Announcement
By Jeff Brown
Sports editor
Southwestern’s hopes to return to the Class A Final Four, or one step further, hinges on Annie Thomas and Oda Shackelford staying on the floor.
Shelbyville twice exploited extended minutes when Thomas and Shackelford were on the bench in foul trouble Friday night. The first time allowed the Golden Bears to cut the Spartans’ lead to six points early in the second quarter. The second time came early in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
Together, Thomas and Shackelford combined for 31 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals in a 62-31 victory over the Golden Bears (0-3).
Southwestern, ranked eighth in Class A, improved to 4-0 this season, but still has work to do as it continues to rise up the state rankings.
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“We haven’t had a lot of time to work on things,” said Taylor. The Spartans have played four games in six days and finishes its hectic start tonight at Trinity Lutheran. “We have some work to do fundamentally to help our younger kids develop.”
The Spartans can count on close to 40 points per game from their dynamic duo. On Friday against Shelbyville, Brooke Kistler, Taylor Eversole and Ali Fix combined for 24 more points.
“Taylor and Ali do a good job of getting on the weak side, finding some block outs and getting some put-back rebounds,” said Taylor. “And I thought a couple of times Brooke Kistler delivered some really nice post entry passes. We need to make that pass to get at least one touch in the post before throwing up a jump shot.”
Five Spartans totaled 55 points. Just three Golden Bears scored all 31 points as the team has yet to field a full roster this season due to injuries and illness.
Taylor Pierce led Shelbyville with 12 points and nine rebounds. Riley Achenbach had 10 points and Jacqueline Lux scored nine.
Shelbyville played without starting guard Allyson Conner, who is recovering from a concussion. Achenbach just returned from illness and did not start against Southwestern.
“Everybody is cleared and ready to come back,” said Shelbyville coach Amanda Norris. “We’ll have four bodies coming back on Monday, which is a beautiful thing.”
The Golden Bears are at Columbus North, the 4A state runner-up last season, on Tuesday.
The offense, while learning to adjust to the loss of its top two scorers from last season and getting comfortable with a different offensive system, has averaged just 27 points this season.
“There were a lot of positives in this game,” said Norris. “There were times where we didn’t respond well to the circumstances of what was going on. Our turnovers were down, which is great. Our pass fakes and shot fakes were really good. And our defensive pressure on a phenomenal point guard like Annie Thomas was really good.”
Southwestern jumped out to an 8-2 lead and held a 14-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Pierce scored twice in the low post early in the second quarter to cut the lead to 16-10. The Spartans went on a 13-0 run after that, including eight straight points by Fix.
“Annie is such an incredible player in so many aspects,” said Norris. “I have a lot of respect for her in the sense that she is the engine behind this steamroller that is Southwestern.”
The Spartans led by 14 at halftime and went on a 14-0 run in the first part of the third quarter to put the game away.
Shelbyville won its first junior varsity game of the season 30-10.
Taylor Perry led the Golden Bears (1-2) with 12 points. Madalyn Toll and Morgan Parker each had seven.
Katelyn Clark led Southwestern (0-3) with three points.
Shelbyville twice exploited extended minutes when Thomas and Shackelford were on the bench in foul trouble Friday night. The first time allowed the Golden Bears to cut the Spartans’ lead to six points early in the second quarter. The second time came early in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
Together, Thomas and Shackelford combined for 31 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals in a 62-31 victory over the Golden Bears (0-3).
Southwestern, ranked eighth in Class A, improved to 4-0 this season, but still has work to do as it continues to rise up the state rankings.
<a href="http://adsys.townnews.com/c731999/creative/shelbynews.com/+instory/260512.js?r=http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump//tnews.shelbynews.com/;c=oag;sz=300x250;ord=123456789?" target="_blank" ><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/tnews.shelbynews.com/;c=oag;sz=300x250;ord=123456789?" border="0" alt="" /></a>
The Spartans can count on close to 40 points per game from their dynamic duo. On Friday against Shelbyville, Brooke Kistler, Taylor Eversole and Ali Fix combined for 24 more points.
“Taylor and Ali do a good job of getting on the weak side, finding some block outs and getting some put-back rebounds,” said Taylor. “And I thought a couple of times Brooke Kistler delivered some really nice post entry passes. We need to make that pass to get at least one touch in the post before throwing up a jump shot.”
Five Spartans totaled 55 points. Just three Golden Bears scored all 31 points as the team has yet to field a full roster this season due to injuries and illness.
Taylor Pierce led Shelbyville with 12 points and nine rebounds. Riley Achenbach had 10 points and Jacqueline Lux scored nine.
Shelbyville played without starting guard Allyson Conner, who is recovering from a concussion. Achenbach just returned from illness and did not start against Southwestern.
“Everybody is cleared and ready to come back,” said Shelbyville coach Amanda Norris. “We’ll have four bodies coming back on Monday, which is a beautiful thing.”
The Golden Bears are at Columbus North, the 4A state runner-up last season, on Tuesday.
The offense, while learning to adjust to the loss of its top two scorers from last season and getting comfortable with a different offensive system, has averaged just 27 points this season.
“There were a lot of positives in this game,” said Norris. “There were times where we didn’t respond well to the circumstances of what was going on. Our turnovers were down, which is great. Our pass fakes and shot fakes were really good. And our defensive pressure on a phenomenal point guard like Annie Thomas was really good.”
Southwestern jumped out to an 8-2 lead and held a 14-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Pierce scored twice in the low post early in the second quarter to cut the lead to 16-10. The Spartans went on a 13-0 run after that, including eight straight points by Fix.
“Annie is such an incredible player in so many aspects,” said Norris. “I have a lot of respect for her in the sense that she is the engine behind this steamroller that is Southwestern.”
The Spartans led by 14 at halftime and went on a 14-0 run in the first part of the third quarter to put the game away.
Shelbyville won its first junior varsity game of the season 30-10.
Taylor Perry led the Golden Bears (1-2) with 12 points. Madalyn Toll and Morgan Parker each had seven.
Katelyn Clark led Southwestern (0-3) with three points.
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