19 players selected to face Kentucky Juniors, Indiana Seniors in June games
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Pat McKee, IBCA Director of Special Projects
(3-9-26) Nineteen players have been selected to the IndyStar Indiana girls’ Junior All-Stars for 2026, All-Stars games director Mike Broughton announced Monday (March 9).
Those selected to the seven-player Core Group include Lillie Graves of McCutcheon, Adah Hupfer of Pendleton Heights, Claire Larrison of Greensburg, Hannah Menser of Plainfield, Kylah Patterson of Hammond Morton, Paige Schnaus of Gibson Southern and Lily Scholl of Northridge.
In addition to the core group, six players each were chosen for squads labeled Red Group and Blue Group.
The Red Group players are Te’Asia Briscoe of Purdue Poly-Englewood, Alaina Diamond of Loogootee, Kendal Hill of South Knox, Chesney Jackson of Charlestown, Saniya Smith of Pike and Etta Young of Jennings County.
The Blue Group players are Payton DuVall of Franklin Central, Kenzie Koch of Eastern Hancock, Elliot Leffler of Roncalli, Courtney Mathew of Rensselaer Central, Carlee Schrader of Northview and Hallie Schwieterman of Jay County.
Lisa Finn of Indianapolis Cathedral will be the head coach and Andy Heim of Class 3A state champion Bellmont will be the assistant coach for the 2026 Indiana girls’ Junior All-Stars.
Finn has compiled a 101-74 record in seven seasons at Cathedral, including a 20-7 mark and a Class 3A sectional title in 2025-26. Her Irish also won a sectional and regional in 2024-25. The former Lisa Winter, she was Indiana Miss Basketball in 1996 from Huntington North. She played collegiately at Ball State and Valparaiso University. She was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024 atter being selected to the Hall’s 2021 women’s Silver Anniversary Team. She previously was a girls’ assistant coach at Ben Davis.
Heim is 211-143 in 15 seasons at Bellmont, guiding the Braves to a 25-3 ledger this past season with sectional, regional and semi-state crowns en route to the 3A title. His teams previously claimed a sectional in 2022 and Northeast 8 Conference titles in 2017, 2019 and 2025. He is a 1997 graduate of New Haven, where he played basketball and baseball. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne in 2005. He was a boys’ basketball assistant at New Haven from 2002-11 before becoming the Bellmont girls’ varsity coach in 2011-12.
The Junior All-Stars will play one game against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars on Sunday, May 31 at Charlestown High School. The Junior All-Stars also will play one game against the Indiana All-Star senior girls on Wednesday, June 3 at a site to be announced. Both games will be doubleheaders with the 2025 Indiana boys Junior All-Stars, who will be chosen later.
The players listed as Core Group players each will play in two games. The players listed in the Red and Blue groups each will play in one game, the Red Group on May 31 against the Kentucky Juniors and the Blue Group on June 3 against the Indiana Seniors.
The Indiana senior All-Stars will play the Kentucky senior All-Stars on June 5 at a site to be announced. The Indiana senior All-Stars will play Kentucky’s seniors again on June 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The fourth annual
IndyStar Indiana All-Star “Futures Games” doubleheader will be played on June 1 at a site to be announced. The Futures Games will be a girls-boys doubleheader with Indiana-only squads of sophomores and freshmen in a North vs. South format. The Futures Games rosters will be announced later.
The 2026 Indiana girls’ Junior All-Star team was selected through a process that allows all IBCA-member head coaches to nominate players through the IBCA all-state process. The IBCA 22-member Indiana Basketball Coaches Association all-state committee reviewed and voted on players for the 2026 IBCA girls All-State teams that were released on Thursday (March 5).
The 22 all-state committee members also provided input to a five-person IBCA committee appointed by IBCA executive director Marty Johnson and chaired by IBCA assistant director Brandon Bradley. That committee finalized the selections for the 2026 girls’ Junior All-Stars.
The Indiana Junior All-Star program was founded in 1996 by former Indiana All-Star games director Patrick Aikman. In most years, 18 players have been chosen to the Junior All-Stars. In five years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2018 and 2019), 24 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars. In 2021, just 12 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars. This year, 19 players were selected.
In games from 1996 through 2024 (with no games in 2020 because of COVID-19), the Indiana Senior girls lead the Indiana Junior girls 42-12 and the Indiana Senior boys lead the Indiana Junior boys 42-12. In nine years of games against the Kentucky Juniors, the Indiana Junior girls lead 13-1 and the Indiana Junior boys lead 9-5. Games against the Kentucky Juniors previously have been played in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
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 the title sponsor. Hoosier Shooting Academic is a presenting partner for All-Star Week. Energy Systems Group is a presenting partner of the Saturday doubleheader against Kentucky.
A list of those chosen as 2026 girls’ Junior All-Stars follows.
2026 IndyStar Indiana Girls Junior All-Stars
GIRLS CORE GROUP (playing on May 31 and June 3)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Lillie Graves, 6-1, F, 17.2, McCutcheon, undecided
Adah Hupfer, 6-3, C, 20.5, Pendleton Heights, undecided
Claire Larrison, 5-11, F, 21.3, Greensburg, Ball State
Hannah Menser, 5-8, G, 17.0, Plainfield, Ball State
Kylah Patterson, 6-0, F, 26.3, Hammond Morton, undecided
Paige Schnaus, 6-2, F, 20.9, Gibson Southern, undecided
Lily Scholl, 5-10, F, 18.3, Northridge, undecided
GIRLS RED GROUP (playing at Charlestown on May 31 vs. Kentucky Juniors)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Te’Asia Briscoe, 6-0, F, 17.3, Purdue Poly-Englewood, undecided
Alaina Diamond, 6-3, F, 17.7, Loogootee, undecided
Kendal Hill, 5-8, G, 19.2, South Knox, undecided
Chesney Jackson, 6-0, F, 21.3, Charlestown, undecided
Saniya Smith, 5-6, G, 12.6, Pike, undecided
Etta Young, 5-10, F, 13.9, Jennings County, undecided
GIRLS BLUE GROUP (playing at TBA site on June 3 vs. Indiana Seniors)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Payton DuVall, 6-3, F, 12.1, Franklin Central, undecided
Kenzie Koch, 5-9, G, 25.5, Eastern Hancock, Ball State
Elliot Leffler, 5-9, G, 18.9, Roncalli, undecided
Courtney Mathew, 5-11, G, 15.0, Rensselaer Central, undecided
Carlee Schrader, 5-9, G, 17.3, Northview, undecided
Hallie Schwieterman, 5-9, G, 19.5, Jay County, Saint Francis (Ind.)
Head coach: Lisa Finn, Indianapolis Cathedral
Assistant coach: Andy Heim, Bellmont
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2026 IndyStar Indiana All-Star key dates
Sunday, May 31 — Indiana Juniors vs. Kentucky Juniors at Charlestown High School (1 Pirate Place, Charlestown, IN 47111) — girls, 2:00 p.m. EDT; boys, to follow; admission, $15 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Monday, June 1 – Indiana All-Stars “Futures Games” doubleheader at site TBA – girls, 6:00 p.m. EDT, boys, to follow; admission, $15 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Wednesday, June 3 — Junior-Senior All-Star game at site TBA — girls, 6:00 p.m. EDT; boys, to follow; admission, $15 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Friday, June 5 — Indiana at Kentucky at site TBA — girls, time, TBA; boys, to follow, time TBA. Ticket information, TBA.
Saturday, June 6 — Indiana vs. Kentucky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (125 S. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN 46204) — Senior girls, 5:00 p.m. EDT; Senior boys, to follow (about 7:30 p.m. EDT). Ticket information, TBA.
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