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Trojans prevail in season opener at Garrett Gymnasium
By Jeff Brown
Sports editor
With a frontline of six-footers, East Central entered its season opener at Shelbyville with a decided size and strength advantage in the low post.
What the Trojans struggled with was the Golden Bears frenetic energy in Scott Larrabee’s coaching debut Saturday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.
Shelbyville stayed within striking distance for the first 18 minutes of the game but a decisive 12-0 run midway through the third quarter created the separation East Central needed to secure a 56-32 victory.
“Just very, very proud of our team,” said Larrabee. “Our effort was outstanding. We battled them tooth and nail.”
The Trojans arrived in Shelbyville with eight returning letter winners from a 17-4 campaign that ended with a 52-51 loss to Bloomington North in the same sectional Shelbyville competes in.
Shelbyville was 3-18 last season but returned much of its varsity roster. Larrabee brought a new energy to the program and immediately inserted a pair of freshmen into the rotation.
One of those freshman, Alexis Tackett, hit the first two shots of her high school career and gave her team a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Golden Bears struggled from the free throw line in the second quarter, hitting just 6-of-13, but used a spirited defensive effort, especially in the low post, to keep it close.
“Our post defense was really outstanding,” said Larrabee. “Coach (Dave) Hunton was working with the girls this week on foot positioning and hand positioning. It made it difficult on (East Central).”
Sophomore Allie McCool, who averaged a double-double her freshman season as a 6-foot-2 center, finished with 13 rebounds but had just six points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Senior Brooke Packer, an athletic 6-0 forward, had a team-high 12 points, but also was 3-of-7 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
“We were able to get in position but once we got the ball down to them, we felt like we were pushing too much,” said East Central coach Kevin Moore. “We weren’t reacting off of it. We were allowing the double team to come and that’s where a lot of our turnovers came from.”
Shelbyville senior Riley Achenbach swished a three-pointer to start the third quarter and cut East Central’s lead to 20-18 but Packer answered right back with her own 3-pointer.
Taylor Pierce finished on the low block with 6:40 to go in the third and the Golden Bears trailed 23-20. East Central took over from there.
Packer converted a free throw, Sami Turner drove the lane and scored and Bridget Bedel drained a 3 to start a 12-0 run that ended with Brittanie Bolten hitting another 3.
“They started hitting some shots that they were missing earlier in the game and we missed some shots were capable of making,” said Larrabee.
Tackett scored on an offensive rebound to make it 35-22 and she added two free throws 24 seconds later.
“Alexis did a great job. It is so different playing varsity basketball and eighth-grade basketball,” said Larrabee.
Tackett led the Golden Bears with 11 points. Achenbach finished with eight. Pierce had seven and a team-high six rebounds. Allyson Conner hit a pair of 3s for six points.
Freshman Cora Reinhart was 0-for-2 from the field but had an assist and a steal in her varsity debut.
East Central won the junior varsity game, 49-12.
Morgan Weber and Madison Wiedeman each had 10 points to lead East Central.
Taylor Perry scored five to lead the Golden Bears.
What the Trojans struggled with was the Golden Bears frenetic energy in Scott Larrabee’s coaching debut Saturday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.
Shelbyville stayed within striking distance for the first 18 minutes of the game but a decisive 12-0 run midway through the third quarter created the separation East Central needed to secure a 56-32 victory.
“Just very, very proud of our team,” said Larrabee. “Our effort was outstanding. We battled them tooth and nail.”
Shelbyville was 3-18 last season but returned much of its varsity roster. Larrabee brought a new energy to the program and immediately inserted a pair of freshmen into the rotation.
One of those freshman, Alexis Tackett, hit the first two shots of her high school career and gave her team a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Golden Bears struggled from the free throw line in the second quarter, hitting just 6-of-13, but used a spirited defensive effort, especially in the low post, to keep it close.
“Our post defense was really outstanding,” said Larrabee. “Coach (Dave) Hunton was working with the girls this week on foot positioning and hand positioning. It made it difficult on (East Central).”
Sophomore Allie McCool, who averaged a double-double her freshman season as a 6-foot-2 center, finished with 13 rebounds but had just six points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Senior Brooke Packer, an athletic 6-0 forward, had a team-high 12 points, but also was 3-of-7 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
“We were able to get in position but once we got the ball down to them, we felt like we were pushing too much,” said East Central coach Kevin Moore. “We weren’t reacting off of it. We were allowing the double team to come and that’s where a lot of our turnovers came from.”
Shelbyville senior Riley Achenbach swished a three-pointer to start the third quarter and cut East Central’s lead to 20-18 but Packer answered right back with her own 3-pointer.
Taylor Pierce finished on the low block with 6:40 to go in the third and the Golden Bears trailed 23-20. East Central took over from there.
Packer converted a free throw, Sami Turner drove the lane and scored and Bridget Bedel drained a 3 to start a 12-0 run that ended with Brittanie Bolten hitting another 3.
“They started hitting some shots that they were missing earlier in the game and we missed some shots were capable of making,” said Larrabee.
Tackett scored on an offensive rebound to make it 35-22 and she added two free throws 24 seconds later.
“Alexis did a great job. It is so different playing varsity basketball and eighth-grade basketball,” said Larrabee.
Tackett led the Golden Bears with 11 points. Achenbach finished with eight. Pierce had seven and a team-high six rebounds. Allyson Conner hit a pair of 3s for six points.
Freshman Cora Reinhart was 0-for-2 from the field but had an assist and a steal in her varsity debut.
East Central won the junior varsity game, 49-12.
Morgan Weber and Madison Wiedeman each had 10 points to lead East Central.
Taylor Perry scored five to lead the Golden Bears.
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