Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

Sports Sunday, March 18, 2001 Last Updated: Saturday, March 17, 2001 at 12:20 AM News taps tops for girls By JEFF BROWN Saturday, March 17, 2001 While posing for their pictures as the area’s top girls’ basketball players, Morristown coach Doug Carlton — this year’s girls’ coach of the year — remarked, "Can you imagine how many points those girls scored on my team this year?" Combined, it was 84 points in three games. "And most of them are coming back next season," said Carlton, shaking his head. That’s true. Including Triton Central junior Jessie Scherer, this season’s most valuable player, four of the five first-team all-county players will return next season. Only Shelbyville senior Sarah Laird will graduate. For Scherer, the top honor this season is her second straight. Laird is on the first team for the third-straight season and nearly unseated the 6-foot Tiger forward. Just two points separated the vote totals of Scherer and Laird — the two best players on the two best teams in Shelby County. Also joining the dynamic duo are Triton Central junior Kristy Gates, Southwestern junior Beth Hammond and Shelbyville freshman Gretchen Haehl. Solidifying Shelby County’s burgeoning reputation as a basketball hotbed is the fact that the second team also features four underclassmen. Morristown senior Shari Nolen graduates, but teammate Megan Lane returns for one more season. So do Shelbyville’s Susan Kolls and Waldron’s Lora Douglas as well as junior-to-be Audra Blackford. As the season progressed, Scherer, Laird, Haehl and Gates became the common-sense choices for the first team. But selecting that fifth team member was tough, and getting the nod surprised first-time first-team selection Hammond. "I really didn’t think much about it," said Hammond. "Playing for the smallest school in the county, I don’t expect much attention. But I’m glad to have some people looking at me." Not that anyone could ignore the 5-foot-8 slashing forward who broke the Southwestern single-game scoring record with a 37-point performance — the highest in the county this season — at Jac-Cen-Del Jan. 12. From there, her confidence soared, and keeping her under 20 points per game became a major challenge. Hammond, who was averaging 11.9 points per game through the first half of the year, finished averaging 15.4 points to go along with a team-high 2.8 assists. Scherer and Laird were the county’s top two scorers all season long. Scherer finished the season hitting 65 percent of her field-goal attempts and averaging county highs in points (18.5) and rebounds (8.2). Laird broke Shelbyville’s record for most 3-pointers in a career and consistently led her team in scoring (17.6), assists (3.6) and steals (2.6) this season. Laird has the second-best scoring performance in the county this season when she torched Franklin for a career-high 33 points in the sectional championship game. In the final four games of her career, Laird scored a then career-high 29 points against Morristown, hit for 29 again in the first game of the sectional and followed it with 16 and 33 as the Golden Bears finished the season 19-4. Gretchen Haehl was a dynamic point guard as a freshman. She was the second-leading scorer on her team (10.5) behind Laird and averaged 2.7 rebounds, a team-high 3.9 assists and 2.5 steals. Haehl set a career high for points (23) in Shelbyville’s win at Jennings County Jan. 16. Gates may well be the county’s most versatile player. The 5-foot-10 junior is a slashing forward similar to Hammond, but has better range and can be a vicious rebounder. Gates’ numbers back that theory. She averaged 12.1 points per game, 7.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.8 steals. Gates was also 35 of 92 from the 3-point line and a very solid 69 percent free-throw shooter. Gates and Hammond both follow in family traditions of being all-county selections. Hammond’s sister, Jenny, was a third-teamer in both 1998 and 1999. Gates sibling Kelly was a two-time first-teamer (1999, 1998) — a feat that Kristy has now equaled and will almost surely eclipse next season. "You can’t not be happy about being selected," said Kristy Gates. "There’s not really a rivalry between me and Kelly, but we still kid about it." Only Haehl is not considering life in the college basketball world, although that time may come sooner rather than later. If a college coach were starting a program, there would be worse places to start than this five. With Haehl and Laird in the backcourt, Gates and Hammond as the forwards and Scherer at center, a lot of wins would come quickly. But for now, chances are they will scatter across the region for college. Laird is narrowing her choices down. Currently, Manchester, Tri-State and Mars Hill in North Carolina are her top choices. Scherer is leaning toward Ball State or Indiana. Hammond likes the University of Indianapolis, while Gates has given serious thought to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. None has made a decision, but there will be coaches anxiously awaiting their signatures on letters of intent next season.