Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

Shelbyville freshman forward Alexis Tackett (left) avoids contact with Westfield’s Natalie Slagle near the basket during the championship game of the 2013 Shelby Shootout Friday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium. (Steve Bush photo) By Jeff Brown Sports editor Published: Monday, December 30, 2013 8:05 AM US/eastern Shelbyville’s first appearance in the championship game of the Shelby Shootout since 2006 ended with a predictable loss to Class 4A, No. 7 Westfield. The Shamrocks won their second straight title and improved to 11-0 Friday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium with a 59-30 victory over the Golden Bears. Westfield hit seven three-pointers to build a nine-point lead at halftime and sophomore Haleigh Reinoehl scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to finish off Shelbyville (4-9), who reached the championship with a 54-52 win over Decatur Central Friday morning. “I’m really proud of our whole team. I thought we grew up today,” said Shelbyville coach Scott Larrabee. “I don’t think the score in the championship game reflects how competitive it was for three quarters. We have to use this as a springboard into our last seven games. It’s really important that we continue to improve.” * The Golden Bears built an early 10-5 lead on the heavily-favored Shamrocks with back-to-back 3s from Riley Achenbach and Allyson Conner. Westfield scored the next nine points to close out the opening quarter with a 14-10 lead. Four different Shamrocks hit a total of five 3s in the second quarter to extend the lead to 31-22 by halftime. “That’s kind of what we do. We have some shooters on this team so it’s a big part of what we do,” said Westfield coach Shane Sumpter. “In the second quarter, some of our shots started falling.” The Golden Bears’ offense fell apart in the second half, scoring just eight points on 2-of-12 shooting. Shelbyville also committed 13 turnovers. Reinoehl pulled Westfield’s offense closer to the rim by getting active in the low post. She scored six points in the third quarter before overmatching Shelbyville in the fourth. The 5-foot-10 sophomore along with classmates Maddy Grennes and Allison VanDyke combined for 39 points in the championship game. Indiana All-Star candidate Kayla Brown, who is committed to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, finished with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists and was named the 2013 Shelby Shootout’s Most Outstanding Player. “We feel like we have a lot of weapons but, obviously, it starts with Kayla Brown,” said Sumpter. “She should be an Indiana All-Star.” Shelbyville was led offensively by its three seniors. Conner topped the team in scoring with 10 points. Achenbach finished with eight and Taylor Pierce had seven points and six rebounds. Decatur Central won the consolation game over Lawrence Central, 68-38. Shelbi Patterson led the Hawks (2-9) with 14 points. Emily Huber had 13. Kyra Tucker was the only Lawrence Central player to reach double digits. The senior scored 14 for the Bears (2-8). Westfield won the Junior Varsity tournament with a 34-10 win over Decatur Central in the championship game. The 2013 Shelby Shootout Sportsmanship winners were Tucker, Reinoehl, Conner and Decatur Central’s Macy Walker. Joining Brown on the All-Tournament Team were Grennes, VanDyke, Patterson, Achenbach and Pierce.