Local stars help Ohio and Kentucky to split in all-star games

On Apr 10, 2022

Mitchell Rylee’s last high school game was a tough overtime loss in the semifinals of the boys basketball Sweet 16 three weeks ago.

The Covington Catholic senior center and his teammates on the Kentucky all-star team got to use the locker room of another team that had a tough season-ending semifinal loss recently: The Thomas More University men’s basketball team. TMU lost by a point in the NAIA national semifinals in Kansas City.

Rylee got to reverse that fortune and help his team to a one-point win over Ohio in the Ohio-Kentucky All-Star Game Saturday night at TMU’s Connor Convocation Center.

Rylee got a key basket in overtime, a dunk, to help Kentucky to an 85-84 overtime win.

Mitchell Rylee (42) of Covington Catholic brings down a defensive rebound for the Kentucky Boys All-Stars at the Battle of the Border All-Star basketball game between the Ohio and Kentucky High School Boys All-Stars, April 9, 2022.

“Being able to go out there and play in front of my friends and family in Northern Kentucky one more time is special,” Rylee said. “I knew we had to finish strong. I trust everybody on my team. They’re the best in the state for a reason and we had to just tough it out.”

Rylee tied the game at 82 in the final minute of overtime with an uncontested dunk following a scramble for the ball after Moeller’s Evan Mahaffey blocked a layup.

With the game tied at 84, Darien Lewis of Louisville Fern Creek drove to the hoop and was fouled with 7.3 seconds left. He made one of two free throws. Tom House, a Florida State University signee from Ohio Division I state champion Centerville, missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds, and the Bluegrass contingent rejoiced.

Bowen Hardman (center) of Princeton airs out a one-handed floater for the Ohio boys team at the Battle of the Border All-Star basketball game between the Ohio and Kentucky High School Boys All-Stars, April 9, 2022.

“The whole gym got in it and we got pumped up on the court,” Rylee said. “The crowd gave us a lot of energy.”

Kentucky played from behind most of the game until a 3-pointer by Bowling Green guard Turner Buttry tied the game at 70 with six minutes left in the second half. Buttry is the newly crowned Kentucky Mr. Basketball and was named most valuable player of the team with 13 points.

Rylee finished with eight points. He was the only local player on the Kentucky team.

Evan Mahaffey (23) of Moeller looks to drive to the basket for the Ohio boys team at the Battle of the Border All-Star basketball game between the Ohio and Kentucky High School Boys All-Stars, April 9, 2022.

Mahaffey, a Penn State signee, had six points for the Ohio team.

Bowen Hardman from Princeton, an Ohio State signee, had 11 points. Hardman had missed most of the season with an ankle injury and returned to play in the postseason. He scored five straight points to give Ohio a 61-51 lead in the second half.

Rylee signed with Miami (Ohio), who just had a coaching change, hiring Travis Steele last week after Xavier University let him go.

Steele, who had not recruited Rylee to Xavier, talked with the CovCath center right after Miami hired him.

“I’m staying 100 percent committed to Miami,” Rylee said. “I’ve talked to Coach Steele multiple times. I love him as a coach and as a mentor for me in the future. He has great plans. He’s all about personal development. I’m happy he got the job. He was a great hire and I think he’ll do great things at Miami.”

KENTUCKY: Buttry 5 1 13, Spikes 5 1 11, Lindsey 4 0 8, Mason 2 0 5, Lewis 1 3 5, Fugate 2 0 4, Stinnett 2 0 4, Blackwell 0 3 3, Blanford 1 0 2, Lado 3 1 7, Milburn 2 0 4, Jewell 1 0 2, Rylee 4 0 8, Bar 4 1 9. Totals: 36 10 85.

OHIO: Robertson 2 0 4, James 2 3 7, Rolf 2 0 5, Hardman 4 0 11, Sheldon 1 0 2, Porter 2 0 5, House 4 2 12, Woods 1 0 2, Mahaffey 3 0 6, Landers 3 0 9, McLaughlin 1 1 3, Simmons 3 7 13, Semona 1 0 2, Pleiman 1 1 3. Totals: 30 14.

Halftime, Ohio 38-30. 3-pointers: Kentucky 3 (Buttry 2, Mason 1); Ohio 10 (Hardman 3, Landers 3, House 2, Rolf 1, Porter 1).

Girls game: Ohio beats Kentucky 99-84

Imarianah Russell, a post player form Ohio Division I state champion Reynoldsburg, scored eight points in a decisive 12-2 run early in the second half to put the Buckeyes ahead for good after Kentucky led 48-46 at halftime.

Chance Gray, a McDonald’s All-American from Winton Woods, was named most valuable player after leading the Buckeyes with 20 points. She had 14 points in the first half, then two key 3-pointers late in the second half to keep the Ohio lead in double digits.

One of them was on a sharp pass from her fellow Mcdonald’s All-American, Mount Notre Dame’s K.K. Bransford.

Gray, the Gatorade Player of the Year for Ohio, will play in college at the University of Oregon.

“It was cool,” Gray said. “It was a good experience meeting new people, playing with people I hadn’t had a chance to play with for a while. I had a lot of confidence coming in from the McDonald’s game so I just wanted to play my best.”

Russell, a West Virginia signee, was second on the Ohio team with 15 points. Claire Henson from Valley View, the Ohio Division II player of the year by the coaches association, had 11 points.

Allison Basye, a Northern Kentucky University signee from Chillicothe Huntington, had three key second-half baskets to keep Ohio ahead by double digits and scored seven points.

Bransford, who had nine points, was often matched up with her Miss Basketball counterpart in Kentucky, Anderson County’s Amiya Jenkins. The pair guarded each other when they were on the floor together. Jenkins, a UK Wildcats signee, led the Kentucky team with 20 points.

Notre Dame’s Macie Feldman was third on the Kentucky team with 10 points. She and Pandas teammate Lacey Bradshaw combined for the last four Kentucky baskets, two apiece. Feldman also blocked a shot in the lane in the final seconds to keep Ohio from reaching the century mark.

OHIO: Van Schalk 2 0 4, Long 0 2 2, Vejsicky 2 0 4, Ayler 0 2 2, Kowalski 0 2 2, Taylor 4 0 10, Riggs 1 2 4, McKenney 1 2 4, Gray 8 0 20, Henson 5 1 11, Wolterman 1 3 5, Basye 3 1 7, Bransford 2 5 9, Russell 7 1 15. Totals: 36 21 99.