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| Shelbyville guard Allyson Conner (right) drives the lane past Southwestern senior Annie Thomas during their teams’ Friday night battle at William L. Garrett Gymnasium in Shelbyville. (Steve Bush photo) |
State-ranked Spartans hit big shots at key moments, escape Shelbyville with victory
By Jeff Brown
Sports editor
Southwestern coach Bill Taylor owes the Shelbyville Golden Bears a hearty thank you.
Rough-and-tumble scraps with much bigger basketball programs will greatly benefit the Spartans in their quest to win a Class A state championship.
Southwestern got that and much more Friday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium in Shelbyville.
The third-ranked Spartans benefited from clutch fourth-quarter three-pointers from Casey Tennell and Brooke Kistler to earn a 52-50 victory over the Golden Bears.
Oda Shackelford led Southwestern (3-0) with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Annie Thomas finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
“We were a little out-of-sync for some reason. I’m not really sure what it was,” said Taylor after the Spartans shot 33 percent from the field and commited 22 turnovers.
The Golden Bears aggressively used the 3-pointer in its offense and focused on limiting Thomas from controlling the game. The Division II Henderson State commit missed much of the second quarter after picking up her third foul.
“Thomas is a very good basketball player. Obviously, there is a reason she is going to play at Henderson State,” said Shelbyville coach Scott Larrabee. “That’s why we wanted to try and get the ball out of her hands as much as we could.”
Riley Achenbach led Shelbyville with 20 points. Taylor Pierce had 14 and a team-high seven rebounds. Allyson Conner finished with 11.
Conner jump-started Shelbyville, a 4A program that lost by 31 to Southwestern last season, with a pair of 3s early in the first quarter. Morgan Parker, Achenbach and Pierce also hit trifectas in the opening eight minutes to spark Shelbyville to a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We’ve started our first three games very well,” said Larrabee. “It just needs to be a sustained, focused effort for 32 minutes.”
With Thomas on the bench in the second quarter, Southwestern turned to Shackelford, who entered the game as one of Shelby County’s top-20 career scorers and fourth on her school’s own list. She scored eight points – four on offensive rebounds and four on low-post moves to keep the Spartans within two at the halftime break.
“I told my team we just played our worst half of the year and their coach has to feel they played a pretty good half and we were just down two,” said Taylor. “We had more in the tank and just needed to do better.”
A 6-0 run to start the second half put the Spartans up 31-27 but the Golden Bears wouldn’t go away.
Achenbach scored the next seven points and Alexis Tackett hit a baseline 10-foot jumper to give Shelbyville a 36-31 lead.
“For us to reach our potential, it has to be a sustained, focused effort,” said Larrabee. “We’re getting better at it. What I was really proud of tonight was when we experienced a little bit of adversity, when (Southwestern) took the lead, we didn’t hang our heads. We kept fighting, battling and competing. And that’s all you can ask as a coach.”
Thomas ended that run with a floater in the lane and closed the quarter with a step-back 3 from the top of the key to give her team a 39-37 lead.
Following a timeout and with her team trailing 42-41, Tennell banked in an odd-angled 3 for the lead.
After Achenbach hit a pair of free throws to tie the score again, Kistler drained a 3 to give the Spartans the lead for good.
“You have to tip your hat to Southwestern. They made the plays down the stretch,” said Larrabee.
Tennell hit a pair of free throws, Shackelford scored in the lane and added the second of a pair of free throws with 19 seconds on the clock to make it 52-50.
Shelbyville’s final look came from Pierce in the low post but she could not get her shot to fall and Shackelford snatched up the rebound.
Southwestern led 12-0 at the end of the first quarter of the junior varsity game and cruised to a 34-18 win.
A.J. Kessler led the Spartans with 14 points. Taylor Perry was Shelbyville’s leading scorer with 12.
The Golden Bears were back on the road Saturday and struggled offensively at Connersville, who got 21 points from Taylor Stephen and 15 from Courtney Phillips in a 54-30 victory over the Golden Bears (1-3). It was the sixth-straight win for the Spartans (2-1) over Shelbyville.
Conner led the Golden Bears with nine points. Achenbach and Tackett each had six.
Connersville led 8-3 after the first quarter and 23-9 at halftime.
Notes: Shackelford moved past Courtney Messer into third place on Southwestern’s career scoring list. She needs 179 points to surpass Delena White, who started the season as the program’s career scoring leader. Shackelford also moved into 14th place on the Shelby County career scoring list. ... Thomas extended her career scoring total to 1,266 points. She needs 37 more to pass Triton Central’s Jessica Scherer for third all-time in the county. Thomas is 108 points behind Shelbyville’s Brenda Kelsay and 152 behind Shelbyville’s Gretchen Haehl. ... Southwestern hosts Trinity Lutheran (2-0) tonight. ... Shelbyville hosts 4A No. 2 Columbus North (2-0) on Tuesday. the Bull Dogs feature three Division I recruits including Miss Basketball candidate Ali Patberg, who is committed to Notre Dame.
Rough-and-tumble scraps with much bigger basketball programs will greatly benefit the Spartans in their quest to win a Class A state championship.
Southwestern got that and much more Friday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium in Shelbyville.
The third-ranked Spartans benefited from clutch fourth-quarter three-pointers from Casey Tennell and Brooke Kistler to earn a 52-50 victory over the Golden Bears.
“We were a little out-of-sync for some reason. I’m not really sure what it was,” said Taylor after the Spartans shot 33 percent from the field and commited 22 turnovers.
The Golden Bears aggressively used the 3-pointer in its offense and focused on limiting Thomas from controlling the game. The Division II Henderson State commit missed much of the second quarter after picking up her third foul.
“Thomas is a very good basketball player. Obviously, there is a reason she is going to play at Henderson State,” said Shelbyville coach Scott Larrabee. “That’s why we wanted to try and get the ball out of her hands as much as we could.”
Riley Achenbach led Shelbyville with 20 points. Taylor Pierce had 14 and a team-high seven rebounds. Allyson Conner finished with 11.
Conner jump-started Shelbyville, a 4A program that lost by 31 to Southwestern last season, with a pair of 3s early in the first quarter. Morgan Parker, Achenbach and Pierce also hit trifectas in the opening eight minutes to spark Shelbyville to a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We’ve started our first three games very well,” said Larrabee. “It just needs to be a sustained, focused effort for 32 minutes.”
With Thomas on the bench in the second quarter, Southwestern turned to Shackelford, who entered the game as one of Shelby County’s top-20 career scorers and fourth on her school’s own list. She scored eight points – four on offensive rebounds and four on low-post moves to keep the Spartans within two at the halftime break.
“I told my team we just played our worst half of the year and their coach has to feel they played a pretty good half and we were just down two,” said Taylor. “We had more in the tank and just needed to do better.”
A 6-0 run to start the second half put the Spartans up 31-27 but the Golden Bears wouldn’t go away.
Achenbach scored the next seven points and Alexis Tackett hit a baseline 10-foot jumper to give Shelbyville a 36-31 lead.
“For us to reach our potential, it has to be a sustained, focused effort,” said Larrabee. “We’re getting better at it. What I was really proud of tonight was when we experienced a little bit of adversity, when (Southwestern) took the lead, we didn’t hang our heads. We kept fighting, battling and competing. And that’s all you can ask as a coach.”
Thomas ended that run with a floater in the lane and closed the quarter with a step-back 3 from the top of the key to give her team a 39-37 lead.
Following a timeout and with her team trailing 42-41, Tennell banked in an odd-angled 3 for the lead.
After Achenbach hit a pair of free throws to tie the score again, Kistler drained a 3 to give the Spartans the lead for good.
“You have to tip your hat to Southwestern. They made the plays down the stretch,” said Larrabee.
Tennell hit a pair of free throws, Shackelford scored in the lane and added the second of a pair of free throws with 19 seconds on the clock to make it 52-50.
Shelbyville’s final look came from Pierce in the low post but she could not get her shot to fall and Shackelford snatched up the rebound.
Southwestern led 12-0 at the end of the first quarter of the junior varsity game and cruised to a 34-18 win.
A.J. Kessler led the Spartans with 14 points. Taylor Perry was Shelbyville’s leading scorer with 12.
The Golden Bears were back on the road Saturday and struggled offensively at Connersville, who got 21 points from Taylor Stephen and 15 from Courtney Phillips in a 54-30 victory over the Golden Bears (1-3). It was the sixth-straight win for the Spartans (2-1) over Shelbyville.
Conner led the Golden Bears with nine points. Achenbach and Tackett each had six.
Connersville led 8-3 after the first quarter and 23-9 at halftime.
Notes: Shackelford moved past Courtney Messer into third place on Southwestern’s career scoring list. She needs 179 points to surpass Delena White, who started the season as the program’s career scoring leader. Shackelford also moved into 14th place on the Shelby County career scoring list. ... Thomas extended her career scoring total to 1,266 points. She needs 37 more to pass Triton Central’s Jessica Scherer for third all-time in the county. Thomas is 108 points behind Shelbyville’s Brenda Kelsay and 152 behind Shelbyville’s Gretchen Haehl. ... Southwestern hosts Trinity Lutheran (2-0) tonight. ... Shelbyville hosts 4A No. 2 Columbus North (2-0) on Tuesday. the Bull Dogs feature three Division I recruits including Miss Basketball candidate Ali Patberg, who is committed to Notre Dame.
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