles on the team.

“In high school, you are the go-to person and now you are a role player,” she said. “If you can accept that, which all our players have, and step up in certain games when you need to step up, then we’ll win. We haven’t lost this year. I think that it’s helped us because we have players that know what they’re supposed to do.”

King, who averaged 28.3 points per game last season, had two points in 12 minutes. Jackson had four points and three assists in 15 minutes.
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Boys: indiana 94, kentucky 66


In the spotlight for sharing
Conley, game's MVP, uses 14 assists to 'make sure everybody had a chance to shine'


By Pat McKee
[email protected]
When Greg Oden was announced as winner of this year's Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. Basketball, he made it a point to say that Lawrence North High School teammate Mike Conley would have been his pick for the award.
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Conley showed why Saturday night. With Oden again sidelined because of his injured right wrist, Conley provided a Mr. Basketball-like performance with 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high 14 assists in leading Indiana to a 94-66 rout of Kentucky at Conseco Fieldhouse.
"I was trying to be a leader," said Conley, a 6-1 point guard who, like Oden, is headed to Ohio State. "Without Greg down low, we lost a big inside presence and a lot of scoring. I felt I had to get everybody involved and comfortable. I think I did that."
So, too, did Indiana All-Star coach Chris Benedict of Columbia City. He specifically praised Conley and DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis of Anderson, who led six players in double figures with 14 points, for giving the team the direction it needed.
Andrean's Luke Harangody, Pendleton Heights' Vaughn Duggins and Bloomington South's Cole Holmstrom each contributed 12 points for Indiana, while Brebeuf Jesuit's Andrew Warren had 11. Tyler Wilkerson of Lexington Lafayette topped Kentucky with 16 points. Walt Allen, Kentucky's Mr. Basketball, had two points.
"They kept everybody in tune with what to do on both ends of the floor," Benedict said of Conley and Sawyer-Davis. "That got us into a situation where we could do the things that play to our strengths and stay away from our weaknesses."
The victory completed an Indiana two-game sweep for the 20th time in the annual home-and-home series and pushed its all-time lead to 77-41 in the border encounters that date to 1940. The win also was the Hoosiers' fifth in a row, 10th in the teams' past 11 meetings and 15th in their past 17. Indiana also won last week 90-76.
For the game, Indiana hit 53 percent of its shots (38-of-72) and finished with 30 assists. Benedict said that, along with a defense that limited Kentucky to 34 percent accuracy (26-of-76), were the keys.
"The biggest things you try to do in an All-Star game are defend and share the basketball," Benedict said. "If you do those two things, everybody gets an opportunity to have their talents flourish. We moved the ball really well, and that was one of the things we wrote on the board before we started the second half. I'm extremely excited by the way they did that."
Kentucky coach Tim Riley was impressed with the Indiana team in general and Conley -- whose assist total was the most in an All-Star game since at least 1995 -- in particular.
"With his 14 assists, that was more than our entire team," said Riley, who lamented his team's shooting and lack of sharing that was indicated by just 12 assists. "With 30 assists (for the team), you can see why they won."
Sawyer-Davis scored 12 first-half points and Harangody, Warren and Holmstrom each had six as Indiana took a 43-31 lead at the half, Conley setting the tempo with eight helpers at the break.
Indiana looked like it might run away early when it jumped to a 25-13 edge, but Kentucky battled to close its deficit to 28-27. But with Sawyer-Davis scoring eight quick points and drawing charges, the Hoosiers closed the half on a 15-4 surge.
Four minutes into the second half, Indiana led 54-36 and it pushed the margin to 26 with 9:26 to go. Kentucky twice briefly cut its deficit to 19, but the Hoosiers then pulled away once more.
"I wanted to make sure everybody had a chance to shine," Conley said. "We're all All-Stars, and I wanted to make it look like that. That was my basic goal."
 
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IndyStar

6/26/06

June 26, 2006


indiana all-STARs
Conley is the force behind big win

Although Lawrence North's Mike Conley dazzled many in leading the Indianapolis Star Indiana Boys All-Stars over Kentucky 94-66 Saturday night, the one guy who could get away with saying he wasn't surprised by it did just that.

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"I'm really not impressed," Mr. Basketball Greg Oden said of his high school and future Ohio State teammate, who propelled the Hoosiers' finish of their sweep of the Bluegrass boys with an 11-point, six-rebound, 14-assist performance in front of 6,246 fans at Conseco Fieldhouse.

"I know he can do it whenever he wants to, even when I'm out there on the floor. Sometimes I'm mad at him when he doesn't take over."

Conley said Oden, who could not play in the annual home-and-home series because of torn ligaments in his right wrist that required surgery June 16, would have been the one to stand out if he had been healthy.

"If he would have played, it would have been a different story," Conley said.

"He probably would have been Player of the Game, and we probably would have won by even more points."

All-Star coach Chris Benedict, Columbia City, undoubtedly would have liked to have had the 7-foot Oden in the lineup, but the coach nevertheless came away pleased with a group that pushed Indiana's advantage to 77-41 and captured the 20th sweep in the border rivalry that dates to 1940.

Anderson's DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis scored 14 points to pace six double-figure scorers as the balanced Hoosiers shot 53 percent from the field and had 30 assists on their 38 baskets. Andrean's Luke Harangody, Pendleton Heights' Vaughn Duggins and Bloomington South's Cole Holmstrom each added 12 points, while Brebeuf Jesuit's Andrew Warren had 11.

"It says a lot about these guys with what they were able to do," Benedict said. "Throughout the two weeks, the kids have been great because they've been receptive to what we've tried to do.

"They've played together. They've played hard. They've played through adversity -- you know, 'Is Greg playing? Is Greg not playing? Is Mike here?' But overall, it's been awesome."

That description also fit the Indiana girls, who completed an unbeaten fortnight with a 75-63 victory in the opener of the doubleheader. Pike's Ashley Barlow had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hoosiers, while Miss Basketball Amber Harris of North Central chipped in 15 points, five rebounds and six blocked shots.

Kentucky twice closed its deficit to one early in the second half, but two pull-up jumpers by South Bend St. Joseph's Melissa Lechlitner answered those challenges. Harris followed with a free throw and two jumpers to give their team breathing room.

The margin never was closer than five the rest of the way as Indiana claimed its 10th sweep overall and eighth since 1993 in the girls' games that began in 1976. The Hoosier girls pushed their overall edge against Kentucky to 34-28.

"Our goal was to go 5-0 (including three wins over the Junior All-Stars), and we accomplished that," said Barlow, who was named Player of the Game after her second double-double against Kentucky. "I'm pretty happy."

So, too, was Indiana girls coach Julie Shelton of Mount Vernon.
"I'm really proud of these girls," said Shelton, a former All-Star herself in 1989. "It's been a long, long (two weeks), but it was a pleasure to work with these kids."

Call Star reporter Pat McKee at (317) 444-6182.

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved
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