Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

Coming off a hard and exhausting loss at Triton Central Tuesday, Class 3A No. 5-ranked Shelbyville felt it needed to prove something Saturday against the Connersville Lady Spartans. The Lady Golden Bears came out on “fire” and stomped Connersville, 70-56. Point guard Gretchen Haehl connected on 5 of 7 first-quarter shots helping the Lady Golden Bears (17-3) to a quick 10-point lead and simultaneously waylaying the deep post play Connersville possessed. Natalie Roberts was a constant threat down low for the Lady Spartans (7-11). The 6-foot-2 center was effective on both ends of the floor scoring 10 of her team-high 20 points in the first quarter and blocking two shots. The Lady Golden Bears took a 6-point lead into the second quarter where Ashley Matney took charge of the game. The senior guard created offense for herself through defensive stops and steals. The intensity Matney brought on to the court carried over to the rest of the team as they built a 12-point advantage at halftime. The second half started with Matney picking up where she ended the half — scoring on quick layups off steals. Matney ended up scoring a career-high 22 points and grabbing six steals. “I knew I didn’t play well Tuesday night,” Matney said after the game. “So I just wanted to go out there and prove myself to everyone. I didn’t want my one bad game to lead into this one and then maybe on to sectionals. I just knew I had to go out there and get the job done.” Gretchen Haehl finished the fourth quarter the same way she started the game — scoring a seemingly easy 7 points to finish with 19 in the game. Haehl also contributed a team-high six assists and seven rebounds. The Lady Golden Bears are still struggling to put together a complete game. With sectional play just eight days away, Shelbyville coach John Fair knows his team needs to put everything together, and soon. “There were stretches where we would get up 22 and then it’s back to 14,” Fair said. “We got up 17 in the first half and ‘boom’ it’s back to 12. “We are going to have to learn how to play 32 minutes of hard basketball.” Shelbyville has two games left in the regular season. On Tuesday, the Lady Golden Bears play at Franklin. Indianapolis Arlington visits Garrett Gymnasium Thursday.

Bears lead by 12 at half 35-23; then push the lead up to 22 in the third and finish + 16. Sr. Ashley Matney leads the Bears with 22 and Gretchen Haehl chips in 19. Natalie Roberts has 20 for Connersville. Bears go to 17-3

FAIRLAND — Heading into Tuesday’s battle with Triton Central, Shelbyville had several advantages over the host Tigers: More depth, a tougher schedule and three-game winning streak in the series. By all accounts, Class 3A No. 5-ranked Shelbyville was favored to beat the Class 2A No. 2-ranked Tigers. Apparently, someone forgot to tell Jessie Scherer. The Tigers led for most of the contest Tuesday, but trailed 45-42 early in the fourth period. That lead was short lived, however, as Scherer put the Tigers on her back and carried Triton Central to a 62-58 upset of Shelbyville. Shelbyville (16-3) played a lackluster first half and trailed 28-15 at the break. The Golden Bears missed 21 of 25 field goal attempts over the first 16 minutes. “It was almost like we were a deer in the headlights,” said Shelbyville coach John Fair. “We took quick shots that were not part of our offense, we didn’t drive well, we didn’t get to the line.” Sophomore Gretchen Haehl, Shelbyville’s leading scorer, was held to three points in the first half. Meanwhile, another sophomore — Triton Central’s Jennifer Moulton — enjoyed the best game of her young high school career in helping the Tigers to an early lead. Moulton, a first-year starting guard, scored nine of her season-high 13 points in the first half as the Golden Bears’ defense focused on the Tigers’ usual scoring threats — Scherer, Audra Blackford and Kristy Gates. Triton Central led by as much as 16 points in the first half. “We have scouted them and scouted them and if you want to give me credit for it, I’ll take some credit for it,” said Triton Central coach Larry Pringle of the Tigers’ first-half defensive effort. “But, the kids get a lot of credit because we really thought we knew where they were going on ball reversal and we really tried to clog the middle. But, who can say? They didn’t hit the bucket very well.” Fair didn’t have to make any major adjustments at halftime. He just let Haehl know that her presence was needed — immediately. “Gretchen was told at halftime that she had to step up, and Gretchen did step up,” Fair said. “It’s just too bad that some of her teammates didn’t (do) the same ... .” Haehl scored 11 of her game-high 25 points in the third period and pulled Shelbyville to within 42-40 heading into the final period. Shelbyville outscored Triton Central 25-14 in the third period as Pringle was forced to put his top three scorers on the bench for long stretches at a time. By the time the third period ended, Blackford (19.4 ppg) and Gates (12.2 ppg) were playing with three fouls and Scherer (19.7 ppg) was on the sidelines with four fouls. “I am thinking, ‘Oh God, just let me get through this quarter and get to the fourth’,” Pringle said. The Tigers did weather the storm, but not before Haehl gave Shelbyville its first lead of the game, at 45-42, on a 3-pointer with six minutes, 40 seconds left in the game. Triton Central managed to tie the score at 46-46 with six minutes to go. And then, in what proved to be the pivotal moment of the contest, Scherer checked back into the game. After managing only 10 points on just seven field goal attempts in the first three periods, Scherer exploded for 13 points over the game’s last six minutes. The University of Evansville recruit scored all but three of Triton Central’s final 16 points. “The game changed quite a bit (when Scherer came back into the game),” Fair said. “But, it should change. She’s a Division I player. She was the best player on the court tonight.” It was Scherer’s third-consecutive dominating performance. Over the Tigers’ last three games, Scherer has scored 42 percent of the team’s points. “Jessie said to me she’s going to play every game like it’s her last game, and it’s all coming true,” Pringle said. “This is her last time to play Shelbyville ... and I’m so proud of her.” It’s no coincidence that perhaps Scherer’s best game yet came against Shelbyville. In the week leading up to the game, much was made of the fact the Triton Central senior class was 0-3 in its career against Shelbyville. “I told (the seniors), ‘Guys, this is our last time around with this team. We’re going to give it our all,” Scherer said. Scherer, Gates and Ricka Goodwin comprise the Tigers’ senior trio. “For me, being my last year here and not beating Shelbyville yet ... I wasn’t doing too good in the first three quarters. I knew the fourth quarter was mine, so I took over.” Scherer finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Blackford added 14 points and five assists for the Tigers. Katie Douglas and Haley Wise combined for 22 points and 12 rebounds for Shelbyville. Shelbyville hosts Connersville Saturday. Triton Central can wrap up a Mid-Hoosier Conference title with a win at North Decatur Thursday.

It might have taken a year longer than John Fair expected, but the Shelbyville girls’ basketball team won its first ever Hoosier Heritage Conference title outright Saturday by beating Delta, 66-38. The Golden Bears finished conference play with a perfect 7-0 record, while Delta fell to 4-2 with one HHC game to play. Delta, now 14-3 overall, was the only HHC team with just one loss and a chance to grab a share of the title. Shelbyville, 16-2 on the year, had already clinched at least a share of its first HHC title with its win over Mount Vernon last week. Fair, in his fourth season, had hoped to see a conference title last year. “When I came in, we actually had a three-year plan and we’re a year off,” Fair said. “The first year we just needed to change some things. They didn’t know how to play basketball and they didn’t know how to play hard. The next year, we wanted to get them in the weight room and try to get them to play a little more physical. “And then we were hoping that when the Haehls got here we would be able to lift our program up and they certainly have done that, along with Haley (Wise) and Katie Douglas. We weren’t able to (win the HHC) last year, but we were able to do it this year. It’s an exciting time for Shelbyville girls’ basketball.” And it’s about to get more exciting for Shelbyville with Shelby County rival Triton Central up next. The Class 3A No. 6-ranked Golden Bears travel to Fairland Tuesday to face the Class 2A No. 2-ranked Tigers (16-1). Triton Central has lost to Shelbyville the last three seasons coinciding with Fair’s arrival at Shelbyville. The Tigers were the last thing on the Golden Bears’ minds Saturday, though. They were focused on paying back the visiting Eagles for the loss Delta pinned on Shelbyville last year, which essentially ended the Golden Bears’ hopes for a conference title. Sophomore point guard Gretchen Haehl seemed to be the most focused Golden Bear in the first half, as she consistently beat the Delta defense and finished the first half with 11 points. Shelbyville held a comfortable 25-18 lead at halftime but it was playing far from its best basketball. The Golden Bears made 12 turnovers and shot just 26 percent from the field in the first half. That all changed in the third period as Shelbyville center Katie Douglas took over the game. The junior scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting during Shelbyville’s 17-4 run to open the second half. Shelbyville led 42-22 with just less than five minutes to play in the third period and the Eagles never again threatened for the lead. Douglas finished with 14 points, one of four Shelbyville players in double figures. Haehl and senior Ashley Matney had 14 points. Senior Susan Kolls added 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Sophomores Gwen Haehl (three points) and Haley Wise (four rebounds, three steals) contributed to the winning effort. Matney, as one of just two Shelbyville seniors, said that winning the school’s first-ever HHC title was worth four years of effort. “I know I’ve worked hard all four years and Susan has too,” she said. “It’s just really rewarding winning the first-ever conference championship in school history your senior year. Everybody is going to remember that and it’s great being a part of it.” Content © The Shelbyville News, All Rights Reserved Software © 1998-2002 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved

Bears get their first HHC title with a perfect 7-0 record and 16-2 on the year. They were lead by four players in double digit scoring: Gretchen Haehl 15; Katie Douglas 14; Ashley Matney 14 and Susan Kolls 10. A great team effort to putrest to any doubts about who is the best team in the HHC this year with double digit wins over every team except the 8 point margin over Mt. Vernon