Indiana is the home of basketball. There are a lot of all-star players in Indiana and SHS is the home of three of them.

Senior Malik Bennett was chosen to the Large School All-State Team. Junior Joey Brunk was chosen to the 2015 IBCA/Subway Underclass All-State Supreme 15 and the 2015 Indiana Boys Junior All-Stars Core Group. Sophomore Paul Scruggs was also chosen to the 2015 IBCA/Subway Underclass All-State Supreme 15.

“They’re special players,” boys basketball coach Kyle Simpson said.”I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished because they are great kids.”

Bennett feels that the difference from this season to last season is that the team chemistry was better than ever this season.

Bennett’s goal for this season was to win the state championship as a team but they came up short against Pike at Sectionals. We gave it our all though, Bennett says.

“It feels good,” Bennett said. “I feel like we got some recognition that we needed.”

A big part of the motivation for Brunk this season was that he could have a chance to represent his community. He felt that his play was no more important than his team’s play Brunk is the first player in SHS history to be an Indiana Boys Junior All-Star..

Key players that are graduating such as Bennett and DeMari Davis won’t be there next season so Brunk will have the chance to become more of a leader.

“It’s definitely an honor,” Brunk said. “There’s a lot of good players on that team so it definitely means a lot that I got selected.”

Scruggs’ motivation this season was to “do it for the team.” He felt that going hard in practice and giving 100% was enough to have success.

Scruggs is only a sophomore but he is playing on varsity and felt like he stepped into a leadership role this season.

“If I keep doing what I’m doing and keep working hard then I will get (better),” Scruggs said.

By losing an All-State player such as Bennett, SHS will have to work a lot harder next season. Bennett averaged 18 points, three rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.8 steals this season. SImpson feels that next season there are some guys that will be hungry to fill Bennett’s and Davis’ role on their team next season.