Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

Scott Larrabee led the Golden Bears to a 7-13 record in his first season. Shelbyville takes on Class 4A, No. 3 Columbus North at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Bloomington South Sectional. (File photo) Shelbyville opens Sectional 14 against third-ranked Columbus North By Jeff Brown Sports editor Published: Saturday, February 8, 2014 8:05 AM US/eastern A coaching change typically brings a new energy to a program. It is true in every sport. Shelbyville was in dire need of a change at the end of the 2013 season following a 50-13 sectional loss to Bloomington South that punctuated a 3-18 season. In came Scott Larrabee, who was working at Rushville as a boys’ varsity assistant coach and out went Amanda Norris, who was 16-68 in four seasons, ironically, to Rushville where she became a varsity assistant with the state-ranked girls program. With Larrabee, the Golden Bears were moderately more successful, finishing 7-13 after a 48-32 loss Thursday at Franklin, with much of the same roster that took the floor in the 2013 sectional. The most notable change in the program came in attitude where smiles were more prevalent — after wins and losses. * Where Larrabee takes the program in the offseason will be key. Shelbyville graduates four seniors, including three who start and are three of the top four scorers. Senior shooting guard Riley Achenbach, a 2013 All-Hoosier Heritage Conference performer, is the only double-digit scorer at 10.7 ppg. She has committed to play basketball at nearby Franklin College next season. “That is really exciting for Riley and our program,” said Larrabee. “It is certainly well deserved.” Senior forward Taylor Pierce is the Golden Bears’ most consistent low-post threat, averaging seven points and nearly six rebounds per game. Senior guard Allyson Conner has elevated her perimeter game this season, knocking down 33 percent of her three-point attempts to lead the team. She is averaging 6.1 points and her 1.9 assists per game average matches Achenbach’s. The trio won just 10 games in the two seasons prior to Larrabee’s arrival. All he asked of them was leadership. And that he got. “We talked about forward thinking,” said Larrabee. “You can’t change what happened in the past.” The fourth senior — Bree Elrod — brings athleticism to the court, especially on defense. There was no easy sectional draw for the Golden Bears, competing again in Sectional 14 at Bloomington South. They faced three of their potential sectional opponents during the season and lost all three by a total of 89 points. On Tuesday, Shelbyville gets a second chance at Class 4A, No. 3 Columbus North (19-2), who defeated the Golden Bears 57-27 on Nov. 26. “That’s the nature of the beast in terms of the blind draw,” said Larrabee. “The last several years they have been one of the best programs in the entire state. I’m curious to see how we battle against such a good program.” Ali Patberg, a Notre Dame recruit, leads the Bull Dogs in scoring (18 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg) and assists (5.7). Florida Gulf Coast Academy recruit Tayler Goodall averages 15.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Kelsey Cunningham, committed to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, follows at 9.2 ppg and 3.7 rpg. “We have to go out there and battle and compete and continue to play how we’ve played all season,” said Larrabee. “We need to eliminate their second-chance points, their points in transition and make them earn their shots from the perimeter.” Once the season ends, the real work begins for Larrabee. His current roster also has no juniors. That puts added pressure on current sophomores Morgan Parker (3.4 ppg), Taylor Perry (1.2) and Cassady Skipton (1.9) and freshmen Alexis Tackett (6.8) and Cora Reinhart (2.1) to develop quickly. “We will continue to build the program, improve and get better,” said Larrabee. “We’ll be young, but there are a lot of young teams out there. We will continue to try and improve our weaknesses. We will focus on improving on the things we can control.”