INDIANAPOLIS – Damezi Anderson of South Bend Riley is among the six players statewide selected for the Core Group for the IndyStar Indiana Boys Junior All-Stars for 2017.

Anderson, a 6-6 forward, averaged 24points-per-game and led the Wildcats to a 19-3 mark this past season. Riley, which lost to Warsaw in a regional semifinal game in 2016, lost to South Bend Adams in a sectional contest this season.

The Core Group also includes Romeo Langford of New Albany, one of the nation’s top ranked players in the Class of 2018. Also named were Robert Phinese of McCutcheon, Aaron Henry of Ben Davis, Eric Hunter of Tindley and Mekhi Lairy of Evansville Bosse.

The North group players are Johnny Bernard of Merrillville, Gavin Bizeau of Plainfield, Kevin Easley of Lawrence North, Walter Ellis of South Bend Adams, Jamal Harris of Indianapolis Attucks and Caleb Middlesworth of Oak Hill. Ellis, who led the Eagles to a Class 4-A sectional title, is the son of former Notre Dame and NBA star and current ESPN analyst LaPhonso Ellis.

The South group players are Jarron Coleman of Cathedral, Chance Coyle of Bloomington South, Sean East of New Albany, Musa Jallow of Bloomington North, Jalen Moore of Cloverdale and De’Avion Washington of Terre Haute South.

Brian Gibson of Castle will be the head coach of the 2017 boys Junior All-Stars. He will be assisted by Barak Coolman of Valparaiso and Kevin Renbarger of Oak Hill.

The Junior All-Stars will play two games against the IndyStar Indiana All-Star senior boys. Those games are set for June 6 at New Albany and June 8 at Plainfield. Both dates will be doubleheaders with the Indiana Junior All-Star girls playing the Indiana All-Star senior girls in the first game. The girls’ games will begin at 6 p.m., with the boys’ games to follow.

The players listed as core group players will play in both games. The players listed as North group players will join the core group for the game in Plainfield. The players listed as South group players will join the core group for the game in New Albany.

The Indiana senior All-Stars will play the Kentucky senior All-Stars on June 10 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and on June 11 at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, Ky.

The Junior All-Star team is determined by the 22-member Indiana Basketball Coaches Association all-state panel in conjunction with its selection of the IBCA/Subway Underclass All-State Team. The selection process allows all IBCA-member head coaches the opportunity to nominate players from their team or opposing teams. Representatives from 16 regional areas, plus six representatives from the three IHSAA districts (two each from District 1, District 2 and District 3), then meet to review the nominations, vote and finalize the selections.