Campus Clips: Local trio powering IUSB men's basketball squad

There's been a strong array of homegrown talent on full display for the Indiana University men's basketball team this season.

A trio of former high school hoops stars from South Bend, all of whom competed versus each other on the hardwood previously, are the top performers for the Titans.

More: IUSB women's basketball rolling into postseason play

The threesome of Dejon Barney (Riley), Jylen Petty (Washington) and Quentez Columbus (Adams) are all standouts for coach Scott Cooper's team.

The Titans stood at 22-8 after rallying for a thrilling 72-70 win at Roosevelt University Friday night in a semifinal game of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. IUSB was slated to play at IU Northwest in Gary Monday night in the league tourney title game. With a win, the Titans earn an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament.

Barney, a 6-9 senior forward, leads his team in scoring at 18.4 points per game and rebounding at 9.7 per contest. He also has a team-high 39 blocked shots and is shooting 59 percent from the field. Barney had 18 points and 14 rebounds Friday night for his 15th double-double of the season.

Barney finished his second season for the Titans after playing at Lincoln College. He averaged 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game last season in earning first team All-CCAC honors and NAIA honorable mention accolades.

Petty, a 6-6 junior forward, joined the Titans this season after playing at Kaskaskia College last year. He is averaging 12.3 ppg. as the team's top player off the bench in most games. Petty, who has started five games, leads the team in 3-pointers at 61-of-143 and is shooting 50 percent overall from the field.

Petty was the star in Friday's night's comeback win in the conference tourney semifinals. He had a career-high 25 points and hit 7-of-9 on 3-pointers. IUSB trailed 39-26 at halftime and by 10 points with under 10 minutes left in the game. The Titans won as Terry Ford hit a game-winning layup with four seconds to play.

Columbus, a 6-0 junior guard, was another first year player after transferring from Manchester University. Columbus averages 11 points and is first on the team with 34 steals, second in assists with 85 and third in 3-pointers with 31.

The Titans went 15-5 in CCAC play this season. They were 23-9 overall last year and won the CCAC tourney championship for the third time in the last four years. They then lost in the NAIA National Tournament.

Locals power Holy Cross women's hoops

The Holy Cross women's basketball team is another program that benefitted greatly from former local prep stars.

The Saints roster this season included Grace Adams (Penn), Jordyn Smith (Penn), Trinity Clinton (Penn) and Jordyn Handley (Mishawaka).

Adams, a 5-11 junior forward, was a double-double machine for the Saints. Adams averaged 18.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. She had 31 points and 16 rebounds in an 87-78 win over Saint Xavier last week in the CCAC Tournament. Adams also had 15 points and 10 rebounds in a 73-72 overtime loss to Olivet Nazarene in the semifinals of the tourney.

Smith, a 5-6 junior guard, averaged 11.3 points to go with 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. She had 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the season finale loss to Olivet Nazarene.

Clinton, a 5-8 sophomore forward, redshirted this season. She played at Loyola University in Chicago during the 2021-22 season. Clinton helped lead Penn to a 99-10 mark with four NIC and four Class 4A sectional titles during her prep career. She finished as the program's all-time leader in points with 1,508 and steals with 303.

Handley, a 5-7 freshman guard, played in 14 games. She finished the season with eight points and eight rebounds.

Holy Cross finished 16-14 overall and 12-8 in CCAC action.

Costner strong for Eastern Kentucky

Kaitlyn Costner (Penn) seems to have found herself a home at Eastern Kentucky University.

Costner, who played the past two years at Ohio State, became eligible to play in December. She has played in 21 games with 18 starts. Costner, who also played at Elkhart Central High School before finishing her prep career at Penn, is averaging seven points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Costner, a junior guard, has 43 assists and 23 steals and is 11-30 from 3-point range. She played sparingly in 26 games for the Buckeyes the past two seasons before transferring to EKU.

The Colonels finished their regular season at 21-10 overall and 9-7 in Atlantic Sun Conference play after a 71-68 home loss to league foe Lipscomb Saturday. They are slated to play Lipscomb again in a quarterfinal game of the league tournament March 9 in Nashville.

Costner scored 14 points in 32 minutes of action off the bench for the Colonels on Saturday. She was 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

Shoup-Hill key for Illini

Brynn Shoup-Hill (Goshen) is in her second season with the Illinois women's basketball team.

Shoup-Hill, a 6-3 junior forward, has started 12 games this season. She is averaging 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game with 20 blocked shots. Hill had six points and two rebounds in five minutes during an 87-70 loss to Michigan State on Feb. 29.

Hill started 28 games last season for the Illini after transferring from Dayton University. She averaged 6.1 points and 5.6 rebounds last year.

Illinois is 13-14 overall and 7-10 in the Big 10. It plays in the Big 10 Tournament March 6-10.

Garwood honored

Joey Garwood (Penn) was honored after a fabulous freshman season for the Concordia University men's basketball team.

Garwood, a 6-3 guard, earned All-Freshman Team honors from the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference.

Garwood averaged 13.3 ppg., the second-best mark among freshmen in the league. He made a team-high 67 treys, while shooting 43.5 percent from deep, which was the second-best mark in the conference.

Garwood, who helped Penn reach the Class 4A semistate title game in 2023, started 23 games and played in all 28, averaging 29 minutes per contest. He also averaged three rebounds per game and shot 78 percent from the free throw line. He had a season high 33 points in an 81-69 win over Michigan-Dearborn.

Concordia finished 9-19 overall and 7-15 in the WHAC.

Coffel sets homer record

Erin Coffel (Bremen) continues to rewrite the record books for the University of Kentucky softball program.

The senior shortstop slammed her 62nd career home run Sunday to set the program record. Coffel hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning of an 8-1 win over UNC Wilmington in the Queen City Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina. That moved her past Abbey Cheek's mark of 61, set from 2016-19. Coffel went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI in the win.

Coffel led the nation in on base percentage at .639 as a junior and also led the NCAA in walks with 64. She hit .440 with 19 homers and 55 RBI as a junior to earn NFCA All-America and First Team All-SEC accolades and was an Academic All-America too. Coffel holds program records for homers as a freshman with 16 and as a junior with 19.

Coffel, who was the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020, led Bremen to a Class 2A state championship in 2019. She was All-State and the Northern Indiana Conference MVP in both 2018 and 2019. There was no 2020 high school softball season her senior year due to COVID-19.

No. 13 Kentucky, now 13-4, will entertain Bellarmine Wednesday in its home opener.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: A trio of South Bend cagers are leading the way for IUSB basketball