Bloomington North was a perfect matchup for Shelbyville.
With undersized guards, a less-than-physical frontline and a roster full of underclassmen, the veteran Golden Bears had the advantage in seeking its first 2-0 start in four seasons.
A trio of Shelbyville players reached double digits Saturday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium in the Golden Bears' 56-41 victory over the Cougars (1-3).
"It's very good to be 2-0 right now," said Shelbyville coach Jason West. "You can't ask for anything more than that. It was tough coming off the back end of a back-to-back. You lose your legs a little bit. You get tired but I thought our girls persevered through all that and battled."
Shelbyville defeated Bloomington North for the first time since Feb. 14, 2004. The win was the first for the Golden Bears over a Sectional 14 opponent since Dec. 21, 2011.
"We got that monkey off our back," said West. "Our girls know they can battle with a sectional opponent... if not a couple of more. That should give us confidence going forward."
With a pair of guards listed as five-foot-three or smaller, Shelbyville immediately started trapping in the backcourt to take advantage of the wingspans of Cassady Skipton (5-10), Alexis Tackett (5-8), Morgan Parker (5-7) and Cora Reinhart (5-6).
And it worked early.
Shelbyville forced six first-quarter turnovers and grabbed five offensive rebounds to get 20 shots off and build a 19-11 lead.
The down side to the aggressiveness was the Golden Bears' proclivity for racking up fouls. Reinhart was sent to the bench within the first two minutes with two fouls and Bloomington North reached the double bonus midway through the second quarter.
That changed the rotation of players West used and the Cougars settled in and hung around despite taking just six shots in the second quarter and committing five more turnovers.
Shelbyville failed to get away by hitting 3-of-17 shots over that same timespan.
"I think a lot of that, we had some good shots that we missed and I think we started pressing a little bit andtryingto make shots instead of shooting the ball," said West. "We kind of got in a hurry and didn't run the offense particularly well and settled for things."
Parker, fresh off a 26-point performance one night earlier in a season-opening win over Edinburgh, struggled from the field in the first half, making just 1-of-8 attempts. She hit seven 3s against the Lancers.
After Alexis Tackett scored on a fast-break layin to start the third quarter and push the Golden Bears' lead to 30-20, Parker got rolling.
The senior hit two free throws with 6:24 to go then scored 10 of her team's final 12 points of the quarter, including hitting back-to-back 3s within 30 seconds of each other.
"She had some good shots that she just missed and that happens," said West of Parker's first half. "Good shooters always shoot. She was always looking for the next shot.
"I thought she did a good job of settling in there in the third quarter, being patient and letting the ball come to her."
West consistently ran nine players onto the floor and that helped wear down Bloomington North, who played its five starters for most of the first half.
Taylor Perry and Olivia Knarr each scored five points off the bench. Parker, Tackett and Abby Orem each had five rebounds. Skipton finished with four assists and three steals.
Destiny Thurman hit 4-of-8 3s and led the Cougars with 18 points.
Shelbyville's junior varsity team used a 25-point fourth quarter to pull away from Bloomington North, 48-30.
Alexis Wilson had a game-high 16 points and Shey Tillison scored 13 for the Golden Bears (2-0).
