Announcement
Golden Bears fight for win at Shelby Shootout
Posted by Ronald Williams on
Dec 27 2013
at
04:00PM PST
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| Shelbyville senior forward Taylor Pierce (center) gets hacked on the right arm by Decatur Central’s Jacquelyn Mabrey during the first half of their Shelby Shootout semifinal game Friday morning. Piece finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the Golden Bears’ win. (Steve Bush photo) |
By Jeff Brown
Sports editor
The jubilation came pouring out of Scott Larrabee after Shelbyville hung on for a 54-52 victory in the opening semifinal game of the 2013 Shelby Shootout.
The last time the Golden Bears won a game – any game – in their own holiday tournament came in 2006, the only year Shelbyville won the title.
“This is a huge step for our program,” said Larrabee, in his first year with the Golden Bears. “Nobody is happy with our won-loss record but to gut this one out and get a ‘W’ against a very good team makes me happy for our seniors.”
Shelbyville hit just enough free throws (18-of-35) and grabbed just enough rebounds (a minus-five margin) to fend off the Hawks (1-9) Friday morning.
The win put Shelbyville into the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday night against Class 4A, No. 7 Westfield (10-0).
Taylor Pierce led a balanced offensive attack with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Alexis Tackett came off the bench to score 14 and Riley Achenbach finished with 11 before fouling out with 95 seconds to go and her team clinging to a 53-50 lead.
“It was a total team effort,” said Larrabee.
With its senior leader on the bench, Larrabee left two freshmen – Tackett and Cora Reinhart – on the floor with senior Allyson Conner to break Decatur Central’s pressure.
“We’ve worked on a lot of those special situations at the end of games but we had some different personnel in there after Riley fouled out,” admitted Larrabee.
Shelbi Patterson’s rebound and score cut the Golden Bears’ lead to 53-52 with 40 seconds left. Following a timeout, Tackett was herded out of bounds by a pair of Hawks, who were not called for a foul.
On the ensuing possession, Decatur Central got three shot attempts off before the ball was knocked out of bounds.
Following another timeout, Shelbyville moved the ball up the court and Pierce was tied up in the lane. The officials blew the whistle and called a jump ball and a foul. After conferring, the foul was deemed to occur first and Pierce went to the line where she hit one of two to make it 54-52.
Kayla Williams got a good look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired but missed.
Shelbyville was sluggish to start and Decatur Central took advantage. Three straight fast-break layins led to Larrabee calling timeout and exhorting his team for its lack of hustle.
“I thought we were ready to go. I really did,” said Larrabee. “We had a little bit of difficulty scoring early on. They did a really good job of running girls out when we shot. We talked about that and I thought we corrected that a little bit better in the second half.”
The Golden Bears stayed close with the help of Achenbach’s 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the first quarter. That cut the lead to 14-11.
The Hawks led by as many as five points twice in the second quarter but Allyson Conner’s 3 just before the halftime buzzer tied the game at 23-all.
Achenbach, Shelbyville’s leading scorer, picked up her third foul early in the third quarter just before the Hawks started collecting fouls in bunches.
Shelbyville was in the one-and-bonus situation with 3:03 left to go in the third quarter and in the double-bonus the entire fourth quarter.
“We made enough and we made them when they counted,” said Larrabee.
Shelbyville was 13-of-25 from line in the second half. Decatur Central was 12-of-22 in the game.
Patterson led all scorers with 26 points. Williams had 15.
In the junior varsity semifinal game, Shelbyville built a 22-12 lead but was outscored 17-3 in the fourth quarter and lost 29-25.
Julie Barnett led Decatur Central with 10 points.
The Hawks advanced to face Westfield at 4:30 p.m. in the championship game.
Taylor Perry topped the Golden Bears (1-11) with 10 points.
Shelbyville returned to action at 4:30 p.m. in the auxiliary gymnasium at Shelbyville High School to face Lawrence Central.
For a recap of the consolation and championship games of both tournaments, see Monday’s edition of The Shelbyville News.
The last time the Golden Bears won a game – any game – in their own holiday tournament came in 2006, the only year Shelbyville won the title.
“This is a huge step for our program,” said Larrabee, in his first year with the Golden Bears. “Nobody is happy with our won-loss record but to gut this one out and get a ‘W’ against a very good team makes me happy for our seniors.”
Shelbyville hit just enough free throws (18-of-35) and grabbed just enough rebounds (a minus-five margin) to fend off the Hawks (1-9) Friday morning.
Taylor Pierce led a balanced offensive attack with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Alexis Tackett came off the bench to score 14 and Riley Achenbach finished with 11 before fouling out with 95 seconds to go and her team clinging to a 53-50 lead.
“It was a total team effort,” said Larrabee.
With its senior leader on the bench, Larrabee left two freshmen – Tackett and Cora Reinhart – on the floor with senior Allyson Conner to break Decatur Central’s pressure.
“We’ve worked on a lot of those special situations at the end of games but we had some different personnel in there after Riley fouled out,” admitted Larrabee.
Shelbi Patterson’s rebound and score cut the Golden Bears’ lead to 53-52 with 40 seconds left. Following a timeout, Tackett was herded out of bounds by a pair of Hawks, who were not called for a foul.
On the ensuing possession, Decatur Central got three shot attempts off before the ball was knocked out of bounds.
Following another timeout, Shelbyville moved the ball up the court and Pierce was tied up in the lane. The officials blew the whistle and called a jump ball and a foul. After conferring, the foul was deemed to occur first and Pierce went to the line where she hit one of two to make it 54-52.
Kayla Williams got a good look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired but missed.
Shelbyville was sluggish to start and Decatur Central took advantage. Three straight fast-break layins led to Larrabee calling timeout and exhorting his team for its lack of hustle.
“I thought we were ready to go. I really did,” said Larrabee. “We had a little bit of difficulty scoring early on. They did a really good job of running girls out when we shot. We talked about that and I thought we corrected that a little bit better in the second half.”
The Golden Bears stayed close with the help of Achenbach’s 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the first quarter. That cut the lead to 14-11.
The Hawks led by as many as five points twice in the second quarter but Allyson Conner’s 3 just before the halftime buzzer tied the game at 23-all.
Achenbach, Shelbyville’s leading scorer, picked up her third foul early in the third quarter just before the Hawks started collecting fouls in bunches.
Shelbyville was in the one-and-bonus situation with 3:03 left to go in the third quarter and in the double-bonus the entire fourth quarter.
“We made enough and we made them when they counted,” said Larrabee.
Shelbyville was 13-of-25 from line in the second half. Decatur Central was 12-of-22 in the game.
Patterson led all scorers with 26 points. Williams had 15.
In the junior varsity semifinal game, Shelbyville built a 22-12 lead but was outscored 17-3 in the fourth quarter and lost 29-25.
Julie Barnett led Decatur Central with 10 points.
The Hawks advanced to face Westfield at 4:30 p.m. in the championship game.
Taylor Perry topped the Golden Bears (1-11) with 10 points.
Shelbyville returned to action at 4:30 p.m. in the auxiliary gymnasium at Shelbyville High School to face Lawrence Central.
For a recap of the consolation and championship games of both tournaments, see Monday’s edition of The Shelbyville News.
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