Four-state Midwest Challenge in April will feature several of state's top seniors

Several of the state’s top boys basketball seniors will participate in a one-day event in April featuring other top prospects from Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The second annual Prep Ball Stars Midwest Challenge presented by Incrediplex is the creation of Tony Leach, a Fishers resident who also runs a basketball scouting service.

“I went to my first Indiana-Kentucky All-Star game when I was 12 years old and I remember being wide-eyed seeing Mr. Basketball Ray Tolbert,” Leach said, referring to the 1977 IndyStar Mr. Basketball from Anderson Madison Heights.

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Leach’s hope is to get many of “those 12-year-olds like I was” to attend the event on April 20 at Tech High School. Team Michigan will play Team Wisconsin at 10 a.m., followed by Team Indiana vs. Team Ohio at noon. Before the championship game at 5 p.m., there will be a game for unsigned senior players at 2:30 p.m., as well as a 3-point shootout and slam dunk contest.

The 12-player Indiana roster includes several likely Indiana All-Stars, including Indiana recruit Armaan Franklin of Cathedral, Purdue recruits Brandon Newman of Valparaiso and Isaiah Thompson of Zionsville, and Butler recruit John-Michael Mulloy of Carmel. Others are Castle’s Alex Hemenway (Clemson), Floyd Central’s Cobie Barnes (Indiana State), Lawrence Central’s Jake LaRavia (uncommitted), Lawrence North’s Jared Hankins (Indiana State), Culver Academy’s Ethan Brittain-Watts (Boston), Brownsburg’s Cameron Alford (Alabama A&M), and Ben Davis’ Dawand Jones (Ohio State football) and Jalen Windham (uncommitted).

Leach has a community partnership program for local businesses or individuals to pay $150 and receive 12 tickets to the event, which will also pay for a full-page ad, a banner at the game and hospitality. The idea is for those tickets to go to kids to attend the games.

“We want kids to have that experience of watching future college players and pros,” Leach said. “There are going to be some really talented kids playing in this event.”

Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the door or at prepballstars.com.

Leach has received commitments from several other Division I commitments from the other states, including Arizona recruit Terry Armstrong and Missouri recruit Tray Jackson from Team Michigan.

>>North-South All-Star Classic at Martinsville: The 31st annual North/South All-Star Classic is set for April 6 at Martinsville high school.

The girls-boys doubleheader will start with the girls game at 1 p.m. and boys game at 3 p.m. The North and South rosters will be solidified for the teams next week. For ticket information, contact Hoosier Basketball Magazine’s Kip Wesner at (317) 925-8200 or email hoosierbbllmag@att.net.

Here are the participants:

Girls: Jorie Allen, Bedford North Lawrence (Indiana); Jordyn Barga, Monroe Central (Kentucky Wesleyan); Shaila Beeler, Warren Central (Indiana); Addisyn Blackwell, Bloomington South (Southern Indiana); Sydney Freeman, Central Noble (Ball State); Carissa Garcia, Fort Wayne Concordia (Northern Kentucky); Rikki Harris, North Central (Ohio State); Jossie Hudson, Evansville Mater Dei (Evansville); Grace Hunter, Bellmont (Northern Illinois); Gracie Johnson, Martinsville (Cumberland); Madison Jones, Western Boone (Davenport); Bethany Macklin, Martinsville (Shawnee State); Makinzi Meurer, North Knox (Evansville for track); Maddie Nolan, Zionsville (Miami of Ohio); Hannah Noveroske, Michigan City (Xavier); Alyssa Robben, East Central (Indiana State); Elise Scaggs, Mooresville (Davenport); Caitlyn Snyder, Indian Creek (Anderson); Samantha Matthews, Charlestown (Tampa); Cameron Tabor, New Castle (Davidson); Ella Thompson, Center Grove (Bentley); Emma Utterback, Center Grove (Vermont); Grace Waggoner, Vincennes Rivet (Indiana); Hattie Westerfeld, Batesville (Indiana State)

Selected but injured: Lilly Hatton, North Harrison (Wofford)

Girls coaches: Jeff Allen, Bedford North Lawrence; Andy Heim, Bellmont; Jessi Johnson, Martinsville; Andy Maguire, Zionsville

Boys: Cameron Alford, Brownsburg (Alabama A&M); Cobie Barnes, Floyd Central (Indiana State); Ethan Brittain-Watts, Culver Academy (Boston); Josh Bryan, Delta (UIndy); Drew Comers, Greensburg (Bellarmine); Aaron Etherington, Hamilton Southeastern (Toledo); Wyatt Felling, Triton Central (undecided); Armaan Franklin, Cathedral (Indiana); Gabe Gladish, Barr-Reeve (undecided); Zane Gross, Silver Creek (Rose-Hulman); Jared Hankins, Lawrence North (Indiana State); Alex Hemenway, Castle (Clemson); Trayce Jackson-Davis, Center Grove (Indiana); Lucas Kroft, Richmond (Ball State); Zach Kuhn, Shelbyville (Army); Isiah Moore, Warren Central (IU-East); Brandon Newman, Valparaiso (Purdue); Max Newman, Monrovia (Bethel); Allen Plunkett, South Putnam (DePauw); Sam Skaggs, Logansport (undecided); Reid Staggs, Martinsville (undecided); Tyler Stead, Martinsville (Southern Indiana); Isaiah Thompson, Zionsville (Purdue); Jalen Windham, Ben Davis (undecided)

Boys coaches: Bobby Carter, Mooresville; Barak Coolman, Valparaiso; Brandon Hoffman, Silver Creek; Kip Staggs, Martinsville

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.