Intro4u2u

Former Carmel basketball star Danielle Havel would love to end her high school career on a winning note — again.

Havel, who led the Greyhounds to a Class 4A state championship in March, hopes to pick up two more victories as a member of the Indianapolis Star Indiana All-Star team.
Advertisement

Indiana faces the Kentucky All-Stars in a home-and-home series beginning with today’s matchup at 6 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse. The second game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Louisville Gardens in Kentucky.

“Knowing that we were the only 4A team to finish our (high school) season with a victory was awesome,” said Havel, a 6-foot forward. “Now, my goal is to end the All-Star season with a win, too.”

Another former Greyhound also would like to end his high school career with a pair of victories. Carmel’s Daniel Moore, a 5-10 guard, was selected to the boys team.

The boys play Kentucky at 8 p.m. tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse, and the series finale is 4 p.m. Sunday at Louisville Gardens.

Moore knows the importance of sweeping Kentucky in the annual event between neighboring states.

“It’s such a historic game, and there’s so much tradition to it,” he said. “Even if you’re not a basketball fan, you don’t want to open the newspaper and see that Kentucky beat Indiana. . . . No matter what, you want your state to do well.”

Win or lose, Moore said being an All-Star is something he’ll never forget. Along with two games against Kentucky, the Indiana boys played two exhibition contests against the Junior All-Stars.

Moore and his teammates had plenty of opportunities to bond during practices, meals and leisure time.

“I know a lot of these guys, but it’s still cool to be around them before we go our separate ways for college,” said Moore, who hopes to play basketball as a walk-on at Indiana University. “It’s been a really fun experience.”

Havel, a DePaul basketball recruit, said the long week of All-Star activities gave her a glimpse of what college athletics could be like.

“All we’ve done is eat, sleep and play basketball,” she said. “It should be good preparation for next year.”

Moore expects mixed emotions after the games against Kentucky. “It’s our last chance to play in high school, so it’s going to be exciting and sad,” he said.

Carmel guard Chrissy Steffen, who will be a senior in the fall, played on the Junior All-Star team this week. She had eight points in her team’s surprising 86-80 victory in Monday’s exhibition game at Washington High School.