Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

With the Shelbyville William Garrett gym being closed by Histoplasmosis the past three weeks, the lady Bears woke up the spirits of 72 year-old Shelbyville Paul Cross Gym (home of the 1947 Boys Indiana State champions) this afternoon with a 21 point decisive win over Whiteland. The players and fans were treated to a real "retro" atmosphere. The bleachers were packed with fans whose feet were placed firmly on the side stripes and steel girders at times in their line of vision. This game comes on top of playing in the Hall of Fame Classic eight days ago in another famous gym at New Castle . These girls will sometime realize that high school basketball and, as far as that is concerned, any basketball at any level doesn't get much better than this. The Bears jumped out to an early 10 point lead with the press and settled in for a six point half-time advantage 34-28. They then stretched the lead out to ten late in the third then to twenty by the end of the game. The Bears demonstrated great team defense and good team ball movement against the Whiteland zone. The Bears "inside-outside" and "one-two punch" was alive all afternoon with Gretchen Haehl leading all scorers with 25 and Katie Douglas with 19. Whiteland was lead by Evansville bound Megan Liffick with 22

The Lady Bears run their conference record to a league leading 5-0 and overall record to 11-2 by picking up a road victory over a pesky Rushville team 64-47. Bears were lead by double digit scorers: Gretchen Haehl 20, Katie Douglas 14 and Ashley Matney 12. Up next is Whiteland at Paul Cross gym Saturday with 11:30 JV start

37 points by Katie Douglas and 38 by Gretchen Haehl powered the Bears in the two game tourney and landed the two on the all tourney team. They were joined on the team by Jenny Pfeiffer, Ashley Elmore, Mercedes Kays and MVP Shanna Zolman.

The Bears bounce back and defeat the Hotdogs 74-56.

NEW CASTLE — Because they listened to their coach a little too well, the Shelbyville girls’ basketball team lost to Jennings County, 57-53, Friday in the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Classic. The Golden Bears survived a third period flurry by Jennings County center Ashley Elmore, then got caught up in trying to draw a fifth foul on the Panthers’ senior. Shelbyville limited Elmore and Jennings County standout Jenny Pfeiffer (19 ppg) to 13 points combined in the first half and led the Panthers 29-24 at the break. Gretchen Haehl scored 11 points in the first half to pace Shelbyville. Elmore took control in the third period, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds as Jennings County built a 42-40 lead heading into the final period. The Golden Bears regained the lead halfway through the final period at 49-47, about a minute after Elmore picked up her fourth foul. For the next several possessions after Elmore got whistled for her fourth foul, the Shelbyville offense had only one objective — throw the ball into the post and try to get Elmore out of the game. For a few possessions that strategy worked. But, what eventually happened was that Haehl, a guard, became a bystander on the perimeter. Haehl is the team’s leading scorer this year. But, she took only two shots in the final period Friday and scored just four points in the second half. During a late game timeout, Shelbyville coach John Fair said he told his players to take the ball to Elmore to try to get her to commit her fifth and final foul. But, he didn’t want the Golden Bears to completely abandon their normal offense. “Elmore is undoubtedly the best post player we’ve faced,” said Fair. “And when we got her in foul trouble, it was almost like our kids were trying so hard to foul her our out ... the offense stopped because we forced it in there and we didn’t do anything with the ball. “Gretchen Haehl can’t get lost in our offense and that’s exactly what happened.” With the score tied at 49-49 with three minutes to play, Jennings County took permanent control of the game by scoring the next six points. The Panthers led 55-49 with under one minute to play and Shelbyville was handed just its second loss of the year. Shelbyville fell to 9-2 on the year. Jennings County improved to 11-2. Shelbyville advanced to play Frankfort in the consolation match, while Jennings County advanced to the championship against Wawasee. Wawasee beat Frankfort, 64-52, in the other semifinal behind 37 points from University of Tennessee recruit Shanna Zolman. Shelbyville junior center Katie Douglas led all scorers with 19 points. Haehl finished with 15 points. No other Golden Bear had more than five points. Elmore had 16 points and 12 rebounds Friday. Pfeiffer, a University of Kentucky recruit, was held to 11 points. Senior guard Erica Bright added 11 points for Jennings County.