Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

YORKTOWN — The first song played in the Yorktown High School gymnasium Friday during warm-ups for the Shelbyville-Yorktown girls’ basketball game was “Eye of the Tiger.” There couldn’t have been a more appropriate theme song for the decidedly underdog Yorktown squad than that “Rocky” tune. Yorktown — with nine freshmen and sophomores dotting its varsity roster — came into the game with a 0-11 record. They faced the Class 3A, No. 5-ranked team in Shelbyville, owner of a 9-1 overall record. Unlike the Italian Stallion, the Tigers couldn’t pull off a “Yo Adrian!” miracle and lost 106-33. That’s not a misprint. The Golden Bears led 26-11 after the first period as Gretchen Haehl and Katie Douglas combined to score all of Shelbyville’s points. Things got ugly for Yorktown in the second period. The Trojans were outscored 37-8, made 12 turnovers and stood helpless as the Golden Bears made 15 of 22 shots from the field. The only suspense in the second half was whether the sparse Yorktown crowd would be treated to a 100-point game. Shelbyville coach John Fair emptied his bench early in the second half — all 11 varsity Golden Bears saw action — but the Yorktown starters were still overmatched. Shelbyville led 82-25 after three periods and 98-31 with 35 seconds to play. Golden Bears forward Susan Kolls found teammate Haley Wise eight feet from the basket and sent a bounce pass her way. Wise, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, caught the pass, dribbled, and took two steps to the basket for the easy lay-in. It’s appropriate that Wise was the Golden Bear to put the club over the century mark, as Fair was particularly impressed with her performance. “She did a great job, she’s starting to really be aggressive,” Fair said. Wise finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Haehl led all scorers with 24 points. Douglas had 21 points on 10 of 10 shooting from the field. Also contributing for the Golden Bears were Gwen Haehl (13 points, five assists), Kolls (seven points, eight assists), Allison Berger (eight points, five rebounds) and Jessica Horner (six points, four assists, four steals). What makes Shelbyville’s point total even more impressive is that the team scored their points without relying on the 3-pointer. The Golden Bears were just 3 of 10 from behind the arc. The win marked the final tune-up in the Golden Bears’ march toward, not one, but two heavyweight battles next week in New Castle. Shelbyville is a first-time participant in the Hall of Fame Classic, held Friday at the Chrsyler Fieldhouse in New Castle, adjacent to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Shelbyville will face Jennings County in the second morning game of the four-team event, while Frankfort and Wawasee battle in the other semifinal. The two winners and two losers square off in the evening consolation and championship matches. Regardless of which two teams the Golden Bears face, they’re sure to be tested. Class 4A Jennings County posts a 10-1 record and features Indiana Junior All-Star Jenny Pfeiffer (19.4 ppg). Wawasee, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A has a perfect season (12-0) in the works and is led by the University of Tennessee bound Shanna Zolman (33.4 ppg). Class 3A Frankfort owns a more modest 7-4 record, but features four double-figure scorers. Fair isn’t concerned that his team might suffer from the lack of recent competition heading into such a strong Hall of Fame field. Shelbyville’s last four wins have each come by at least 15 points, including a 67-38 win over Richmond last Saturday. “I think our kids are intelligent enough that they know that we’re not going to be playing Richmond or Yorktown. We’re going to be in for some stiff competition.”