Published: June 11, 2009 11:38 pm      

Faulkners shine at home

SANDY HOOK — The Kentucky All-Star experience is nearing its climax for Elliott County’s Ethan and Evan Faulkner, but the two local basketball stars prefaced the upcoming Kentucky-Indiana series with one final show in their home gym at Elliott County High School Thursday night.

The Kentucky seniors, who will face the Indiana All-Stars on Saturday and Sunday, faced the Kentucky juniors in an All-Star exhibition game, in which the seniors emerged as 98-56 victors.

The fans who had followed and supported the Faulkner twins for the past six years saw Ethan in All-Star form with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Evan added four points.

For Evan, the experience has been unforgettable.

“It really is a privilege to play with this team,” Evan said. “It’s the last time Ethan and I will play together. I’ll never forget it.”

According to Kentucky All-Stars coach Tony Hopper, who coaches at Apollo High School, the Elliott County duo is the backbone of the group.

“It comes down to the Faulkners,“ Hopper said. “They provide leadership, communicate well, work hard and share the ball.”

Hopper hopes that the team’s love for the game can overcome Indiana, which contains Division I talent throughout their roster.

“Overall, Indiana probably has more talent, but I don’t know if they have more heart,” Hopper said.

The Faulkners’ started the game for the seniors on Thursday, but a big boost was provided off the bench when University of Kentucky recruit and the state’s Mr. Basketball, Jon Hood, slammed in a dunk to complete an alley-oop started by DeLon Butler.

Hood received a perfect pass from Evan Faulkner to capitalize with another dunk and give the seniors a 31-19 lead.

The seniors took a 44-23 lead into the half after a basket by Ethan Faulkner, but the coaches decided to erase the score and start from scratch coming into the second half.

Hopper said it was not about the final score of this game, but the results.

“This gave us a chance to run our offense and simulate what we’re trying to do,” Hopper said. “The juniors have some size just like Indiana does.”

Size will be a factor on Saturday in Indianapolis and on Sunday in Louisville, as Ethan Faulkner reiterated.

“The keys will be rebounding the basketball and handling their pressure,” Ethan said.

While the seniors outrebounded the juniors by a 42-24 margin, they expect even more of a challenge to do that this weekend.

“When you look at the two teams on paper, they say there’s no way that we can win,” Ethan said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in that situation. I look forward to playing in that role again.”

The seniors also got solid performances from Hood, Ridge Wilson and Corey Wilford.

Hood had 16 points, Wilford poured in a game-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Wilson finished with 13 points and seven boards.

The juniors were led by Delquan Thomas of Eastern and Curtis Washington of Elizabethtown. Thomas accumulated 17 points and Washington had 11.

Hood believes that Kentucky has a legitimate chance against Indiana, which has won seven of the last eight meetings.

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem competing at all,” Hood said.

The one constant for everyone involved is that the opportunity has been memorable.

“It’s an honor,” Hopper said. “I’ve been doing this for 27 years. As a young coach, you look around and say ‘I’d like to win a state championship and I’d like to coach the Kentucky All-Stars.”

“All the way through tryouts and to this, it’s been a blast,” Hood said.

The Kentucky and Indiana All-Stars play Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and at Bellarmine University in Louisville on Sunday.



KY JUNIORS FG FT REB TP

Thomas 7-12 2-5 5 17

Hayes 2-6 4-5 0 9

Taylor 3-6 0-0 2 7

Gibbs 2-9 2-3 3 6

Whitaker 2-7 0-0 3 4

Miller 1-7 0-0 3 2

Nikolic 0-5 0-0 2 0

Washington 5-9 0-0 5 11

Team 1

TOTALS 22-61 7-12 24 56

FG Pct.: 36.1. FT Pct.: 58.3. 3-Pt. FG: 5-25 (Thomas 1-4, Hayes 1-3, Taylor 1-2, Miller 1-5, Washington 1-1, Gibbs 0-5, Whitaker 0-4, Nikolic 0-2). PF: 19. Turnovers: 21.

KY SENIORS FG FT REB TP

Hood 8-15 0-0 4 16

Ballou 3-5 1-3 9 7

Butler 1-2 3-3 3 5

Eth. Faulkner 6-8 2-2 2 16

Ev. Faulkner 2-6 0-0 0 4

Jackson 3-7 0-0 2 6

Middleton 1-4 1-2 1 4

Sanford 1-5 1-2 2 3

Wilford 8-10 3-4 2 21

A. Wilson 1-5 1-1 9 3

R. Wilson 6-8 1-2 7 13

Team 1

TOTALS 40-75 13-19 42 98

FG Pct.: 53.3. FT Pct.: 68.4. 3-Pt. FG: 5-19 (Eth. Faulkner 2-4, Ev. Faulkner 0-2, Middleton 1-3, Sanford 0-2, Wilford 2-3, Hood 0-4). PF: 8. Turnovers: 19.

KY JUNIORS 23 33 -- 56

KY SENIORS 44 54 -- 98