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Sectional preview: Shelbyville still improving despite lack of numbers
Posted by Ronald Williams on
Feb 06 2012
at
04:00PM PST
 |
| The Shelbyville Golden Bears’ offense this season has been led by a pair of double-digit scorers. Junior guard Chelsey Skipton (left) scored a career-high 29 points in a win at Batesville on Dec. 3. Senior center Ashley Bush is a threat to produce a double-double in points and rebounds every time she steps on to the court. (Jeff Brown photo) |
Golden Bears take on Bloomington South in return to Class 4A tourney
By Jeff Brown
Sports editor
One of Shelbyville’s main goals this season was to finish with a .500 record or better.
An ambitious undertaking since the program last produced a winning season in 2007.
A second full offseason with head coach Amanda Norris led to a faster start to the season. And by early January, Shelbyville was sitting at 6-7 with some tough opponents awaiting.
From there, though, the road proved difficult for a program with limited numbers. The fatigue of a long season and the exhaustion of having just 13 players on a daily basis wore down the Golden Bears.
Shelbyville lost six of its last seven to finish at 7-13.
“I don’t think it puts a damper on our season,” said Norris, now 13-49 in three seasons. “The kids have worked hard and they will continue to work had until the end of the season.
“We’re tired. It’s been a long season but the girls see (the sectional) has the potential to be their last game. I think a majority of the girls are not ready for the season to end.”
With a return to Class 4A, Shelbyville avoids Hamilton Heights and some of the Hoosier Heritage Conference’s top teams, including Class 3A, No. 1 ranked Mount Vernon.
However, the Golden Bears landed in Sectional 14, hosted by Columbus North, with an even deeper field that includes 11th ranked Columbus North.
Shelbyville will open the sectional at 6 p.m. on Tuesday against Bloomington South. The winner returns Friday to face Columbus North.
The other bracket has Columbus East facing Bloomington North on Tuesday with the winner meeting East Central in the second semifinal game Friday.
The sectional championship game is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Despite the tough competition, Norris likes not having to deal with a conference opponent again in the postseason.
“For some reason, we act like we’re supposed to get beat by teams like Mount Vernon, New Palestine and Rushville,” said Norris. “We’re changing that mentality but I think we’ll be better mentally-prepared to play a team we don’t know. There are no preconceived notions.”
Bloomington South comes limping into the sectional having lost five of its last six games. The Panthers average scoring nearly 46 points per game this season while allowing almost 40.
“We’re going to have a hard time matching up with their speed,” said Norris. “We’ll be ready to play multiple defenses. We have to stop the dribble penetration, and, on the other end, handle their pressure. We have to hang on to the ball.”
That concept didn’t go over well in a disheartening 73-25 loss at Franklin last week in the regular season finale. It would have helped, though, to have had starting guard Riley Achenbach, who is out for the season after suffering a concussion in the loss at Triton Central.
“That’s a huge loss for us,” said Norris. “I’m not sure everyone understands what she does for this team. She’s the vocal presence on the team. She gets out there and talks to her teammates.”
The sophomore guard also is one of Shelbyville’s best long-range shooters this season hitting 17 3s.
Junior guard Chelsey Skipton has been near the top of the Shelby County leaderboard all season when it comes to scoring and rebounding.
Senior center Ashley Bush has kept her scoring average near 10 points per game and frequently pulls down just as many rebounds.
Bush is part of the five-player senior class that helped Norris take the program from one win in her first season to five wins last year and seven this season – so far.
“They’ve had a tough road to hoe with me not being their first coach,” said Norris. “They had to learn a new way of thinking and they met that challenge head on.”
However, the next loss will be the final loss for Bush, Chelsee Simerly, Raven Hibbard, Allison Gobel and Meghan Thornburg.
And while Norris will have Skipton back to build around next season, the coach has to figure out how to get players into the program so a full junior varsity season can be played and, potentially, a freshman season too.
“I look at the program as a whole and I definitely think we’re on track,” said Norris. “We still have to get to the younger kids earlier. I still want to see a lot of improvement in the youth program.”
“I think we’re definitely moving in the right direction. It’s not about our record, but are we learning what to do to improve.”
An ambitious undertaking since the program last produced a winning season in 2007.
A second full offseason with head coach Amanda Norris led to a faster start to the season. And by early January, Shelbyville was sitting at 6-7 with some tough opponents awaiting.
From there, though, the road proved difficult for a program with limited numbers. The fatigue of a long season and the exhaustion of having just 13 players on a daily basis wore down the Golden Bears.
“I don’t think it puts a damper on our season,” said Norris, now 13-49 in three seasons. “The kids have worked hard and they will continue to work had until the end of the season.
“We’re tired. It’s been a long season but the girls see (the sectional) has the potential to be their last game. I think a majority of the girls are not ready for the season to end.”
With a return to Class 4A, Shelbyville avoids Hamilton Heights and some of the Hoosier Heritage Conference’s top teams, including Class 3A, No. 1 ranked Mount Vernon.
However, the Golden Bears landed in Sectional 14, hosted by Columbus North, with an even deeper field that includes 11th ranked Columbus North.
Shelbyville will open the sectional at 6 p.m. on Tuesday against Bloomington South. The winner returns Friday to face Columbus North.
The other bracket has Columbus East facing Bloomington North on Tuesday with the winner meeting East Central in the second semifinal game Friday.
The sectional championship game is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Despite the tough competition, Norris likes not having to deal with a conference opponent again in the postseason.
“For some reason, we act like we’re supposed to get beat by teams like Mount Vernon, New Palestine and Rushville,” said Norris. “We’re changing that mentality but I think we’ll be better mentally-prepared to play a team we don’t know. There are no preconceived notions.”
Bloomington South comes limping into the sectional having lost five of its last six games. The Panthers average scoring nearly 46 points per game this season while allowing almost 40.
“We’re going to have a hard time matching up with their speed,” said Norris. “We’ll be ready to play multiple defenses. We have to stop the dribble penetration, and, on the other end, handle their pressure. We have to hang on to the ball.”
That concept didn’t go over well in a disheartening 73-25 loss at Franklin last week in the regular season finale. It would have helped, though, to have had starting guard Riley Achenbach, who is out for the season after suffering a concussion in the loss at Triton Central.
“That’s a huge loss for us,” said Norris. “I’m not sure everyone understands what she does for this team. She’s the vocal presence on the team. She gets out there and talks to her teammates.”
The sophomore guard also is one of Shelbyville’s best long-range shooters this season hitting 17 3s.
Junior guard Chelsey Skipton has been near the top of the Shelby County leaderboard all season when it comes to scoring and rebounding.
Senior center Ashley Bush has kept her scoring average near 10 points per game and frequently pulls down just as many rebounds.
Bush is part of the five-player senior class that helped Norris take the program from one win in her first season to five wins last year and seven this season – so far.
“They’ve had a tough road to hoe with me not being their first coach,” said Norris. “They had to learn a new way of thinking and they met that challenge head on.”
However, the next loss will be the final loss for Bush, Chelsee Simerly, Raven Hibbard, Allison Gobel and Meghan Thornburg.
And while Norris will have Skipton back to build around next season, the coach has to figure out how to get players into the program so a full junior varsity season can be played and, potentially, a freshman season too.
“I look at the program as a whole and I definitely think we’re on track,” said Norris. “We still have to get to the younger kids earlier. I still want to see a lot of improvement in the youth program.”
“I think we’re definitely moving in the right direction. It’s not about our record, but are we learning what to do to improve.”
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