Former Indiana University and Shelbyville High School basketball standout Ken Gunning will be posthumously inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame on March 22, 2023, as a member of the hall’s 61^st class.

Gunning graduated from SHS in 1933 and Indiana University in 1937. He created a tremendous resume of athletic achievement at the high school, college and professional levels.

Gunning was born in Shelbyville in 1914. He excelled in track, basketball and baseball as a high school athlete. He was a two-year captain of the Golden Bear basketball team and received the Paul Cross Basketball Award in 1932.

The Columbus Republic wrote that Gunning was the heart of the Shelbyville team and that the “team attack centers around the veteran forward.” The article went on to state that the 5-foot, 11-inch forward had a “deadly eye” and that his exceptional athletic ability enabled him to have an impact on any game.

Columbus defeated Shelbyville in a hotly-contested 1933 sectional semifinal, 38-36. Gunning led a fierce Golden Bear comeback that fell just short. He finished as the tournament’s third leading scorer despite playing in only two tournament games.

Gunning matriculated to IU in 1933 where he became a three-year letter winner in basketball, baseball and track. He was the Hoosiers’ leading scorer for three seasons and a major catalyst for Indiana’s 18-2 Big Ten championship season in 1936.

IU finished 13-7 during Gunning’s senior year with the Shelbyville native ranking as the conference’s third leading scorer.

Gunning was selected to the All-Big Ten Team in both his junior and senior years. He was named a Second-Team All American following the 1937 campaign, becoming only the fifth IU player to be so honored at that time.

Gunning played professionally for two seasons for the Whiting Caesar All-Americans of the National Basketball League in 1937 and 1938 and briefly for the Indianapolis Kautskys in 1946. He also played a season of semi-pro baseball for the Moline team in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League.

Following his playing days, Gunning made the transition to basketball coaching in 1938, accepting the position as head coach at Western New Mexico University (the Western New Mexico Mustangs currently compete at the NCAA Division II level). He would serve in that capacity for 10 years and achieve considerable success. His record of accomplishment earned him induction the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.

He became head coach at Wichita State University in 1948 where he also coached the baseball team. He returned to Indiana in 1951 and joined the high school coaching fraternity when he assumed the head coaching position at Connersville High School.

Gunning developed a reputation as a colorful figure during his Connersville coaching tenure. Author Randy Roberts cites the former Shelbyville standout in his book “But They Can’t Beat Us,” a retrospective of the 1950s Indianapolis Crispus Attucks championship teams.”

The press liked Gunning because he provided good copy. Like many coaches he was compulsively superstitious; on his way into Rushville for the regional, he had convinced the bus driver to take a long way into town rather than cross a particularly unlucky iron bridge.

He declared that if Connersville the 1956 regional, he would run home from the Rushville host site. The Spartans captured the regional title and Gunning was partially true to his word. He disembarked from the bus and ran the last stretch into town. The coach’s antics provided a prime photo opportunity for local media at the height of Hoosier Hysteria.

Connersville won eight sectionals and three regionals under Gunning. He retired from coaching at the conclusion of the 1960 season.

Gunning received significant recognition for his athletic prowess. A 2013 Indianapolis Star series ranking the all-time Top 50 Indiana University men’s basketball players listed Gunning as the 41^st greatest player. He was also selected as a member of the pre-1950 all-time IU Basketball Team.

In 2020, Indianapolis Star sportswriter Kyle Neddenriep named Gunning one of the top ten players in Shelbyville High School men’s basketball history. He stands in good company with fellow selections that included Bill Garrett, Gary Long, Harry Larrabee, Julius Denton and Chad Adkins.

Gunning and his wife Ruth had three sons and a daughter. He died in Seguin, Texas, on April 2, 1991 at the age of 76.

Nineteen men’s basketball members will be inducted during the March 22 festivities that will include an afternoon reception at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Museum in New Castle and an evening awards ceremony at Primo’s Banquet Hall in Indianapolis.

The stellar class includes former Butler University and Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens, former IU star Brian Evans, former Lawrence North and NBA player Eric Montross, former Shortridge and Butler star Oscar Evans and 1979 Indiana All-Star and Rushville Lion Dennis Goins.    

Gunning achieved remarkable sports success throughout his life and in March will receive the ultimate endorsement to which all Hoosier basketball participants aspire: Inclusion into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. 

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The Morristown team that was preseason ranked in the top 15 of the state coaches Class A poll is starting to come together.

After an 0-6 start without much of its starting roster healthy and eligible to play, the Yellow Jackets have won two straight after securing a 51-23 win over Hagerstown Tuesday.

Nevaeh Sanders scored a game-high 21 points and had three rebounds and three steals for Morristown (2-6).

Reagan Kleine had 12 points, three rebounds, six assists and six steals. Danika Rutledge added eight points and eight rebounds.

Morristown outscored Hagerstown (1-6) 13-4 and 13-5 in the opening two quarters then limited the Tigers to three points in the third quarter to coast to the win.

The Yellow Jackets travel to Franklin County (6-2) for a Saturday afternoon contest.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Boys basketball

Oldenburg Academy 40, Morristown 27

At Oldenburg Academy, Henry Wanstrath (15 points) and Jacob Hoff (13 points) led the Twisters to the win in the program’s season opener.

Wyatt Marcum topped Morristown (1-2) with 11 points. Jameson Palmer finished with seven.

Morristown was scheduled to play at Hauser Friday but that game has been postponed until Dec. 21.

The Yellow Jackets host Knightstown (1-1) Saturday.

Girls basketball

Eastern Hancock 68, Southwestern 13

At Southwestern, the Class 2A, No. 11 Royals scored 30 points in the opening quarter to take control.

Grace Stapleton led Eastern Hancock (8-1) with 18 points. Sammie Bolding and Ruby White each had 10.

Tanna Tatlock led Southwestern (0-8) with five points.

The Royals won the junior varsity game 32-14. Katelynn Coffman led the Spartans with six points.

Southwestern is at Knightstown (2-5) Tuesday.

Triton Central 59, Monrovia 47

At Monrovia, Brooklyn Bailey led the visiting Tigers with 20 points to keep Triton Central on top of the Indiana Crossroads Conference standings.

Maryrose Felling finished with 17 points and Elizabeth Graham had 13 to improve Triton Central to 3-3 this season and 3-0 against ICC foes.

Ashley Lewis scored a game-high 30 points for Monrovia (3-3, 0-1 ICC).

Triton Central is at Waldron (2-4) Friday.

Boys swimming

Franklin 121, Shelbyville 41

At Shelbyville, the visiting Grizzly Cubs collected all first-place finishes to secure the victory over the Golden Bears.

Shelbyville got runner-up performances from Trey Carrell in the 50-yard freestyle (23.21 seconds) and 100 breaststroke (1:09.87) and Beau Kenkel in the 100 backstroke (1:35.29).

Shelbyville is at Columbus East Thursday.

Girls swimming

Franklin 116, Shelbyville 60

At Shelbyville, the host Golden Bears got event wins from Miriam Garringer and Naomi Garringer.

Miriam Garringer won the 200 individual medley in 2:43.38 while Naomi Garringer took first place in the 100 breaststroke (1:25.22).

Shelbyville also got runner-up finishes from Riley Everette (27.93 in 50 freestyle; 6:31.89 in 500 free) and Maiah Helfer-Vazquez (167.3 points in diving).

The quartet of Meeghen Bushfield, Paige Bohman, Riley Everette and Miriam Garringer finished second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:57.78) while Miriam Garringer, Naomi Garringer, Paige Bohman and Kylie Studer placed second in the 400 freestyle relay (4:26.06).

Shelbyville travels to Columbus East Thursday.

Wrestling

Shelbyville 66, Lawrence Central 12

At Shelbyville, the host Golden Bears won eight matches by pinfall to secure the team victory.

Those pinfall winners were Jaylen Eads (126 pounds), Ethan Watkins (132), Cael Lux (138), Julian Eads (145), Jorge Ramos (152), Andrew Burton (160), Dylan Garvin (170) and Jacob Harker (285).

Shelbyville also got match wins from Isaiah Havens (120) and Luke Dwyer (189).

Shelbyville competes in the New Castle Invitational Saturday.

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The 20^th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing came to a close Nov. 23 with a healthy outlook on the 123-day racing season.

While Horseshoe Indianapolis is waiting on final information from some non-commingled locations it is estimated that the total handle will be nearly $235 million in all sources signal sales, showing an increase of 5.2 percent over figures in 2021. This is despite running 27 fewer races than in 2021 which results in a per race increase of over 9%.

“Despite difficult weather conditions with rain in most of May and a string of 100-plus heat index days that forced us to either cancel or move post times away from the heat in June, we ended up showing a solid season of business in 2022,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager. “We have to thank the horsemen’s organizations and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission for their partnership in achieving these numbers over last season, which was strong to begin with. It’s definitely a group effort in moving the business levels forward in racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis.”

Included in the $235 million in all sources handle was a 6.2% increase in on-track wagering. Halstrom noted Horseshoe Indianapolis is still waiting on several handle sources from international locations that took our signal this year and those numbers should be in within the next month.

“If you look at our estimated handle of $235 million that number is one of the strongest in the nation right now,” said Joe Morris, Senior Vice President of Racing for Caesars Entertainment. “And it also shows a fourth straight year of achieving a record handle. I applaud our horsemen and our racing team led by Eric (Halstrom) for a job well done and for their hard work throughout the season.”

A total of 1,192 races were held with an average field size of 8.06 horses per race, which was a marked improvement over 2021 when the average starters per race was 7.35. The 2022 Quarter Horse starters per race was a robust 9.0 while the Thoroughbred figure was 7.83.

“This is a great way to conclude our racing season,” added Halstrom. “It sure gives us incentive and momentum to head into 2023 with a strong racing product that has shown it is growing each year. We are already working on next season. We are excited to return to racing in April, pending IHRC approvals.”

The 21^st season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is expected to resume April 18 for a 123-day meet. The Indiana Horse Racing Commission is set to review the proposal for 2023 at its meeting Thursday at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

Tenleigh Phelps provided a spark off the bench Saturday to help Youngstown State defeat St. Francis Brooklyn, 70-41, at the Beeghley Center in Youngstown, Ohio.

Phelps, a Triton Central graduate, played 14 minutes and scored four points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists to help Youngstown State improve to 2-3 this season.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate had 12 points and four rebounds Sunday in Oakland City’s 78-76 loss to Warner University (Fla.) in Kingsport, Tennessee.

On Saturday, Oakland City defeated Crawleys Ridge College, 88-78. Moore had 15 points, one rebound and four assists in the win.

Oakland City is 4-3 this season.

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate had nine points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals Sunday for Hanover in a 65-47 win at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

Hanover is 3-2.

Hayden Langkabel

The Morristown graduate had two points and two rebounds Sunday in Marian’s 68-50 win over Bluefield College in the NAIA the Show Tournament in Kingsport, Tenn.

On Saturday, Marian topped Ave Maria (Fla.), 70-66. Langkabel finished with four points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Marian is 9-0 – its best start to a season since 2015-16 when the Knights won 15 consecutive games.

Rylie Stephens

The Triton Central graduate had five points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal Sunday for Samford in a 75-63 loss to Rhode Island in the UCF Thanksgiving Classic.

On Saturday, UCF defeated Samford, 79-74 in double overtime. Stephens had 10 points, two rebounds and one steal.

Samford is 3-5 this season.

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had 11 points, one rebound and one steal Monday in Loyola’s 79-53 loss at Miami (Ohio).

All 11 of Chandler’s points came in the second half. She has scored in double figures in six of Loyola’s seven games this season.

On Friday, Loyola defeated St. Francis (Pennsylvania), 69-56. Chandler had 12 points, four rebounds and one steal.

Loyola is 2-5.

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With his team trailing late in the game, the Triton Central freshman had no fear.

Eli Sego sank a three-pointer to give Triton Central a 62-60 lead with 31 seconds left and Shelbyville committed back-to-back turnovers late that allowed the visiting Tigers to escape Garrett Gymnasium with a 63-60 victory Saturday night.

Triton Central (2-0) trailed by as many as eight points in the second half and never led until Sego hit the biggest shot of his young career.

“That was probably a situation where there was less than a minute left, we were down, we’d been down, a lot of adversity and somebody could have tried to do something on their own,” said Triton Central head coach Kyle Ballard. “We find (Sego) for a wide open shot that all of us have confidence he is going to hit.

“For a freshman, that’s a tough situation to be in. As long as I’ve known him, his composure is one thing that has always stood out. He is a big-time competitor. I’m really happy for him to hit that shot.”

Sego finished with 13 points after sinking all three of his 3-point attempts in the second half.

Luke Faust led Triton Central with 19 points and six rebounds and he spent much of the game shadowing Shelbyville senior Ollie Sandman, who finished with 13 points – only two in the second half. Sandman averaged 20 points per game as a junior and scored 27 in the Golden Bears’ win Wednesday at Rushville.

Isaac Morgan (photo) kept Triton Central fighting the entire second half until it could finally get the lead. The senior earned trip-after-trip to the free-throw line over the final 16 minutes, finishing with 13 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe.

“There were some things Isaac and I talked about down the stretch there,” said Ballard. “There were some chances he took we maybe didn’t want him to take. He’s had the ball in his hands a lot and played in a lot of big games for us the last two years. It’s part of our philosophy to put the ball in his hands and I won’t tell him where to go all the time.”

Shelbyville (1-1) scored the final six points of the first quarter but still trailed 15-11 at the break. Luke Brinkman and Sandman each hit a pair of free throws late in the second quarter to give the Golden Bears a 32-29 edge at halftime.

Sego splashed back-to-back 3s early in the third quarter but Shelbyville responded with an 8-0 run started by a Sandman drive to the basket and back-to-back 3s from Shelbyville freshman Caden Claxton, who scored 19 points in his second varsity game after being held scoreless Wednesday at Rushville.

“We know what Caden can do and he shoots like that all the time in practice,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “Those first game nerves were kind of settled at Rushville and tonight he comes out and has 19 points. He did a great job contributing especially with them holding Sandman to 13.”

Morgan scored TC’s final five points of the third quarter to cut Shelbyville’s lead to 45-40 at the break.

It was a slow-and-steady climb for the Tigers in the fourth quarter. Triton Central hit a trio of 3s in the quarter and scored 10 points at the free-throw line to keep pressure on the Golden Bears.

Shelbyville’s offense in the fourth quarter was a steady dose of Brinkman attacking the lane and getting to the free-throw line or feeding Ethan Lambert for close-range scores.

Lambert (photo) finished with 13 points and six rebounds off the bench.

“Ethan played tremendous,” said Hartnett. “He will be so hard to take out of games this year because he is our biggest, strongest body. He made some free throws and hit some big shots to get our advantage down the stretch.”

Brinkman hit four free throws in a 40-second span to keep Shelbyville ahead 60-56 with 1:21 left.

Faust hit a wing 3 to cut the lead to 60-59. Forty seconds later, Sego hit what would be the game winner.

Silas Blair added a free throw with six seconds left to make it 63-60 and Sandman’s potential game-tying 3-pointer from the volleyball line caromed off the backboard to give the Tigers their third-straight win over the Golden Bears.

Brody Runnebohm hit four 3s to lead Shelbyville to a 47-29 win in the junior varsity contest. Runnebohm finished with a game-high 14 points. Cole Schene finished with 11 and Jack West had 10.

Gavin Morgan led Triton Central with 11 points.

Triton Central travels to Waldron (2-1) Thursday. Shelbyville hosts Connersville (1-1) Saturday.

Steve Bush photos.

Triton Central 63, Shelbyville 60

TC – Faust 7-10 2-2 19, Sego 4-6 2-2 13, Morgan 2-5 9-14 13, Baugh 1-2 0-0 3, Blair 2-6 3-4 7, Crouse 1-6 4-6 6, Stuckey 0-2 0-0 0, Goul 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 17-37 22-30 63.

SH – Sandman 4-14 2-2 13, Badgley 1-2 0-0 3, Brinkman 0-5 9-12 9, Parker 1-2 1-1 3, Claxton 6-12 2-2 19, Asher 0-2 0-0 0, Lambert 5-6 3-5 13. Totals: 17-41 17-23 60.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TC (2-0)  15  14  11  23  --  63

SH (1-1)  11  21  13  15  --  60

Three-point field goals: TC 7-20 (Faust 3-5, Sego 3-5, Morgan 0-2, Baugh 1-2, Blair 0-1, Crouse 0-4, Stuckey 0-1), SH 9-21 (Sandman 3-8, Badgley 1-1, Brinkman 0-3, Claxton 5-9). Rebounds: TC 25 (Faust 6, Sego 1, Morgan 4, Baugh 2, Blair 3, Crouse 4, Stuckey 3, Goul 2), SH 19 (Sandman 4, Badgley 1, Brinkman 4, Parker 3, Asher 2, Lambert 6). Assists: TC 9 (Faust 1, Morgan 5, Baugh 1, Crouse 2), SH 10 (Sandman 1, Brinkman 4, Parker 3, Claxton 1, Lambert 1). Steals: TC 3 (Morgan 1, Stuckey 1, Goul 1), SH 4 (Brinkman 2, Claxton 1, Lambert 1). Blocks: TC 3 (Blair 1, Goul 2). Total fouls: TC 27, SH 23. Fouled out: Stuckey (TC), Parker (SH), Brinkman (SH). Turnovers: TC 17, SH 14.

JV

Shelbyville 47, Triton Central 29

TC – G. Morgan 11, McClure 5, Clements 4, Canter 2, Capps 2, Collier 2, McElfresh 2, Brown 1.

SH – Runnebohm 14, Schene 11, West 10, Myers 8, Reed 4.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TC  11    6    8    4  --  29

SH    7  16  19    5  --  47

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PENDLETON -- Kaycie Warfel needed to make one more play to finally vanquish Shelbyville Saturday afternoon at Pendleton Heights.

The sophomore raced the length of the court in 5.1 seconds, split the last two Shelbyville defenders on the way to the rim and got a shot off that rolled in as the buzzer sounded to give the Arabians their third Hoosier Heritage Conference victory of the season, 55-53.

The loss ended Shelbyville’s unbeaten run to start the season.

“We said in our timeout let’s make sure we stop No. 12 (Warfel) in her dribble drive down the court and let’s make her get it out to somebody else to make the shot,” said Shelbyville head coach Becca Hoefler. “Unfortunately, we did not do that and we paid for that.”

Warfel, an All-HHC selection as a freshman and averaging 20 points per game as sophomore, scored a game-high 34 points and added nine rebounds and five steals to her performance.

Shelbyville, seeking its first 8-0 start to a season since 2004, got off to a fast start in its first HHC game of the season. Kylee Edwards and Ava Wilson scored 11 straight points to stake the Golden Bears to an early 11-2 lead.

Shelbyville maintained its lead into the second quarter as the Arabians (5-2, 3-0 HHC) settled for 3-point shots – and missed.

The momentum quickly flipped in the second quarter when Pendleton Heights coach Nick Rogers was assessed two technical fouls and ejected from the game. Edwards sank all four free throws as a result of the technicals and the Golden Bears led 20-13 with 4:19 left in the first half.

Shelbyville never scored again, though, and Warfel jumpstarted a 14-0 run to end the half with the Arabians leading 27-20.

“I wasn’t really happy with our offensive movement. I thought we were stagnant a lot,” said Hoefler.

Edwards sparked an 8-0 run in the third quarter that gave Shelbyville the lead once again, 32-31.

The lead changed nine times from there as the teams went back and forth. Neither team led by more than three points over the game’s final 13 minutes.

Lilly Marshall sank a 3-pointer from the wing to get Shelbyville back even at 42-all early in the fourth quarter. Hailey Pogue hit a top-of-the key 3-pointer to open up a 47-44 lead.

The Golden Bears fell behind but recovered on an Edwards score in the low post to make it 49-48.

A Wilson drive and score put Shelbyville on top 51-50.

Whitney Warfel hit a 15-foot jumper to get the Arabians back on top, 52-51, and Makayla Morrison added a free throw to make it 53-51 with 12 seconds left.

In a scramble at the other end of the floor, Ellie Simpson was fouled and sent to the free-throw line where she calmly sank both shots to tie the game and set up the final scenario.

“I am really proud where the girls are at in our season and how much work we’ve put in and where we’ve come from,” said Hoefler. “I know we’re 7-1 but this was a big game for us to tell us where we’re at.”

Wilson led Shelbyville with 20 points and three assists. Edwards finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and two assists.

The Golden Bears shot 33% from the field and hit on 6-of-15 3-pointers and were a perfect 15-for-15 from the free-throw line.

Pendleton Heights shot 41% from the field despite going 0-for-17 from the arc.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 6-0 with a 46-43 victory. Hannah Baker had 13 points and Savannah Collins and Sophia Asher each finished with 12 to lead the Golden Bears.

Shelbyville hosts Batesville (4-3) Saturday.

Pendleton Heights 55, Shelbyville 53

SH – Edwards 5-16 6-6 19, Simpson 0-1 2-2 2, Keller 1-6 2-2 4, Wilson 6-21 5-5 20, Pogue 1-1 0-0 3, E. Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Marshall 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 16-48 15-15 53.

PH – Baldwin 1-3 0-0 2, K. Warfel 12-23 10-12 34, Jones 0-3 0-2 0, Shelton 2-4 0-0 4, W. Warfel 6-17 0-0 12, Ross 0-2 0-0 0, Phillips 0-3 0-0 0, Herndon 0-0 0-0 0, Morrison 1-1 1-2 3. Totals: 22-54 11-16 55.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH (7-1, 0-1)  16    4  19  14  --  53

PH (5-2, 3-0)    9  18  13  15  --  55

Three-point field goals: SH 6-15 (Edwards 1-6, Wilson 3-7, Pogue 1-1, Marshall 1-1), PH 0-17 (Baldwin 0-1, K. Warfel 0-6, Jones 0-3, Shelton 0-2, W. Warfel 0-2, Ross 0-1, Phillips 0-2). Rebounds: SH 32 (Edwards 14, Simpson 5, Keller 4, Wilson 2, Pogue 3, E. Johnson 4), PH 35 (Baldwin 4, K. Warfel 9, Jones 5, Shelton 4, W. Warfel 6, Ross 4, Phillips 3). Assists: SH 7 (Edwards 2, Wilson 3, Pogue 1, Marshall 1), PH 6 (Baldwin 1, K. Warfel 2, Shelton 1, W. Warfel 2). Steals: SH 3 (Simpson 2, Keller 1), PH 10 (Baldwin 3, K. Warfel 5, Shelton 1, W. Warfel 1). Blocks: PH 3 (K. Warfel 1, Jones 1, W. Warfel 1). Total fouls: SH 20, PH 13. Turnovers: SH 23, PH 16.

JV

Shelbyville 46, Pendleton Heights 43

SH – Baker 13, Collins 12, Asher 12, Fortune 7, Stieneker 2.

PH – Trout 15, Morrison 11, Roberts 9, Jones 3, Perry 2, Lowe 2, Fisher 1.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH  17    6  11  12  --  46

PH    9  18  10    6  --  43

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Cory Kreiger will always remember his first head coaching victory.

Morristown trailed Southwestern 59-58 with 3.9 seconds left in overtime Saturday. Jameson Palmer stepped to the free-throw line and missed. A Yellow Jacket player fought for the rebound and threw a wild shot up and over the rim that went right to Palmer who beat the buzzer with the game winner.

Morristown improved to 1-1 this season and earned Kreiger his first varsity coaching win. Southwestern dropped to 0-2.

Wyatt Marcum led Morristown with 21 points. Palmer finished with 15 and Cade Mahin added 14.

Southwestern also had three players score in double figures – Matt Clements with 21, Carter Snepp had 12 and Jonah DeArmitt finished with 11.

Morristown travels to Oldenburg Academy (1-0) Tuesday. Southwestern hosts Triton Central (2-0) Saturday.

In other prep basketball games Saturday:

Boys basketball

Knightstown 64, Waldron 49

At Knightstown, the host Panthers (1-1) outscored the Mohawks 17-4 in the third quarter to take a 46-36 lead it never relinquished.

Bryce Yarling scored a season-high 20 points which moved him past Tyler Bowlby for fifth all-time in career points.

Lucas Mitchell finished with 18 and Lucas Shaw had seven for the Mohawks (2-1), who suffered their first loss of the season.

In the junior varsity contest, Knightstown hit a three-pointer with six seconds left to seal a 38-37 victory over Waldron.

Cole Jones and Blake Baldwin each scored seven points to lead Waldron.

Waldron hosts Triton Central (2-0) Thursday.

Girls basketball

Waldron 46, Greenwood Christian 32

At Greenwood Christian, Waldron held the host Cougars scoreless in the second quarter to take a 21-6 lead into halftime. The two teams played even in the second half and the Mohawks (2-4) collected their first road victory of the season.

Alyssa Benson topped Waldron with 13 points, three assists and six steals.

Alivia Fischer and Audrey Hogg each had nine points and Josee Larrison finished with eight points.

Sydney Waldron led Greenwood Christian (1-6) with 16 points.

The Mohawks host Triton Central (2-3) Friday.

Trinity Lutheran 73, Southwestern 41

At Trinity Lutheran, Bailey Tabeling and Liza Froedge combined to score 49 points to lead Class A, No. 7 Trinity Lutheran (3-1) to the win.

Tabeling tallied a game-high 28 points in just three quarters of playing time. Froedge finished with 21 and Madison Keith added 17.

McKinley Correll led Southwestern (0-7) with 18 points. Tanna Tatlock and Cy Stockdale each scored nine.

The Spartans host Class 2A, No. 10 Eastern Hancock (7-1) Tuesday.

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FAIRLAND -- The only thing keeping Oliver Gearlds from closing out his high school golf career with an appearance at the IHSAA State Finals Tournament is Oliver Gearlds.

“It’s my mental game,” said Gearlds when asked what part of his game needs the most work. “Sometimes I can get in my own head and that usually is what brings my scores up or (makes them) go low, it’s where my head is at that day.”

Gearlds, a Triton Central senior who has yet to advance out of the regional round of the postseason, estimates he needs a round of 73 or 74 at the regional to qualify for the 2023 state tournament. He shot 71 this summer on The Players Club course typically used for the regional.

“If I play my game, I can make it to the (state finals),” said Gearlds Wednesday afternoon. “It would mean a lot to me. When I was in middle school and even through high school, that is where I wanted to be. That would be the icing on the cake.”

Then he can focus on his college career.

Gearlds made his commitment to play golf at Indiana University Kokomo official Wednesday with a signing ceremony at Triton Central.

“I picked IU Kokomo because I have friends that go there. It’s big in Business (his intended major). And when I went on the visit, the golf program was amazing and everyone treated me great,” explained Gearlds.

Gearlds was joined by friends and family Wednesday to mark the occasion.

“This has been my dream. I am glad it finally happened,” he said.

Gearlds closed out a strong tennis career this fall with 17 wins at No. 2 doubles for Triton Central. Now he is preparing for one final golf season as a Tiger.

“I am focusing full time on golf right now,” said Gearlds. “There is a (golf) simulator here on campus. I will be in there most every day. And I am working out a lot more to gain yardage and accuracy.”

Gearlds has been playing golf much of his young life. He can recall swinging clubs as a three-year old and playing competitively for the first time while in fifth grade.

“It’s kind of a family sport for me,” he said. “My dad played (golf). My great-grandpa played it and I was just raised on the sport.”

The desire to get better led to early victories.

“When I first started out, I wasn’t very good,” he said. “I started putting in more practice and winning tournaments. That’s when I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.”

Gearlds has three goals set for 2023 – win every nine-hole match he competes in, lower his scoring average to 1-over par, and qualify for the state tournament.

His offseason work in the coming weeks will get him closer to those goals. Then, come August, he starts all over as a member of the IU Kokomo men’s golf program.

“I’m not sure about that freshman part,” laughed Gearlds when asked whether he was ready to be a freshman again. “I am ready to be in college. I don’t know if I am ready to lead the freshman life again.”

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RUSHVILLE – After a near-perfect second quarter, Shelbyville appeared ready to run away from Rushville in the season opener for both programs.

The Lions opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run and hung around to the very end before falling to the Golden Bears, 55-45.

The win was the eighth-straight for Shelbyville over its State Road 44 rivals Rushville.

“That is a much improved program from last year,” said Hartnett. “They had some guys really step up. … I thought we did a great job of when they struck back, we settled it down a little bit and iced the game at the end.”

Ollie Sandman (main photo) scored 20 first-half points to get Shelbyville an 11-point halftime lead. The senior finished with a game-high 27 points.

“Ollie Sandman did his job tonight. He went out and got 27 and got a victory,” said Hartnett. “(Rushville) did a better job in the second half of crowding him more and putting some pressure on him but he’s a tremendous scorer and is hard to stop.”

Jackson Parker filled a variety of roles, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds, handing out two assists and blocking three shots.

Damon Badgley (photo) had seven points and five rebounds and Luke Brinkman sank all six of his free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter to finish with six points.

Rushville jumped out to an early 6-0 lead which forced Hartnett to call timeout. Parker followed with a three-pointer and the Golden Bears went on a 13-1 run and never trailed again.

Shelbyville connected on 8-of-12 field goal attempts in the second quarter, outrebounded Rushville 8-6, and committed just two turnovers to open a double-digit lead.

The Lions cut the lead to 31-30 with 3:19 left in the third quarter when Quentin Cain spun into the lane and scored.

Sandman counted with a three from the wing and Shelbyville pushed the lead back to 42-33 going into the fourth quarter.

The Lions got no closer than six points over the final eight minutes thanks to missing all five free-throw attempts and going 0-for-7 from the line in the second half and 2-for-11 for the game.

XxZavien Jenkins led Rushville with 14 points. Kameron Morton finished with 12 points. Dylan Thompson had seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Shelbyville won the junior varsity game, 49-30.

Shelbyville hosts Triton Central (1-0) Saturday at William. L. Garrett Gymnasium.

“We have to build off this. It was not the prettiest of victories,” said Hartnett. “We got the job done and we really need to get Saturday.”

Steve Bush photos.

Shelbyville 55, Rushville 45

SH – Sandman 11-21 1-3 27, Badgley 3-7 0-1 7, Brinkman 0-1 6-6 6, Parker 4-7 0-0 10, Claxton 0-6 0-0 0, Asher 2-5 0-1 5, Lambert 0-2 0-0 0, Schene 0-0 0-0 0, Myers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-49 7-11 55.
RV – Cain 3-14 1-3 8, Jarman 2-4 0-2 4, Morton 6-12 0-2 12, Jennings 5-9 0-0 14, D. Thompson 3-8 1-5 7, Woolf 0-2 0-0 0, Corn 0-0 0-0 0, K. Thompson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 10-51 2-11 45.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH (1-0)  13  18  11  13  --  55

RV (0-1)    7  13  13  12  --  45

Three-point field goals: SH 8-23 (Sandman 4-11, Badgley 1-1, Parker 2-4, Asher 1-3, Claxton 0-4), RV 5-16 (Cain 1-2, Morton 0-4, Jenkins 4-7, Woolf 0-1, K. Thompson 0-2). Rebounds: SH 29 (Sandman 5, Badgley 5, Brinkman 3, Parker 6, Claxton 2, Asher 2, Lambert 5, Myers 1), RV 31 (Cain 6, Jarman 8, Morton 5, D. Thompson 11, Woolf 1). Assists: SH 11 (Sandman 2, Brinkman 2, Parker 2, Asher 4, Myers 1), RV 8 (Cain 4, Jarman 1, Morton 2, D. Thompson 1). Steals: SH 2 (Asher 1, Lambert 1), RV 3 (Morton 2, D. Thompson 1). Blocks: SH 6 (Sandman 2, Badgley 1, Parker 3), RV 4 (Jarman 1, Morton 1, D. Thompson 2). Total fouls: SH 17, RV 15. Fouled out: Cain (RV). Turnovers: SH 8, RV 11.

JV                

Shelbyville 49, Rushville 30 

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Morristown never trailed at the end of each quarter which helped it secure its first win over Triton Central since Jan. 10, 2004.

Nevaeh Sanders scored a team-high 14 points and had three rebounds to help the visiting Yellow Jackets, winless in its first six games this season, upset Triton Central, 38-35, Wednesday in Fairland.

Raegan Kleine finished with 13 points, four rebounds and two steals and Danika Rutledge added four points and six rebounds to help Morristown break a 30-game losing streak to the Tigers (2-3).

Brooklyn Bailey finished with a game-high 16 points for Triton Central. Lizzie Graham had eight points.

The loss was the first for TC head coach Bryan Graham to Morristown in his 15 seasons.

Morristown twice defeated Triton Central in the 2004 season. The Yellow Jackets won the first meeting on Nov. 26, 2003, 70-46, then repeated the feat in the Shelby County Tournament championship game in 2004, 38-31.

In other prep events:

Boys basketball

Triton Central 61, Morristown 26

At Triton Central Wednesday, with four players scoring in double figures, the host Tigers rolled to a season-opening victory.

Freshman Max Crouse came off the bench to lead Triton Central with 13 points. Silas Blair finished with 12 points and Eli Sego, another freshman, and Isaac Morgan each scored 11.

TC led 17-3 after one quarter and 31-9 at halftime over Morristown and first-year head coach Cory Kreiger.

Jameson Palmer led the Yellow Jackets with eight points.

Morristown hosts Southwestern (0-1) in its home opener Saturday. Triton Central travels to Shelbyville (1-0) Saturday.

Boys swimming

Shelbyville 84, Whiteland 71

At Shelbyville Tuesday, the host Golden Bears won two relays and got a pair of wins apiece from Trey Carrell and Will Rife to win the season-opening meet.

Carrell won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:16.98 and the 100 freestyle in 52.62.

Rife collected first-place points in the 100 butterfly (57.52) and the 100 backstroke (1:01.36).

Rife and Carrell teamed with Tristin Maloney and Blake Hughes to win the 200 medley relay in 1:54.36.

Rife, Carrell and Maloney teamed with Elijah von Werder to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:49.64.

Shelbyville hosts Franklin Tuesday.

Girls swimming

Whiteland 136, Shelbyville 41

At Shelbyville, the visiting Warriors won every event contested.

Scoring runner-up points for the Golden Bears were Riley Everette (2:24.31 in 200 freestyle; 1:14.47 in 100 butterfly), Paige Bohman (28.07 in 50 freestyle) and Maiah Helfer-Vazquez (159.95 points in diving).

Shelbyville hosts Franklin Tuesday.

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Each year, the jockeys at Horseshoe Indianapolis, located in Shelbyville, Indiana, collect toys for area children in need.

This year, more than 70 toys will be donated to the Shelby County CASA (Court Appointed State Advocates) for kids displaced in current home situations. This is the eighth year for the Jockey Toy Drive at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

“This toy drive is a great thing we do because we are helping a lot of kids who don’t have the opportunity to enjoy Christmas every year,” said DeShawn Parker, winner of more than 6,000 career races. “It makes all of us feel good to do something as a group to help out each year.”

The jockeys come together for various causes throughout the year. In addition to the annual toy drive, they also raised funds for PDJF (Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund) and for HVAF Inc. of Indiana (Hoosier Veterans and Families). It was the second time they have donated peanut butter to the pantry in Central Indiana for homeless veterans.

“It’s nice to help and I want to help out whenever I can,” added Marcelino Pedroza Jr., who is a three-time leading jockey at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “Giving back is important to me. It’s the way I was raised, and I want to help any way I can. I hope we can brighten the day of a few kids this Christmas.”

Several jockeys brought in toys for the drive.

Pictured with the toys during the Tuesday racing program included Jon Court, Sammy Bermudez, Rafael Mojica Jr. Joshua Morales, Fernando De La Cruz, Victor Bailon, Rodney Prescott, Joe Ramos, DeShawn Parker, Marcelino Pedroza Jr. Gage Holmes, Rolando Pina, Juan Marquez, and Santo Sanjur.

Rachel McLaughlin, on-air racing broadcaster for Horseshoe Indianapolis, conducted the presentation in the paddock.

Maya Chandler scored a game-high 20 points on Nov. 16 in a 68-62 loss to Virginia.

Chandler also grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists for Loyola. It was the third straight game Chandler scored in double figures. The Triton Central graduate finished one point shy of tying her career high.

On Sunday, Loyola lost at Eastern Illinois, 83-73. Chandler finished with 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and two steals. She improved to a perfect 17-of-17 at the free throw line this season.

Loyola dropped its third-straight game Tuesday against Miami, 63-45. Chandler had eight points and three rebounds.

The Ramblers are 1-4.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

Rylie Stephens

The Triton Central graduate had one rebound and one steal Tuesday in Samford’s 84-47 win over Talladega to improve to 3-3 this season.

On Sunday, Stephens finished with four points, seven rebounds and one assist in Samford’s 77-52 victory over Miles.

Stephens had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in Samford’s 75-68 win at Alabama A&M Thursday.

Hayden Langkabel

The Morristown graduate scored 15 points and added three rebounds, one steal and nine assists Tuesday in Marian’s 82-59 victory at Spring Arbor to improve to 7-0 (2-0 Crossroads League).

On Saturday, Marian defeated Taylor, 87-67. Langkabel finished with a game-high 24 points, three rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block.

Kyle Crim

The Morristown graduate had one rebound and one steal Friday in Hanover’s 65-48 win at Wheaton.

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate had 10 points, three assists and two steals Sunday in Hanover’s 74-55 loss to Wittenberg University in the Wittenberg Tournament in Springfield, Ohio.

On Saturday, Hanover opened the tournament with a 71-48 loss to Baldwin Wallace University. Heath had 11 points, one rebound and two assists.

The Panthers are 2-2 this season.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate finished with six points, four rebounds and one assist Saturday in Oakland City’s 86-62 loss to Indiana University Southeast.

On Nov. 15, Midway University defeated Oakland City, 64-55. Moore scored 12 points and had eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Oakland City is 3-2.

Tenleigh Phelps

The Triton Central graduate had three rebounds Friday in Youngstown State’s 61-44 loss at Akron.

Bella Larrison

The Waldron graduate had six points, eight rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot Tuesday in Anderson’s 83-77 win at St. Mary’s (Ind.) to improve to 3-2.

On Saturday, Anderson scored a single-game record 109 points in its 109-66 win at Kalamazoo. Larrison had two points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.

On Nov. 16, the Ravens lost to Ohio Northern, 84-67. Larrison finished with six points, two rebounds, one assist and three steals.

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate had 12 digs Thursday in Jacksonville State’s five-set loss to Kennesaw State in the Atlantic Sun Tournament quarterfinal round.

Jacksonville State finished the season 24-6 and set a program record for wins (49) in consecutive seasons.

Julia Sanders

The Triton Central graduate had one service ace and five digs Saturday in IU Kokomo’s 25-23, 25-23, 18-25, 25-21 loss at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska, in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.

IU Kokomo finished the season 30-7.

Kenneth Gipson

The Triton Central graduate was one of 13  Rose-Hulman football players selected to the All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Team.

Gipson, a junior, was a key part of Rose-Hulman’s offensive line that helped average 39.8 ppg this season and 49.1 ppg in conference games.

Rachel Dewey

The Triton Central graduate played 59 minutes Friday in Xavier’s 3-1 loss to Virginia in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship Second Round game played in State College, Pennsylvania.

Xavier finished the season 14-4-5.

Cameron Baker

The Shelbyville graduate finished seventh in the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions for Franklin College at the Gail Pebworth Invitational held at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Baker scored 314.55 points in the one-meter event and 301.5 points in the three-meter competition.

John Hartnett Jr. has to find a way to protect electric scorer Ollie Sandman.

Now a senior, Sandman averaged 20.5 ppg last season for a Golden Bears squad that finished 5-18. He is on a quest in his final season to become just the 10th Golden Bear to break 1,000 career points.

“We’ve had multiple conversations about what this year will look like,” said Hartnett Jr., now in his fourth season as head coach. “He wants to play at the next level and go out with a bang this year. We want to make it the best year possible.”

The six-foot, two-inch shooting guard already has several small school offers but wants to let his senior season play out to maximize his collegiate opportunities.

“He is going to leave (his decision) open right now,” said Hartnett Jr. “He wants some coaches to come watch him play his senior year so there is no decision soon.”

For Sandman to repeat his junior season success, he will need some familiar faces to continue to improve. Seniors Jackson Parker and Aidan Asher and juniors Luke Brinkman (main photo) and Ethan Lambert bring experience to the varsity level.

As many as three freshmen could be in the varsity mix, including point guard Caden Claxton (5-9), who will likely be in the starting lineup tonight when the Golden Bears open the season at Rushville.

“(Caden) is clearly the second best scorer in the program,” said Hartnett Jr. “The kid can really shoot it. He has put on 30 pounds since the start of summer and he has worked really hard.”

Freshmen Jack West (6-1) and Cole Schene (6-2) will keep the Shelbyville roster youthful.

With Jakob Heaton (12.4 ppg) and Nolyn Smothers (7.6 ppg) lost to graduation, Brinkman, a 5-10 guard who averaged 4.5 ppg, and Parker, a 6-2 forward who averaged 3.9 ppg, are the two leading returning scorers after Sandman.

“Parker has that long, athletic body that can guard bigger, stronger guys,” said Hartnett Jr.

Brinkman scored 28 points in Shelbyville’s first two games last season then struggled to knock down shots consistently.

“He’s been in the gym a lot working on being a shooter,” said Hartnett Jr.

Lambert (photo), a 6-2 forward, saw limited varsity action last season and will join Asher, a 5-11 guard, as the energetic sparkplugs of the program.

“Asher is a motor guy. He doesn’t stop,” said Hartnett Jr. “He plays well defensively and is one of our best rebounders.”

Sophomore Damon Badgley (6-2 guard) earned a pair of late starts last season after Sandman suffered a season-ending ankle injury at East Central. He will expand his role with the varsity this year along with junior Kohen Myers (6-3 forward) and senior Riley Fortune (6-1 forward).

“We have more scorers, more guys that can be contributors to take the pressure off Sandman’s shoulders so he doesn’t have to get 25 points every night,” said Hartnett Jr. (photo) “We have more of a team this year than last year. It’s a very solid group.”

Sandman starts the season with 643 career points after scoring 410 last season.

Shelbyville has produced three consecutive sub-.500 seasons. A 2-0 start in the opening week would help take the pressure off a squad relying on younger players.

After traveling to Rushville Wednesday, Shelbyville hosts Triton Central Saturday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium. Three games follow against programs that won a combined 49 games last season.

The Golden Bears host Connersville on Dec. 3, travel to New Castle Dec. 9 and host Whiteland Dec. 10.

The program has won 39 sectional titles, tied for 25^th most all-time in the state of Indiana, but has not celebrated with a postseason trophy since 2001.

The Golden Bears are part of Class 4A, Sectional 14 this season which includes Columbus East, Columbus North, East Central, Franklin and Whiteland.

Steve Bush photos

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EDINBURGH – Committing more turnovers than shots attempted is not a recipe for success.

Southwestern shot 56% from the field in its season opener but took just 25 shots which allowed Edinburgh to run away with a 73-37 victory Tuesday.

Caleb Dewey led the Lancers with 28 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Connor Ramey finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. Jarrett Turner added 10 points and three assists.

Wearing dark red uniforms emblazoned with “Maroons” across the chest as a throwback to when Edinburgh went by that moniker before switching to the Lancers in 1955, the hosts scored 27 first-quarter points and forced the inexperienced Spartans into 10 turnovers.

“One of the things we’ve talked about is trying to handle pressure and being able to slow it back down and run some offense,” said first-year Southwestern head coach Chris Ingels. “We never got into running any kind of offense. Edinburgh was so fast and athletic, a lot of credit to them.”

A 21-point second quarter gave the Lancers a 48-21 lead at halftime.

Southwestern had 16 first-half turnovers and just 12 shot attempts.

Matthew Clements led Southwestern with 13 points, 10 coming in the second half as he became more aggressive getting to the basket.

“Matt wants that (role) but he has never really done that before, he’s never been in that role,” said Ingels of Clements adjusting to be one of his team’s top scoring options. “It’s a little bit of a change.

“We talked in the lockerroom, there is no reason to be mad or upset. It’s going to be a long season. We will be better Saturday. We will be better each and every game.”

Connor Jewell finished with 10 points and six rebounds in the loss.

Edinburgh won the junior varsity contest, 57-23.

Freshman Avery Dennison hit three three-pointers to finish with a team-high 15 points for Southwestern.

The Spartans are back in action Saturday at Morristown.

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Edinburgh 73, Southwestern 37

SW -- Ma. Clements 6-7 1-3 13, Stone 0-0 0-0 0, Snepp 2-5 1-2 5, Jewell 3-6 4-4 10, DeArmitt 1-2 2-4 4, Kahler 2-4 0-0 5, Mi. Clements 0-1 0-0 0, Cooley 0-0 0-0 0, Barlow 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-25 8-13 37.

ED – Dewey 12-18 1-6 28, Turner 4-6 0-0 10, Bryant 1-3 0-0 2, Smith 1-8 0-0 2, Ramey 5-15 0-0 13, Hartwell 3-3 0-0 6, Brockman 2-3 1-1 6, Milburn 0-3 0-0 0, Jensen 1-1 1-1 3, Kohr 0-2 0-0 0, Londeree 1-1 0-0 3, Totten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 30-64 3-8 73.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SW (0-1)     8  13    8    8  --  37

ED (1-0)    27  21  19    3  --  73

Three-point field goals: SW 1-5 (Snepp 0-2, Kahler 1-3), ED 10-24 (Dewey 3-5, Turner 2-3, Bryant 0-1, Smith 0-1, Ramey 3-9, Brockman 1-2, Kohr 0-1, Londeree 1-1, Totten 0-1). Rebounds: SW 15 (Ma. Clements 3, Snepp 1, Jewell 6, DeArmitt 3, Kahler 2), ED 27 (Dewey 3, Turner 1, Bryant 3, Smith 6, Ramey 6, Hartwell 3, Brockman 2, Milburn 3). Assists: SW 8 (Stone 2, Snepp 2, DeArmitt 1, Kahler 2, Cooley 1), ED 12 (Ramey 4, Turner 3, Bryant 1, Smith 2, Milburn 1, Totten 1). Steals: SW 1 (DeArmitt 1), ED 12 (Dewey 3, Turner 1, Smith 1, Ramey 3, Hartwell 2, Brockman 1, Milburn 1). Blocks: SW 1 (DeArmitt 1). Total fouls: SW 7, ED 15. Turnovers: SW 27, ED 10.

JV

Edinburgh 57, Southwestern 23

SW: Dennison 15, Cooley 4, Shaw 2, Oliver 2.

ED: Londeree 22, Totten 19, Burkman 8, Branigin 6, Parkhurst 2.

Lucas Mitchell is proving to be a force to contend with at Waldron.

The senior wing poured in a career-high 47 points Tuesday to lead the Mohawks to an 86-62 victory over visiting Crothersville.

Mitchell followed up a 28-point performance Monday in Waldron’s win over Elwood with the third-best single-game scoring performance in program history.

Waldron raced out to a 24-9 lead after the first quarter but Crothersville settled in with a 22-point second quarter to stay within reach, down 50-31 at halftime.

Mitchell, who did not hit a 3-pointer in the win, had 20 points in the first half. He finished with 21 made field goals and went 5-for-11 at the free throw line.

Crothersville (0-1) outscored the Mohawks (2-0) in the third quarter, 20-19, but never got the comeback on track.

Preston West topped the Tigers with 28 points. Curtis Thompson finished with 15.

Bryce Yarling scored 14 points to move closer to becoming a top-five scorer in Waldron history. Yarling now has 1,016 career points, leaving him 16 points away from surpassing Tyler Bowlby for the No. 5 spot.

Jacob Lindsey hit a trio of 3s for Waldron to finish with 11 points.

Waldron’s junior varsity improved to 2-0 with a 59-16 victory over Crothersville.

Will Larrison led the Mohawks with 14 points.

Waldron will play its third game of the opening week of the season Saturday at Knightstown.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls basketball

Monrovia 76, Waldron 42

At Monrovia, four Bulldogs scored in double digits to lead the win over the visiting Mohawks (1-4).

Avery Newlin led Monrovia (3-2) with 18 points. Joslyn Young (17 points), Ashley Lewis (15) and Ruby Murrell (10) also scored in double digits.

Monrovia won the JV contest, 36-14.

Waldron returns to the court Saturday at Greenwood Christian (1-5).

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The two-time defending sectional champion Triton Central Tigers have lost 11 players to graduation from the pair of 13-win teams.

“We are definitely in a little bit different position,” admitted Triton Central head coach Kyle Ballard, 31-39 in his fourth season in Fairland. “We only have back three lettermen from last year and none of the five that started the regional game.”

Josiah Blair, Alex Crouse, Caleb Miller and Josh Kemper graduated while Jameson Palmer transferred to Morristown.

“We are definitely younger than we’ve been,” said Ballard.

The 2022-2023 roster features three seniors – Luke Faust, Isaac Morgan and Cooper Baugh. Combined, the trio averaged 12.5 points per game last season.

“We are going to rely on Isaac’s and Luke’s leadership a lot,” said Ballard. “Everyone else, we have to get caught up.”

Ballard admits the players, including two freshmen, are further along than he expected as the season opener Wednesday against Morristown looms.

Eli Sego, a five-foot, 11-inch guard, and Max Crouse, a 6-0 guard, will both see varsity minutes early in the season.

“It’s the first time I’ve started freshmen at the varsity level,” said Ballard.

The varsity rotation also will include juniors Jace Stuckey (6-4 forward) and Sam Kemper (5-11 forward) and sophomore Silas Blair (6-5 forward) and Taggy Goul (6-4 center).

“We have to get old fast,” said Ballard. “We had good opportunities in the offseason and the first couple of weeks of practice to simplify things and bring the young guys along.”

Morgan, a 6-0- guard, is TC’s leading returning scorer at 8.3 ppg.

“Isaac and Luke are both playing with a lot of confidence,” said Ballard. “Luke is shooting with a lot of confidence right now. I see real maturity in his game.”

Faust, a 6-3 guard, averaged 4.2 ppg last season in 22 games played.

As needed, Ballard believes he can add sophomores Sam Collier and Gavin Morgan and junior Garrett McElfresh to the varsity rotation.

The Tigers open with their traditional run through its county opposition with Morristown at home first followed by road trips to Shelbyville (Saturday), Waldron (Dec. 1) and Southwestern (Dec. 3).

“With the young kids, I don’t know how they will respond to situations when the lights come on,” said Ballard. “It feels like we are starting further ahead from the previous year because there is not as much new stuff each year. I feel good about the chemistry with this team. They feel pretty connected right now.”

For Triton Central to secure its first ever back-to-back-to-back sectional titles, it will have to go through last year’s regional champion – Eastern Hancock.

The Tigers are slotted into Class 2A, Sectional 42 this postseason with the Royals, 22-6 last season, Indiana Crossroads Conference rival Indianapolis Scecina (12-11 last season), Irvington Prep and Indianapolis Riverside.

“Eastern Hancock will still be really good,” said Ballard. “They are really experienced. They only graduated one or two primary guys from last year. It will be a challenge if we see those guys.”

Triton Central and Eastern Hancock will not meet during the regular season.

“It’s definitely a different looking sectional than we’ve had (at South Ripley),” said Ballard.

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Bryce Yarling entered his senior season needing just nine points to reach the 1,000-point club at Waldron.

Yarling took less than eight minutes Monday in the Mohawks’ season opener against Elwood to reach the milestone.

With two quick baskets and four made free throws, Yarling moved to 999 career points. Sophomore Lucas Shaw then found Yarling for a corner three-pointer to eclipse 1,000 points.

Yarling became the sixth Mohawk in boys basketball program history to reach 1,000 points. He now sets his sights on Jared Lux’s career scoring mark of 1,313 points.

Lucas Mitchell led Waldron to a season-opening 59-35 victory over visiting Elwood with 28 points.

Yarling finished with 11 points. Jacob Lindsey added nine in the win.

Jackson Blackford and Hunter Sallee each had seven points to lead Elwood (0-1).

Waldron won the junior varsity game, 59-26.

Jack Fischer led the Mohawks with 13 points. Noah Mitchell and Will Larrison each had 11.

Waldron returns to action tonight hosting Crothersville.

In other prep events Monday:

Girls basketball

Hauser 61, Southwestern 30

At Hauser, Madelyn Poe scored a game-high 21 points to help the host Jets even their season record at 2-2 (1-0 Mid-Hoosier Conference).

Norah Berkenstock and Kyliegh Parrott finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Hauser led 27-16 at halftime then outscored the Spartans 16-8 in the third quarter to build a 19-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

McKinley Correll led Southwestern (0-6, 0-3 MHC) with 10 points. Tanna Tatlock finished with seven points and Riley Engel had five.

Hauser won the junior varsity game, 30-14.

Ellie Gosser and Katelynn Coffman each scored five points for Southwestern.

Southwestern travels to Class A, No. 7 Trinity Lutheran (1-1) Thursday.

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The 2021-2022 boys basketball season at Morristown was its first without any remnant of the 2018 state basketball championship squad.

Quinton Batton’s battle with leukemia did not make the season any easier.

The Yellow Jackets struggled to a 3-18 record in Collin McCartt’s only season as head coach. McCartt is now the athletic director at Morristown and rookie head coach Cory Kreiger stands firmly in control.

For more on Kreiger's background, https://shelbycountypost.com/sports/633656

“We want to be competitive starting out (the season),” said Kreiger, who was an assistant coach with the Brownsburg boys basketball program last season. “Our main goal is running our race and playing our best basketball come tournament time at the end of the year.”

Kreiger will start with a fresh slate with the graduation of Nick Stidham (12 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists as a senior) and the departure of Nolan Laster (16.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.3 apg).

What Kreiger has back is Batton, who will serve as an assistant coach with the program this season after missing his entire senior year.

“It’s good to have him around for us,” said Kreiger. “I’ve gotten to know ‘Q’ the last five to six months and he brings something to the staff that is good for our guys.”

The coaching staff’s top task is to find offensive production. Cade Mahin (4.4 ppg) and Chase Theobald (2.5 ppg) are the program’s two leading returning scorers.

“Chase battled through injuries last year so we’re excited to have him back out,” said Kreiger. “He is great in that leadership role.”

Mahin is a six-foot, four-inch junior forward.

“He is a high energy guy that has stepped into leadership very naturally,” said Kreiger. “I can’t say enough good things about his intangibles.”

The loss of Laster could be tempered by the transfer of 6-3 forward Jameson Palmer from Triton Central.

“We are excited to have him. He played in some big games last year for Triton Central,” said Kreiger. “His ability to be in a leadership role for us (is key). He brings that presence.”

Joining Theobald, Palmer and Mahin in the early-season starting lineup will be juniors Wyatt Marcum and Mathew Carlton.

Junior Noah Garthwaite adds experience to the bench. He will be joined by seniors Kamdyn Gaines and Trey Gooding and sophomores Jacob Hawk and Colin Kieninger in the sub rotation.

Morristown will need to be solid defensively and avoid shootouts.

“We’ve got height this year and I like our athleticism,” said Kreiger of Mahin, Kieninger (6-4 forward), Palmer (6-3) and Gaines (6-3) on the front line.

Offensively, the team will not rely on one or two guys to score most of the points.

“I like the motion guys making plays for others,” said Kreiger.

Morristown opens the season Wednesday at Triton Central, where Palmer was part of the Tigers’ sectional championship team in 2022.

“He is excited for the opportunity,” said Kreiger. “It will be a special night for him.”

For Kreiger, too.

“I’m not too nervous. I’m excited to get going. It’s been a long offseason through the summer and fall,” he said.

Morristown is the host site for the 2023 Shelby County Basketball Tournament in early January.

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Chris Ingels knows there will plenty of eyes on him as he makes his head coaching debut for Southwestern Tuesday in Edinburgh.

Ingels, who has coached baseball and cross country at Southwestern as well as serving as junior varsity basketball coach for nine seasons, can vividly recall his playing days as an Edinburgh Lancer and head coach Steve Todd telling him he would be a good coach someday.

Todd’s inclination was correct as Ingels has found success coaching through various sports. But Tuesday night at his alma mater, Ingels will finally be a head coach of a boys basketball program.

“I have interviewed for a couple of (boys basketball) positions when I probably wouldn’t have been ready for it,” said Ingels. “This is something I always wanted and worked toward but once I became a baseball coach (at Southwestern), I told (head basketball coach and athletic director) Brady Days I was not in any hurry to be a basketball coach.”

That all changed when Days surprisingly announced his impending departure from Southwestern after 16 seasons as a head coach with a program-record 153 wins and three sectional championships.

“His voice was always there and he knew how everything went,” said Ingels of Days’ tenure.

Not only is Days gone from the program, but graduation took Aiden Hartsell (22.1 points per game) and Jordan Jones (19.6 ppg). No other Spartan averaged more than 4.4 ppg last season.

“We are definitely a work in progress but we have a lot of good pieces,” said Ingels. “We have three seniors who all have played quite a bit of varsity minutes last year. We are expecting a lot from them.”

Senior Matthew Clements steps into the leadership role this season. He averaged 4.4 ppg and a team-leading 5.3 rebounds as a junior.

“He is one of the better athletes on the floor most nights,” said Ingels. “He has improved his offensive game. And he may have to guard the other team’s best player most nights.”

Senior Jonah DeArmitt will find himself in the unique position as the focal point of running the offense. With his six-foot, four-inch frame, DeArmitt can get established in the low post and work or kick the ball out to the shooters.

“We have got to get the ball to him,” said Ingels. “We have to play through him. That will be a little change for us to play through the post.”

Carter Snepp, a 6-3 junior, is ready for a bigger role with the varsity program.

“Nobody has worked harder or put more time in than him,” said Ingels. “He is shooting the ball well. We expect a lot from him.”

The program gets considerably younger after that trio and senior Connor Jewell. Ingels will look at sophomores Ben Kahler, Eli Stone, Michael Clements and Kaden Barlow and freshman Carter Cooley to fill out the rotations.

“Kahler will do a little bit of everything. … Stone is great defensively and takes care of the ball. … Clements is an athlete that can finish around the basket,” said Ingels.

For Southwestern to have success, it must find a way to score points consistently.

“We have guys that can shoot the ball,” said Ingels. “We have to space around Jonah. We want to play through the paint. We just don’t have the speed to drive so we have to throw it in and move and play off that.”

A collective defensive effort could help the offense score points.

“We’ve had some great athletes the last several years,” said Ingels. “We have a little more length this year which can help us defensively. We may play a little more zone with our length.”

Ingels admits there will be some anxious moments leading up to his head coaching debut Tuesday at Edinburgh. He also knows there will be plenty of familiar faces in the stands to show support – including Brady Days.

“I think I will be nervous for every game but it will be a little different playing where I went to school and grew up,” he said. “This was always on my mind. I know a couple of my coaches will be there. And coach Days will be there.

“It will be a fun but stressful time.”

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Beau Scott is not afraid to let his team dream of that big season.

Following Waldron’s first winning season since 2015, the Mohawks are primed for a breakout year in Scott’s fourth season in charge.

Waldron finished 12-11 last season and produced a stunning victory in the championship game of the Shelby County Tournament on its home floor. In addition, the Mohawks had front-row seats to a girls basketball program that went 24-2, earned a No. 1 ranking in the state coaches poll and won sectional and regional titles.

“Looking back at the county tournament last year, it was definitely motivation for us,” said Scott, 24-44 in his first three seasons at Waldron. “It was in our building. The girls won right before us. The girls’ success last year was a cool experience for the community to live through that. The guys want to be next.”

With seniors Bryce Yarling (20.4 points per game last season) and Lucas Mitchell (17.3 ppg) returning, Waldron knows it can keep up offensively with most teams.

Two seniors were lost to graduation -- Bryant Becker and Caden Sheaffer -- but a deep underclassmen class makes the program stronger as does the addition of Shelbyville transfer Keith Settles.

“We’re excited,” said Scott. “Things have been going pretty well. We have good numbers (in the program). We’ve brought a lot back from last year. Winning the county tournament (again) is very important but we have a higher list of goals for sure. Our guys really want to win a sectional. That’s tough because there are a lot of good teams in (the sectional), but we believe we can.”

Scott won’t temper that belief.

“I’m encouraging it. We’re not shying away from setting that goal,” he said.

As Yarling, a five-foot, eight-inch guard, and Mitchell, a 6-5 forward, have grown as players, so has the success level of the program. Yarling averaged 16.3 ppg as a sophomore for the 5-win Mohawks. Mitchell collected 6.4 points and five rebounds per game.

As juniors, Yarling brought up his scoring, rebounding, assists and steals production. Mitchell blossomed into a legitimate scoring threat and averaged nine rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.

Now, can they be better as seniors?

“I think so,” said Scott. “Their decision making has improved. Both have added a lot to their games since last year. Bryce is staying under control all the time while Lucas can score at all three levels.

“They definitely both have improved.”

With Becker (8.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.5 apg) and Sheaffer (4 ppg, 2.4 rpg) lost to graduation, Scott will look for more production from Lucas Shaw, a 6-2 guard who started every game last season as a freshman.

“He has grown a lot physically and as a player,” said Scott. “He was sharp in our scrimmage. He won’t be physically outmatched on the floor.”

Sophomore guard Parker Douglas will move into the starting lineup to start the season.

“He had a really good offseason,” said Scott. “He plays like a mix of (Bryant and Sheaffer). He is a good ball handler and always seems to be in the right place at the right time.”

Settles, a 6-6 junior forward, will take some interior defensive pressure off Mitchell.

“He will free Lucas up to take away a good guard or good wing,” said Scott.

Seniors Sam Adkins and David Miller, juniors Sam Jones, Jacob Lindsey and Jacob Bennett and sophomore Will Larrison will offer options for Scott off the bench.

Waldron opens the season with back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday at home against Elwood (1-21 last season) and Crothersville (3-20), respectively.  The Mohawks close out the holiday week with a road trip Saturday to Knightstown (7-16).

The toughest part of Waldron’s schedule kicks in after the Shelby County Tournament in early January. In fact, of the first eight games this season, only two opponents had winning records last season.

“The potential for a strong start is there,” admitted Scott.

The big early season matchup comes Dec. 3 at Edinburgh, who finished 22-4 last season and is back in the same sectional as Waldron.

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Shelbyville’s game Saturday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium looked eerily familiar.

The only difference was the aggressor was the Golden Bears, who forced Franklin County into 32 turnovers and 27% shooting from the field to produce their seventh-straight win to start the season, 50-31.

The staggering struggles of Franklin County was a consistent theme to Shelbyville losses over the past three seasons. Now starting a four-guard lineup made up of two seniors and two juniors, head coach Becca Hoefler is turning up the pressure on the opposition, which is creating more fast-break scoring opportunities.

“I think every single game for the past three years, our offensive ball handling has always been an issue for us,” said Hoefler, now 30-47 in her fourth year with the program. “This year, we’ve gotten to the point where multiple people can bring the ball up. In years previous, we had one, maybe two. Now, we have at least four people on the court, sometimes five that can bring it up anytime.”

After six first-quarter turnovers Saturday against Franklin County (5-2), Shelbyville committed just one turnover in the second quarter when it created separation from the Wildcats.

Over the same eight-minute span, Franklin County had 14 turnovers and shot just 1-of-6 from the field to fall behind 24-10 at halftime.

“We weren’t hitting shots the first half (9 of 33, 27%) but we wanted to keep creating our own energy on the defensive end,” said Hoefler. “We can always get a steal. We can always make that extra effort. The more turnovers for us means we are on offense more.”

The starting quartet of Kylee Edwards, Abby Brenner, Ava Wilson (photo) and Ellie Simpson combined for 12 of Shelbyville’s 13 steals in the game.

“I think we are surprising teams,” admitted Hoefler. “Teams are so used to it being Shelbyville, it’s an easy win, so I think they are overlooking us. I think it’s neat we are kind of making a name for ourselves that we’re not going to be an easy, walk-in win for anybody.”

Edwards and Wilson combined for 30 of Shelbyville’s 35 points over the second and third quarters to extend the lead to 41-24. Edwards and Wilson scored the final four points of the third quarter off mid-court steals and layins.

“They are killing it. They talk the same way. They communicate very well on the court together. They both are die-hard competitors that want to win,” said Hoefler of the duo averaging 44 points per game this season. “This is their third year playing together and you can see how they have formed a good relationship on the court.”

Edwards finished with a game-high 21 points Saturday and pulled down 15 rebounds.

Wilson scored 18 points and added seven rebounds to go with five steals.

Kassidy Schell led Franklin County with 12 points and seven rebounds.

The last time Shelbyville was 7-0 to start the season was in 2004, when the Michael Gaines-led Golden Bears opened 8-0.

“I wasn’t quite sure we would be 7-0 but I knew we were capable of it,” said Hoefler. “I wasn’t quite sure what teams would show at us. It’s been nice that what teams have done to us has not affected our game. That’s been big for us. We are always going to do what we need to do and teams have to adjust to us. That’s been a big change for us.”

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 5-0 with a 35-31 victory Saturday. Savannah Collins led the Golden Bears with 12 points. Sophia Asher finished with 10 points – all in the second half.

Shelbyville 60, Southwestern 21

The Golden Bears got to 6-0 Friday at Southwestern.

After a sluggish first half, Shelbyville scored 23 third-quarter points to pull away from the Spartans (0-4).

Edwards scored 22 points while Wilson followed at 14. Brenner added nine in the win.

McKinley Correll led the Spartans with eight points. Haley Casey and Cy Stockdale each scored four points.

Up Next

Southwestern travels to Hauser (1-2) Monday.

Shelbyville has the week to prepare for its Hoosier Heritage Conference opener Saturday afternoon at Pendleton Heights (4-2, 2-0 HHC).

The Golden Bears have lost 15 straight to the Arabians.

Record Watch

With 43 points in two wins this week, Edwards now has 1,322 points.

She trails Brenda Kelsey by 52 points for No. 2 on the Golden Bears’ career scoring list.

Edwards, averaging 26.9 ppg through the first seven games of her senior season, needs 97 points to surpass Gretchen Haehl’s career mark of 1,418 points.

Shelbyville 50, Franklin County 31

FC – Ki. Schell 0-4 1-3 1, Ka. Schell 5-11 0-1 12, Mears 2-3 0-1 4, Rolfes 2-12 3-3 8, Billman 2-9 0-0 5, Kaiser 0-1 1-4 1, Stacy 0-1 0-0 0, Crain 0-0 0-0 0, Singer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-41 5-12 31.

SH – Edwards 8-21 3-4 21, Brenner 0-4 2-4 2, Simpson 2-2 0-0 6, Wilson 7-22 4-4 18, Pogue 0-2 0-0 0, Keller 0-5 1-2 1, L. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, E. Johnson 1-6 0-3 2, Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, S. Baker 0-0 0-0 0, H. Baker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-62 10-17 51.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FC (5-2)    6    4  14    7  --  31

SH (7-0)    6  18  17   9  --  50

Three-point field goals: FC 4-18 (Ki. Schell 0-2, Ka. Schell 2-6, Rolfes 1-4, Billman 1-6, Stacy 0-1), SH 4-16 (Edwards 2-9, Brenner 0-1, Simpson 2-2, Wilson 0-2, Keller 0-2). Rebounds: FC 32 (Ki. Schell 3, Ka. Schell 7, Mears 4, Rolfes 6, Billman 3, Kaiser 8, Stacy 1), SH 36 (Edwards 15, Brenner 3, Simpson 2, Wilson 7, Pogue 1, Keller 2, E. Johnson 6). Assists: FC 5 (Ki. Schell 1, Mears 1, Billman 2, Kaiser 1), SH 4 (Edwards 1, Wilson 1, Pogue 1, Keller 1). Steals: FC 4 (Ki. Schell 2, Billman 2), SH 13 (Edwards 2, Brenner 2, Simpson 3, Wilson 5, Pogue 1). Blocks: FC 2 (Rolfes 1, Billman 1). Total fouls: FC 17, SH 17. Fouled out: Mears (FC), Brenner (SH). Turnovers: FC 32, SH 13.

JV

Shelbyville 35, Franklin County 31

FC: Cox 10, Singer 6, Broshear 6, Brewer 4, Maddock 3, Grimmeissen 2.

SH: Collins 12, Asher 10, H. Baker 5, Lee 4, Stewart 3, Jones 1.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FC    4  10    8    9  --  31

SH    2  11  16    6  --  35

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Maryrose Felling scored a career-high 23 points to lead Triton Central to a 66-28 victory Saturday afternoon.

The freshman hit three of her four three-pointers in the second quarter when the Tigers extended a 16-9 lead after one quarter to 34-16 at halftime.

Triton Central improved to 2-2 this season and 2-0 against Indiana Crossroads Conference opponents.

Caitlyn Brooks led the Saints (0-3, 0-2 ICC) with 17 points.

Triton Central hosts Morristown (0-6) Wednesday in a varsity-only contest at 6 p.m.

In another girls basketball game Saturday:

Tri 78, Southwestern 25

At Southwestern, Class A, No. 4 Tri improved to 5-0 this season after four of the five starters scored in double digits.

Bailey Parham led the Titans with 29 points. Abi Clarke (13 points), Kenley Cornelius (12) and Amber Rich (11) also reached double-digit scoring in the win.

Tanna Tatlock had nine points to lead Southwestern (0-5).

Tri won the junior varsity contest, 48-10. Emma Isgrigg led the Spartans with six points.

Southwestern is at Hauser (1-2) Monday.

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Shelbyville’s girls swim program won all but three events Thursday to defeat Indian Creek, 105-51.

Winning individual events for Shelbyville were Miriam Garringer (200 freestyle in 2:19.49, 100 butterfly in 1:18.56), Meeghen Bushfield (200 individual medley in 3:04.03, 100 breaststroke in 1:39.64), Naomi Garringer (100 freestyle in 1:02.82), Lexi Dwiggins (500 freestyle in 7:27.96) and Riley Everette (100 backstroke in 1:20.51).

Miriam Garringer, Bushfield, Everette and Paige Bohman won the 200 medley relay in 2:13.36.

Naomi Garringer, Bohman, Everette and Miriam Garringer took first place in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:57.32.

Shelbyville’s home opener is Tuesday against Whiteland.

With the return of a veteran diver and an influx of freshman talent, Shelbyville High School’s girls swim program produced a successful debut Tuesday in its season debut.

Shelbyville defeated Lawrence Central, 73-24, and lost to conference rival New Palestine, 59-42.

After missing most of the 2021-2022 season, Helfer-Vazquez produced a winning performance Tuesday for the Golden Bears. She compiled 148.3 points in the diving competition to hold off three New Palestine divers.

Freshman Naomi Garringer won the 100-yard freestyle in 1:02.86 and the 100 backstroke in 1:13.7. She also teamed with Lilly Conners, Lexi Dwiggins and Riley Everette to win the 400 freestyle relay in 4:58.13.

Everette also had a strong freshman debut, winning the 100 butterfly in 1:11.5.

Shelbyville’s only other event win came in the 200 individual medley, where Miriam Garringer touched the wall in 2:33.53.

The Golden Bears also scored runner-up points in the 200 medley relay with the Garringer sisters, Everette and Paige Bohman, another freshman; the 200 freestyle (Everette); the 50 freestyle (Bohman); and the 500 freestyle (M. Garringer).

Shelbyville travels to Indian Creek tonight for a girls-only meet.

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Hailey Pogue remembers running wild against the Waldron Wild.

Recalling one of her earliest recreational league softball games, the Shelbyville senior delivered a hard hit ball and rounded the bases with reckless abandon.

“I hit the ball and ran around all four bases. I never stopped. They chased me the whole way there,” said Pogue of the fond memory. “I don’t remember if I was safe or out but I ran all the way around.”

The memory is fitting considering Wednesday’s circumstances that brought family and friends together to the Golden Bear Room at Shelbyville High School.

Pogue celebrated signing her letter of intent to play college softball at the University of Indianapolis, a perennial top-20 nationally ranked Division II program.

“The location, the excellent programs academically and athletically and the coaches are phenomenal,” said Pogue of why she opted to be a Greyhound. “The team loves to win and that’s why I picked UIndy.”

Pogue will major in Exercise Science while immediately bolstering the softball program’s pitching staff.

“They want me to be a pitcher that can hit,” she said. “They do see me working my way into the field. Right now, they are looking at my pitching and getting me into the lineup and hitting.”

Pogue is a versatile athlete that plays three varsity sports at Shelbyville.

She was a goalkeeper and forward for a 13-win soccer team this fall and is in the starting lineup for a Golden Bears basketball team that is 5-0 for the first time in 19 seasons.

And Pogue was a key contributor for Shelbyville’s softball program that came one win short of reaching the Class 4A state championship game in June. She hit .333 with 10 doubles and 28 runs batted in for the 24-6 Golden Bears. She also went 6-1 in the pitching circle in 14 appearances.

“I think we can get back to regional and semistate. I think we have a shot,” said Pogue of the softball program’s outlook for 2023. “We have a full pitching staff. It will depend on who steps up.”

Pogue admits the recruiting process was long and strenuous. Division I schools can start contacting athletes on Sept. 1 of their junior year.

“That’s when most people’s recruiting starts,” she said. “Mine lasted past Sept. 1 of my senior year so it was really long and really strung out. It’s a process and you have to keep going with it.”

From recreational softball to travel softball, Pogue’s first goal was to be a Golden Bear softball player. But the more she played, the more she grew to love the sport.

“I love it and I want to keep doing it,” she said with a big smile.

Now UIndy is taking a chance on a player that one day, a long time ago, ran wild against the Waldron Wild.

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Undersized but not without heart, Shelbyville improved to 5-0 for the first time in 19 seasons Tuesday with a 48-41 victory over Greensburg at William L. Garrett Gymnasium

Kylee Edwards scored a game-high 24 points and Ava Wilson backed her up with 16 points to keep Shelbyville unbeaten to match the start of the 2003-04 Golden Bears that opened their season 8-0.

“We did a really nice job. We took the lead and we never backed down,” said Shelbyville head coach Becca Hoefler. “The girls did a really nice job battling each possession.”

After an even first quarter, Shelbyville took the lead for good with an 11-2 run to start the second quarter, one in which the Golden Bears only shot 38 percent from the field but did not commit a turnover.

Greensburg struggled to hit open shots the entire game and grew frustrated with 27 turnovers against an aggressive Shelbyville defense.

“We were prepared to use a secondary defense in case our main defense didn’t work but we didn’t have to go into it,” said Hoefler. “We worked our butts off every possession and it showed with the score.”

Edwards had 11 of her points in the second quarter to help Shelbyville open up a 30-20 lead by halftime.

The Pirates committed eight turnovers in the third quarter and managed just six shots while Shelbyville pushed the lead to 40-28.

“Our team is definitely very athletic and that is what we are trying to use this year, our athleticism to make sure that gets us to our offense and our defense,” said Hoefler.

Greensburg (2-2) scored the first four points of the fourth quarter then put together a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 46-41 with 34 seconds left.

The Pirates, who missed all 15 three-point attempts in the loss, could not get any closer, though.

Leah West, Greensburg’s six-foot, one-inch sophomore center, finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

“Our main focus this game was West. She is a beast,” said Hoefler. “Hailey Pogue worked her butt off every single possession to make sure she didn’t pop off. And it was our defensive pressure on the guards that didn’t allow it to get into her very often.”

Greensburg’s varsity roster includes one senior, one junior and eight sophomores and freshmen.

Aly Powers, one of the freshman that started against Shelbyville, had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 3-0 this season with a 50-21 victory over Greensburg.

Sophia Asher led the Golden Bears with 19 points. Reese Fortune had 11 and Savannah Collins finished with nine.

Shelbyville travels to Southwestern (0-3) Friday and hosts Franklin County (4-1) Saturday at Garrett Gym.

Shelbyville 48, Greensburg 41

GB – Harmon 1-5 4-4 6, Powers 5-12 4-6 14, McQueen 2-4 1-2 5, Adams 0-4 0-0 0, West 4-11 7-9 15, Thackery 0-0 1-2 1, Stapp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals:  12-42 17-23 41.

SH – Edwards 7-23 7-8 24, Brenner 0-0 0-0 0, Simpson 1-5 0-0 2, Wilson 6-26 3-7 16, Pogue 0-2 0-0 0, Keller 2-11 2-3 6, L. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, E. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-67 12-18 48.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GB (2-2)  12    8    8  13  --  41

SH (5-0)  12  18  10    8  --  48

Three-point field goals: GB 0-15 (Harmon 0-3, Powers 0-6, Adams 0-2, West 0-2, Thackery 0-2). SH 4-16 (Edwards 3-7, Simpson 0-1, Wilson 1-4, Keller 0-4). Rebounds: GB 46 (Harmon 9, Powers 9, McQueen 9, Adams 5, West 11, Thackery 3), SH 30 (Edwards 7, Wilson 6, Pogue 9, Keller 6, L. Johnson 1, E. Johnson 1). Assists: GB 4 (Harmon 2, Powers 2), SH 2 (Edwards 2). Steals: GB 1 (Thackery 1), SH 12 (Edwards 1, Simpson 3, Wilson 3, Pogue 2, Keller 3). Blocks: GB 3 (Powers 1, West 2). Total fouls: GB 18, SH 18. Fouled out: Harmon (GB). Turnovers: GB 27, SH 9.

JV

Shelbyville 50, Greensburg 21

GB: Kuntz 10, Gould 5, Murray 3, Thornton 2, Clark 1.

SH: Asher 19, Fortune 11, Collins 9, Baker 5, Keller 2, Lee 2, Jones 1, Morrell 1.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GB    8    9    1    3  --  21

SH  17  15  12    6  --  50

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Julia Sanders had 16 digs Saturday to help Indiana University Kokomo defeat Midway University to claim the program’s fifth consecutive River States Conference Volleyball Championship and earn its eighth consecutive NAIA National Tournament berth.

Sanders (photo, front row, far right), a Triton Central graduate, also had one assist and one service ace in a 19-25, 25-22, 25-13, 20-25, 15-12 victory over Midway to improve to 29-6 this season.

IU Kokomo will travel to Omaha, Nebraska, for an NAIA National Tournament Opening Round contest against College of Saint Mary at 8:30 p.m. (EST) Saturday.

IU Kokomo reached the RSC championship with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-14 win Friday over IU Southeast and a 26-24, 25-20, 28-26 win over IU East Saturday in the semifinal round.

Sanders had 10 digs against IU Southeast and five digs against IU East.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate had one ace and 10 digs Sunday in Jacksonville State’s regular-season finale victory at Austin Peay. The Gamecocks improved to 24-5 with a 17-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-20 win that secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Conference Tournament.

Schiffli had seven digs Friday in a 25-20, 25-13, 25-22 victory over North Alabama.

Jacksonville State will take on No. 6 seed Kennesaw State Thursday at 1 p.m. in the ASUN Tournament hosted by Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Hayden Kermode

The Triton Central graduate was credited with four tackles Saturday in Concordia’s 27-10 win over St. Francis in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Concordia’s season ended with a 5-5 record.

Kenneth Gipson

The Triton Central graduate was part of Rose-Hulman’s starting offensive line Saturday in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game at Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati.

No. 22 ranked Mount St. Joseph improved to 10-0 with a 40-31 victory over Rose-Hulman in a game that featured nearly 900 yards of offense.

With the win, the Lions advanced to the NCAA DIII playoffs.

Rose-Hulman finished 6-4 this season.

Dylan Wasson

The Triton Central graduate had four tackles Saturday in Olivet Nazarene’s 38-31 win over No. 24 Roosevelt in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Olivet Nazarene (6-4) travels to Waxahachie, Texas, for Friday’s 2022 NCCAA Victory Bowl against Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU).

Cameron Baker

The Shelbyville graduate placed third in a pair of diving meets for Franklin College.

On Friday, Franklin College defeated Transylvania, 155-85. Baker placed third in each of the two sessions of one-meter diving.

On Saturday in wins against Bluffton and Centre, Baker again finished third in the one-meter event (207.9 points) and third in the three-meter event (183.25).

Jill Anspaugh

The Shelbyville graduate finished 171^st overall Saturday for Franklin College in the Great Lakes Cross Country Regional in Hope, Michigan.

Anspaugh crossed the finish line in 25 minutes, 45 seconds.

Michael Fox

The Shelbyville graduate placed 225^th overall for Manchester College in the Great Lakes Regional Saturday. He crossed the finish line in 28.45.

Rachel Dewey

The Triton Central graduate played 61 minutes Friday to help Xavier women’s soccer defeat Tennessee, 4-1 in double overtime, to advance to the NCAA Championship Second Round for just the second time in program history.

The Musketeers improved to 15-3-5 this season and will play Friday at No. 11 Virginia.

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate notched her first collegiate double-double Thursday with a 13-point, 11-rebound performance in a 76-66 loss at Milwaukee.

Rylie Stephens

The Triton Central graduate had four points, one rebound and one assist Monday in Samford’s 75-70 loss at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn.

The loss dropped Samford to 0-3 this season.

On Thursday, Samford lost 81-51 at Vanderbilt. Stephens finished with 12 points and three rebounds.

Hayden Langkabel

The Morristown graduate became the 39^th player in Marian men’s basketball history to eclipse 1,000 career points Saturday in the Knights’ 72-67 win at Shawnee State in the Crossroads League/Mid-South Challenge in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Langkabel had 11 points to push his career total to 1,009 points, which puts him 35^th on the program’s career scoring list.

Marian defeated No. 20 Cumberland University Friday, 72-53. Langkabel finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists.

The Knights are 5-0 this season.

Olivia Faust

The Triton Central graduate had 10 points, one steal and one assist Saturday in Marian’s 69-61 loss to No. 4 Carroll College in the Leah Whittaker Memorial Tournament hosted by Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Ind.

The loss dropped No. 7 Marian to 5-1 this season.

On Friday, the Knights defeated Reinhardt University, 68-45, in the tournament opener. Faust finished with 19 points, two rebounds, four steals and one assist.

Kyle Crim

The Morristown graduate had two points and one assist on Nov. 9 in Hanover’s season-opening 73-42 victory at Spalding in Louisville, Kentucky.

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate had eight points, two rebounds, five assists and one steal Saturday for Hanover in a 78-55 win over Elmhurst University in the Wheaton Invitational.

The win improved the Panthers to 2-0.

On Friday, Hanover defeated Wheaton College, 53-50. Heath had two points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate collected 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out two assists Saturday for Oakland City in its home-opening win over Simmons College of Kentucky, 84-58.

Oakland City is 3-0 this season.

Bella Larrison

The Waldron graduate finished with 12 points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals Saturday in Anderson University’s 90-82 win over Brevard in the Mountain Top Classic in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Anderson opened its season Friday with a 65-56 loss at Covenant (Ga.). Larrison had five points, three rebounds, one steal and one block in her collegiate debut.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Eastern Hancock sent a message. Triton Central heard it loud and clear.

Ruby White dominated the first quarter and Grace Stapleton caught fire in the third quarter to lead Class 2A, No. 15 Eastern Hancock to a 56-34 victory over visiting 2A No. 10 Triton Central.

Both the Royals, now 3-1, and the Tigers, 1-2, know they will likely meet again in February as part of the five-team Sectional 42 field. Eastern Hancock broke an 8-game losing streak to Triton Central in the 2022 sectional semifinal with a 66-65 three-overtime victory. Now the Royals have won two straight over their rivals, with the second win quite convincing.

“There were a few times where we gave up an offensive rebound here and they hit a 3, then we missed a layup here and they got a fast break,” said Triton Central head coach Bryan Graham. “Any time you are playing a good team like that, it can go quick the other way and it did tonight. They shot the ball extremely well and we didn’t.”

Triton Central battled the flu all week, leading to sick basketball players Thursday in a win over Cascade, sick football players Friday in the regional championship game loss to Evansville Mater Dei, and more sick basketball players Saturday in Charlottesville.

Starting guard Hallie Schweitzer did not play while Jenna Cox and Maryrose Felling played but struggled.

“Right now, it’s just a situation where you are just trying to get over all the sickness at once,” said Graham. “It’s no excuse. We’ve still got to play but it definitely doesn’t help.”

Triton Central was frustrated early by White, a six-foot, one-inch junior, who blocked four shots, grabbed five rebounds and scored eight points in the first quarter to stake Eastern Hancock to a 12-10 lead.

Head coach Shari Doud used a steady rotation of athletes to push TC’s guards outside the arc much of the game and it stifled the Tigers’ offense into a 1-for-7 shooting performance in the second quarter.

“We were just going sideline to sideline,” said Graham. “We are very good at turning the corner and tonight we didn’t turn the corner or double move from the pressure and step back, crossover and go the other way. We just struggled and couldn’t turn the corner at all.”

Emma Bolding scored six of her 13 points in the second period while White added six more points to help the Royals extend their lead to 28-13.

Back-to-back baskets by Stapleton and White pushed the Royals’ lead to 32-13 before TC put together a run.

Lizzie Graham hit a corner 3-pointer off an assist from Brooklyn Bailey. Kennedy Brown, pressed into the starting lineup due to Schweitzer’s illness, made a pair of free throws and Riley Ross scored in the low post to give the Tigers hope.

Stapleton ended that run with a steal and score and then hit four 3s in the final 2:30 of the quarter to get the lead to 50-24 after three quarters.

By the mid-point of the fourth quarter, Graham put Lizzie Graham (sick Thursday), Felling and Cox on the bench for good.

White led all scorers with 22 points. Stapleton followed at 19, with 16 points coming in the third quarter. The senior guard also had five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Lizzie Graham led Triton Central with eight points. Brown finished with seven and Bailey had six points and five rebounds.

Triton Central won the junior varsity game 38-37 to improve to 2-1 this season. Lucy Spall and Jaylee Davis led Triton Central with 10 points.

Triton Central is 1-2 for the first time in Bryan Graham’s 15 seasons as head coach. The last time the Tigers started 1-2 was in the 2006 season.

The Tigers are back in action Wednesday at Monrovia (1-2) and Friday at Indianapolis Lutheran (0-1).

Eastern Hancock 56, Triton Central 34

TC: Graham 2-7 2-2 8, Felling 1-4 0-0 2, Bailey 1-6 3-4 6, Cox 0-3 0-1 0, Brown 2-4 2-4 7, Harris 1-1 2-3 5, Ross 2-4 0-0 4, Spall 0-1 0-0 0, Collins 0-1 2-2 2, Firebaugh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 9-31 11-16 34.

EH: Stapleton 7-11 0-0 19, Springman 0-1 2-2 2, White 8-14 6-6 22, O’Neal 0-3 0-1 0, E. Bolding 6-9 1-2 13, Willis 0-5 0-0 0, S. Bolding 0-2 0-0 0, Meyer 0-2 0-0 0, Andrus 0-1 0-0 0, Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-48 9-11 56.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TC (1-2)  10    3  11  10  --  34

EH (3-1)  12  16  22    6 --  56

Three-point field goals: TC 5-13 (Graham 2-5, Felling 0-2, Bailey 1-2, Cox 0-2, Brown 1-1, Harris 1-1), EH 5-13 (Stapleton 5-8, O’Neal 0-1, Willis 0-2, S. Bolding 0-1, Andrus 0-1). Rebounds: TC 21 (Felling 3, Bailey 5, Cox 1, Brown 3, Harris 4, Ross 4, Collins 1), EH 25 (Stapleton 5, White 8, O’Neal 2, E. Bolding 4, Willis 1, S. Bolding 2, Meyer 3). Assists: TC 7 (Felling 2, Bailey 2, Cox 2, Brown 1), EH 15 (Stapleton 5, O’Neal 1, E. Bolding 2, Willis 2, S. Bolding 3, Meyer 2). Steals: TC 1 (Harris 1), EH 8 (Stapleton 2, Springman 1, White 2, E. Bolding 1, Willis 2). Blocks: EH 4 (White 4). Total fouls: TC 13, EH 17. Fouled out: White (EH). Turnovers: TC 19, EH 9.

JV

Triton Central 38, Eastern Hancock 37

TC: Spall 10, Davis 10, Allen 5, Firebaugh 5, Ball 3, Collins 3, Coen 2.
EH: Judd 10, Parker 9, Andrus 7, Riggs 5, Keller 4, Richey 2.

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Shelbyville senior Cael Lux was named to the Hoosier Heritage Conference All-Conference Football Team.

Lux (photo) was one of six defensive backs selected after producing a 125-tackle season with two interceptions to lead the Golden Bears.

A total of 17 players were selected to the All-HHC squad of defensive players.

Others selected were defensive linemen Hunter Wallace (Delta), Brad Allen (Greenfield-Central), Tyler Kimberly (Mt. Vernon) and Michael Thacker (New Palestine), linebackers Jake Hinton (Greenfield-Central), Dylan Manor (Delta), Kellan LaBelle (Mt. Vernon), Jonathan Eberhart (New Castle), Eli Hook (New Palestine) and Luke Wilhelm (Yorktown), defensive backs Cael Lux, Nolan Souders (Pendleton Heights), Daniel Thacker (New Palestine), Blaine Nunnally (New Palestine), Brevan Thrine (New Castle) and Kirk Knecht (Greenfield-Central), and punter Justin Beeler (Pendleton Heights).

Sixteen athletes were selected to the All-HHC squad of offensive players.

Those honored were offensive linemen Brayden Flener (Greenfield-Central), Tyler Grill (Mt. Vernon), Thomas Wood (New Palestine), Sam Mossoney (Pendleton Heights) and Jackson New (Yorktown), wide receivers Isaiah Thacker (New Palestine), Kolton Nanko (Yorktown), Eli Bridenthal (Mt. Vernon), George Burhenn (Mt. Vernon) and Quintin Boatright (New Castle), quarterbacks Mason Moulton (Yorktown) and Daniel Tippit IV (New Palestine), running backs Grayson Thomas (New Palestine), Jalen Thomas (Yorktown) and Andrew Zellers (Greenfield-Central) and kicker Brendon Tanksley (New Palestine).

Yorktown’s Mike Wilhelm and New Palestine’s Kyle Ralph were named Co-Coaches of the Year.

New Palestine (12-1) won the HHC title with a 7-0 record.

Mt. Vernon (6-4, 6-1 HHC) was the runner-up ahead of Yorktown (9-3, 4-3), Greenfield-Central (7-4, 4-3), Pendleton Heights (5-5, 4-3), Delta (3-7, 1-6), New Castle (3-8, 1-6) and Shelbyville (1-9, 1-6).

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Shelbyville’s best start to a girls basketball season continued Saturday with a 62-42 win over Morristown at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.

The Golden Bears improved to 4-0, the program’s best start since the 2005 season.

Kylee Edwards scored a game-high 35 points to lead Shelbyville. The senior is averaging 30.3 points per game this season and is 163 points away from breaking Gretchen Haehl’s career-scoring record for the program (1,418 points).

Ava Wilson finished with 14 points and averaged 20 ppg in three wins this week for Shelbyville.

The Golden Bears led Morristown 14-2 after one quarter and 24-17 at halftime. A 20-point third quarter put Shelbyville in control of the contest.

The Golden Bears will go for the program’s first 5-0 start since 2004 Tuesday at Garrett Gymnasium against Greensburg (2-1).

Morristown (0-6) is off until Friday when it will host Beech Grove (2-2).

In another girls basketball game Saturday:

Oldenburg Academy 46, Southwestern 28

At Southwestern, Rachel Lamping had a game-high 13 points to lead the visiting Twisters to a 2-0 start to the season.

Kate Weber added 12 points for Oldenburg Academy, who outscored the Spartans 16-6 in the second quarter to build a 10-point advantage at halftime.

Tanna Tatlock led Southwestern (0-3) with 10 points and four rebounds. Cy Stockdale finished with seven points. Riley Engel had a team-high six rebounds.

Southwestern hosts Shelbyville Friday.

FAIRLAND – Despite a rash of injuries, a run of sickness and a steady 20-mile-per hour wind, Triton Central nearly overcame one of the top programs in Class 2A.

Bad timing finally caught up to the Tigers, who lost the regional championship game Friday at Mendenhall Field to Evansville Mater Dei, 35-28.

Six starters did not play in the regional, several more played while feeling ill and yet the Tigers had the ball late in the game inside Wildcats’ territory with one last chance to go for the win.

Quarterback Jace Stuckey, who earlier in the morning was doubtful to even play while running a fever and unable to eat or drink anything, threw his second interception of the game that finally sealed Triton Central’s fate.

“I have never had a more injured team and a more sick team at the same time,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able, in his 29^th year as a head coach. “Jace wasn’t the only one sick. (Aden) Sosbe was sick. We had two receivers that were going to start this week – one didn’t get to come all week and one got sick last night and couldn’t come today.”

Two-way players Ray Crawford, Sam Kemper, Aidan Wasson, Chase Chandler, Jared Schweitzer and Luke Faust did not play Friday due to injuries. Wasson tried to go but came off the field after the first offensive series and did not return.

Triton Central did not waive the white flag – even after giving up a touchdown on the game’s opening play when Mater Dei quarterback Mason Wunderlich hit Ethan Stolz in the flat and he avoided Braden Brown and raced down the Triton Central sideline for a 69-yard scoring strike just 16 seconds into the game.

Triton Central answered with three straight offensive series that produced points. The first two ended with Levi Dewey smashing back-to-back 48-yard field goals with a strong wind at his back.

Following a Wildcats turnover, Stuckey led the Tigers on a 59-yard scoring drive that ended with the junior signal caller reaching the end zone from four yards out.

Despite all the adversity, Triton Central led 13-7.

“That’s always tough. You want to get that play to start the game,” said Able of the early touchdown. “We responded and came back and then we finally broke the ice.”

The Wildcats regained the lead early in the second quarter when Wunderlich closed out an 11-play drive with a 10-yard run to the end zone.

The one thing going for Triton Central Friday was winning the coin toss. It allowed the Tigers to defer taking the ball to the second half and controlling which team had the wind at its back in the fourth quarter.

Triton Central put together a 53-yard scoring drive that ended with Mason Compton making an acrobatic catch in the back of the end zone and a two-point conversion run from the Dewey to make it 21-14 with 46 seconds left in the first half.

Keeping the Wildcats out of the end zone would have allowed TC to start the second half with the ball and a chance to build a double-digit lead.

Wunderlich had other plans. The senior quarterback connected with Wyatt Stratman for 23 yards after the kickoff. A short pass to Tyler Vanover and a 6-yard run from Joey Pierre preceded Wunderlich hitting Stolz at the goalline for his second touchdown reception with less than one second on the clock.

“They had the wind and we knew they would throw it deep and we had to stop it, knock it down, make a play there,” said Abel.

The two teams went to halftime tied at 21-all.

Triton Central still put together a long drive to start the second half but Stuckey forced a throw into the wind while under pressure that ended up in the arms of an Evansville Mater Dei defender.

Stolz took a handoff on the next play and threw downfield to Isaac Goebel, who was finally tackled at the TC 9. Two plays later and Wunderlich crashed into the end zone.

Stuckey was stripped of the ball on the next series while pushing past the first-down marker. Wunderlich finished off the ensuing 34-yard drive with his second rushing touchdown and the lead grew to 35-21.

“Their offense just leaned on us,” said Abel. “They are big, strong strapping kids.”

Triton Central’s third consecutive offensive series in the third quarter ended with a turnover when Dewey was stripped of possession after catching and earning a first down.

Mater Dei did not put the game away, though, when Camden Marx’s 34-yard field goal into the wind failed.

The Tigers slowly came to life, marching 80 yards on 15 plays. The drive ended with Brayden Wilkins racing to the pylon and scoring to cut the lead to 35-28 with 3:38 left in regulation.

Triton Central could onside kick and go for possession or trust a defense that already allowed a pair of second-half touchdowns.

“Both my defensive coaches said we can stop them,” said Abel of the decision. “We had to trust the defense that carried us all year. We got them out of there and we had time to score.”

The defense stopped three straight rushing plays, setting up fourth-and-2 from the 33-yard line. The Wildcats called timeout then sent the offense out once again. Wunderlich raced right for enough yards to get the first down but a penalty negated the run and moved the Wildcats five yards back, forcing a punt against the wind that went 17 yards.

Triton Central had one last chance.

Wilkins gained three yards on first down. Stuckey threw an incomplete pass on second down.

“Jace was fatigued,” said Abel. “When you are that sick, playing with a fever and shaking … he had his best first half of the year. The second half he was so tired. It was a valiant effort. I will take that effort any day.”

Stuckey’s third-down pass was intercepted by Tanner Halbig to effectively end the game.

Evansville Mater Dei 35, Triton Central 28

EMD (10-3)  7  14  14   0  --  35

TC (10-3)    13    8    0    7  -- 28

First Quarter:

EMD – Stolz, 69 pass Wunderlich (Sitzman kick), 11:44

TC – Dewey, 48 field goal, 9:13

TC – Dewey, 48 field goal, 5:04

TC – Stuckey, 4 run (Dewey kick), 1:01

Second Quarter:

EMD – Wunderlich, 10 run (Sitzman kick), 8:24

TC – Compton, 16 pass Stuckey (Dewey run), :46

EMD – Stolz, 21 pass Wunderlich (Sitzman kick), :0.9

Third Quarter:

EMD – Wunderlich, 2 run (Sitzman kick), 5:46

EMD – Wunderlich, 1 run (Sitzman kick), 1:22

Fourth Quarter:

TC – Wilkins, 5 run (Dewey kick), 3:38

Individuals:

Rushing: Pierre 17-113, Wunderlich 19-35, Stratman 1-2 (EMD); Wilkins 13-77, Stuckey 12-54, Schultz 3-8 (TC).

Passing: Wunderlich 7-9-144, Stolz 1-1-55 (EMD); Stuckey 23-30-243 (TC).

Receiving: Stolz 3-100, Goebel 1-55, Stratman 1-23, Pierre 1-2, Vanover 1-8, Herdes 1-2 (EMD); Schultz 5-66, Kleeman 6-57, Compton 4-48, Wilkins 6-45, Dewey 1-11 (TC).

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For the first time in 17 seasons, the Shelbyville girls basketball program has started the season 3-0.

Kylee Edwards and Ava Wilson each scored 21 points Friday to lead the Golden Bears to a 75-28 victory at Edinburgh.

Shelbyville opened a 20-4 advantage after one quarter and extended the lead to 41-12 by halftime.

Gracie Crawhorn led Edinburgh (2-2) with 13 points. The Lancers have just seven players in their program this season.

Ellie Keller also reached double digits for Shelbyville, scoring 11 points. Ten different Golden Bears scored in the victory.

Shelbyville hosts Morristown (0-5) Saturday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium. Shelbyville’s junior varsity will face East Central at 6 p.m. with Shelbyville’s varsity following against Morristown, who does not have a junior varsity program this season.

In other girls basketball games:

Waldron 44, Southwestern 32

At Southwestern Friday, Alyssa Benson scored a career-high 18 points and Josee Larrison added 14 to help Waldron (1-3, 1-0 Mid-Hoosier Conference) secure the first varsity win for new head coach Ilea Shipp.

The Mohawks also retained possession of the Victory Bell with a 30-point second half that came after trailing Southwestern 18-14 at halftime.

McKinley Correll led the Spartans (0-2, 0-2 MHC) with 10 points.

Larrison also had a team-high eight rebounds and three assists. Benson led Waldron with four steals.

Waldron won the junior varsity game, 43-37. Emerson Lindsey led Waldron with 11 points.

Waldron travels to Hauser (1-1) Nov. 18.

Southwestern hosts Oldenburg Academy (1-0) Saturday.

South Decatur 65, Morristown 46

At South Decatur Thursday, four Cougars scored in double digits to secure the victory over the Yellow Jackets (0-5, 0-1 MHC).

Makalya Somers led South Decatur (3-0, 2-0 MHC) with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Kiley Best finished with 14. Molly Eden added 13 and Paige McQueen had 10.

Raegan Kleine had a game-high 19 points for Morristown. Alexia Rogers finished with 11 and Maggie Lutes had eight.

Triton Central 78, Cascade 53

At Triton Central Thursday, Lizzie Graham scored a game-high 25 points to lead Class 2A, No. 10 Triton Central to its first win of the season.

Hallie Schweitzer finished with 18 points and Maryrose Felling added 12.

Sydney Warran, a University of Illinois Springfield commit, led Cascade (2-1, 1-1 Indiana Crossroads Conference) with 19 points. Abby Parsons finished with 11 points.

The Cadets led 21-20 after one quarter in Fairland before the Tigers (1-1, 1-0 ICC) outscored them 20-6 in the second quarter to take control.

Graham, an Indiana University South Bend commit, scored 12 of her points in the third quarter when Triton Central extended its lead to 62-42.

Triton Central travels to Charlottesville Saturday to face 2A No. 15 Eastern Hancock (2-1).

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There is a definitive redemption arc underlying Triton Central’s postseason run.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association draw for the 50^th Annual Football State Tournament put Class 2A, No. 5 Triton Central back at Schultz Field, the site of one of its two losses this season, to face Christel House Manual.

Check mark No. 1.

A win there advanced Triton Central on to Brownstown Central, to face a program it had never defeated.

Check mark No. 2.

Following that victory, the Tigers finally returned to Mendenhall Field to face Indianapolis Scecina, who beat them at Schultz Field earlier this year.

Check mark No. 3.

The program’s fourth straight sectional championship has now earned it a regional game against another familiar foe, Evansville Mater Dei – the team that knocked the Tigers out of the 2021 state tournament series.

Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday in Fairland.

Triton Central (10-2) will not be close to 100% when the Wildcats (9-3) arrive. Seniors Luke Faust and Jared Schweitzer and junior Sam Kemper will miss the game due to injuries. Starting running back Ray Crawford and starting offensive lineman Aidan Wasson will be game-time decisions.

Losing Crawford, who has just over 3,700 career rushing yards for TC, would be tough but the junior has been a strong performer on the other side of the ball with 19 tackles and three interceptions from his defensive back position.

“He has got to be able to run in a straight line but he needs to be able to cut,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able of Crawford, who suffered an ankle injury in the win over Scecina. “He has been really solid (defensively). He’s a good cover guy and a great tackler. He really helps solidify our defense.”

Brayden Wilkins doing a postgame interview with GIANT fm's Mark Drake Friday at Mendenhall Field.

With Crawford sidelined in the sectional championship game and Scecina riding high off a long touchdown catch and run that cut the deficit to 10-7, Brayden Wilkins stepped into the spotlight.

The junior took a pitch from quarterback Jace Stuckey and raced to the sideline where he picked up a block from Brad Schultz and found room to run down the Scecina sideline for 36 yards.

“Right when we needed it,” said Able. “Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time situations.”

Quiet offensively the last two weeks, Triton Central will need to get Schultz more involved in the offense to defeat Evansville Mater Dei.

“We’ve still got to use him as a decoy but we will try to get him the ball,” said Able. “Teams are really gearing their whole defense to stop him.”

Schultz has 72 catches for 1,422 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. The senior had just three catches for 23 yards in the sectional championship game but set up TC’s first touchdown with a 30-yard punt return in the first quarter.

Evansville Mater Dei has traditionally utilized a four-man defensive front but Able has seen more three-man fronts from the Wildcats this season.

“They run either equally well,” said Able. “They have a very stout interior line with good size and good strength.”

In Triton Central’s 35-7 regional championship loss in 2021, the Tigers managed just 20 rushing yards total while Stuckey completed 9 of 23 pass attempts for 65 yards.

Meanwhile, Evansville Mater Dei running back Joey Pierre racked up 236 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats jumped out to a 35-0 lead by halftime.

Pierre has battled a knee injury this season which has limited him to 710 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games.

Quarterback Mason Wunderlich has relied on a bevy of senior receivers to complete 65% of his pass attempts for 2,418 yards and 23 touchdowns.

“He runs and throws both,” said Able of the six-foot, five-inch senior. “He is extremely big but not extremely fast, similar to Brownstown Central (quarterback Carson Darlage).”

The redemption arc would be complete with a win over Mater Dei, who Triton Central is facing for the fourth straight postseason. The Tigers’ only regional win came in 2019, 13-7 at Mendenhall Field.

The fast start against Scecina, scoring the game’s first 10 points, was critical to TC’s success. Able would like to see a similar start Friday.

“We need to come out and play up front and take it to them at the beginning like we did last week,” said Able. “The 10-point lead was huge, but I would like a 14-point lead.”

The winner of the Triton Central and Evansville Mater Dei regional will face either Lapel or top-ranked Linton-Stockton in the Class 2A southern semistate championship game.

QUICK FACTS:

Class 2A, No. 5 Evansville Mater Dei at Class 2A, No. 5 Triton Central

Game time: 6:30 p.m. at Mendenhall Field in Fairland, Indiana.

Media coverage: 5:30 p.m. pregame show live from Mendenhall Field with Johnny McCrory and Mark Drake on GIANT fm (96.5 fm, 106.3 fm, 1520 am) or on the GIANT fm app. Shelby County Post News Editor Jeff Brown will have the game story and box score online late Friday.

Admission: General admission tickets are $10, cash only at the gate.

Head coaches: Mike Goebel, 257-82 in 26th year at Mater Dei; Tim Able, 90-34 in 10^th year at Triton Central; 215-132 in 29^th year overall.

2022 record: Mater Dei 9-3; Triton Central 10-2.

2021 record: Mater Dei 12-3; Triton Central 8-5.

Sagarin ratings for Regional 20 championship: Mater Dei, 68.89, 69^th overall, 5^th in Class 2A; Triton Central, 68.67, 71st overall, 6th in Class 2A.

Point spread: Triton Central is a 2-point favorite.

Regional 19 championship: Lapel (7-5) at Class 2A, No. 1 Linton-Stockton (12-0).

Semistate scenarios: If Triton Central wins, it will travel to either Lapel or Linton-Stockton for the semistate championship game on Nov. 18.

The GIANT fm basketball broadcast schedule kicks off with a battle of top-15 ranked girls basketball programs Saturday.

Class 2A, No. 10 Triton Central travels to Charlottesville Saturday to face postseason sectional rival Eastern Hancock, ranked No. 15 in Class 2A in the latest state coaches poll. The pregame show is slated to start at 7 p.m., approximately 30 minutes before the tipoff of the varsity game.

Eastern Hancock eliminated Triton Central from the 2022 postseason tournament with a 66-65 triple-overtime victory.

GIANT fm, heard locally at 96.5 fm, 106.3 fm, 1520 am or on the GIANT fm app, will air 36 varsity boys and girls regular-season basketball games during the 2022-2023 season in addition to several postseason contests in February and March.

The broadcast schedule for November will close out with boys basketball games between Southwestern and Edinburgh on Nov. 22, Shelbyville and Rushville on Nov. 23, and Triton Central and Shelbyville on Nov. 26.

The lone boys/girls doubleheader broadcast is Dec. 9 when Shelbyville travels to New Castle.

GIANT fm will air both of Waldron’s boys basketball games at the Batesville Invitational on Dec. 29.

The station also will carry all four semifinal games and championship night of the Shelby County Tournament, Jan. 5-7, from the Bee Hive in Morristown.

The final regular-season girls basketball broadcast is Jan. 12 when Triton Central travels north to Kokomo.

The boys regular-season schedule continues through January and February. The final boys regular-season game airs Feb. 24 with Triton Central at Speedway.

The 2022-2023 Regular Season Broadcast Schedule

DATE          CONTEST

Nov. 12      Triton Central at Eastern Hancock (Girls)

Nov. 22      Southwestern at Edinburgh (Boys)

Nov. 23      Shelbyville at Rushville (B)

Nov. 26      Triton Central at Shelbyville (B)

Dec. 1         Triton Central at Waldron (B)

Dec. 3         Connersville at Shelbyville (B)

Dec. 9         Shelbyville at New Castle (G/B)

Dec. 10      Whiteland at Shelbyville (B)

Dec. 16      Mt. Vernon at Shelbyville (B)

Dec. 17      Yorktown at Shelbyville (B)

Dec. 21      South Ripley at Shelbyville (B)

Dec. 22      East Central at Shelbyville (B)

Dec. 28      Shelbyville at Franklin

Dec. 29      Waldron at Batesville Invitational (B)

Jan. 5         Shelby County Tournament semifinals (G)

Jan. 6         Shelby County Tournament semifinal (B)

Jan. 7         Shelby County Tournament championships (G/B)

Jan. 10       Columbus East at Shelbyville (B)

Jan. 12       Triton Central at Kokomo (G)

Jan. 14       Shelbyville at Pendleton Heights (B)

Jan. 17       Franklin Central at Shelbyville (B)

Jan. 20       Hauser at Waldron (B)

Jan. 21       Shelbyville at Greenfield-Central (B)

Jan. 27       Shelbyville at Indian Creek (B)

Jan. 28       South Decatur at Triton Central (B)

Feb. 7         Shelbyville at Edinburgh (B)

Feb. 10       New Palestine at Shelbyville (B)

Feb. 17       Delta at Shelbyville (B)

Feb. 21       Shelbyville at Seymour (B)

Feb. 23       Shelbyville at Batesville (B)

Feb. 24       Triton Central at Speedway (B)

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The desire to play in the SEC overcame the want to play close to home.

On Wednesday, Shelbyville senior Kylee Edwards signed her National Letter of Intent to play college softball at Mississippi State University.

“I have been waiting for this for a long, long time,” said Edwards. “It felt so good. I am ready to get down there and get to work.”

Edwards (photo), the daughter of T.J. and Mindy Edwards, announced her verbal commitment on Sept. 26, 2021, and made that choice official on the first day of the 2022 signing period.

The two-sport standout at Shelbyville, Edwards is closing in on the girls basketball career scoring record, wanted the challenge of playing in the top college softball conference in the country.

“The SEC obviously,” said Edwards of her decision to call Starkville, Mississippi home during her collegiate career. “And coach (Samantha) Ricketts, coach (Tyler) Bratton and coach (Josh) Johnson were my main decisions in going down there. It felt like home and they were going to take care of me being so far away. The campus and everything around it felt like home. I knew as soon as I got down there.”

Mississippi State saw a middle infielder ranked in the top 20 nationally in her graduating class and expressed interest. That led Edwards to attend a camp in Starkville to learn more about the Bulldogs’ program.

“I didn’t really have a dream school,” said Edwards. “I just knew I wanted to play in the SEC. When I got on campus, I wanted to be there. There was no doubt.”

That led to her commitment to Mississippi State and the decision to pass on an opportunity to play just 90 minutes away in the Big Ten at Indiana University.

Now that her future is set, Edwards can fully concentrate on her final season as a Golden Bear basketball player and one last run with the Shelbyville softball program that reached the Class 4A Final Four in June.

“Probably my favorite softball moment was going through sectional and regional and making it to semistate. It was amazing,” said Edwards. “I hope we do that this year, too. It was an experience I will never forget.”

Edwards and the Golden Bears defeated Bedford North Lawrence, 4-3, on June 4 in the semistate afternoon semifinal round before losing to top-ranked and defending state champion Roncalli, 7-1, in the championship game.

Roncalli went on to capture back-to-back state titles behind pitching ace Keagan Rothrock, who signed her National Letter of Intent Wednesday to play at the University of Florida.

Knowing she is headed to the SEC in 2023, Edwards opted to join a high level Lady Dukes national travel softball team this fall to prepare herself for the next level of competition.

“I have already been to one tournament (in Houston, Texas) with them,” said Edwards. “I feel like it is a different level of competition. It’s basically preparing me for college. The girls I am playing with are playing in the SEC and Big Ten. It’s a bunch of big-time commits. It’s a lot of fun and it’s really challenging me.”

Rothrock is part of the same Lady Dukes squad.

Edwards lost her freshman season as a Golden Bear due to COVID-19 but has terrorized pitchers over the last two seasons. She is hitting .490 in 49 games with 102 hits, 26 doubles, nine home runs, 64 runs batted in, 87 runs scored and 31 stolen bases.

A strong senior season will push her into contention for the state’s Miss Softball Award.

And once it is all over, Edwards will be a freshman all over again.

“I think it will be better than my freshman year here because of COVID,” she said with a laugh. “I think I will just be happier to be down there.”

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Shelbyville used a pair of 19-point quarters to pull away from Waldron Tuesday and secure a 63-24 victory.

Ava Wilson led the Golden Bears (2-0) with 26 points. Kylee Edwards finished with 20.

Shelbyville led 13-2 after one quarter then outscored the Mohawks 19-10 and 19-9 in the next two quarters, respectively.

Waldron (0-3) committed 32 turnovers in the loss and had just 12 field-goal attempts.

Josee Larrison led Waldron with eight points and seven rebounds. Madison Ping had six.

Shelbyville won the junior varsity game, 57-29. Leala Taylor led Waldron with nine points.

Waldron hosts Southwestern (0-1) Friday while Shelbyville travels to Edinburgh (2-1).

In another girls basketball game Tuesday:

Tri 61, Morristown 28

At Class A, No. 7 Tri, Bailey Parham scored a game-high 27 points to improve the host Titans to 2-0 this season.

Kenley Cornelius backed Parham with 15 points.

Raegan Kleine led Morristown (0-4) with 15 points. Nevaeh Cox finished with seven.

The Yellow Jackets travel to South Decatur (2-0) Thursday.

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Xavier University’s women’s soccer program finished runner-up in the Big East Championship Sunday to No. 18 Georgetown, 1-0, at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland.

Georgetown’s goal in the 59^th minute proved to be the difference maker.

Triton Central graduate Rachel Dewey (photo) played 83 minutes for Xavier (13-3-5).

The Musketeers reached the tournament championship match with a 3-1 double-overtime win over St. John’s Thursday. Xavier trailed 1-0 before tying the match and sending it to overtime where it scored twice.

Xavier learned Monday it will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, to face the No. 6 seed University of Tennessee Friday in the 2022 NCAA Championship tournament.

The Musketeers will make their fifth appearance (1998, 2000, 2019, 2021) in the NCAA tournament. Xavier is 2-4 all-time against the Volunteers (11-5-2 this season).

The winner advances to the second round to face the winner of the No. 3 Virginia and Fairleigh Dickinson match.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate scored a team-high 14 points Monday to lead the Loyola Ramblers to a season-opening 60-51 victory at Western Michigan.

Loyola led wire-to-wire.

Rylie Stephens

The Triton Central graduate grabbed two rebounds Monday in Samford’s season-opening loss to Troy, 66-62.

Stephens transferred from the University of Evansville to Samford in the offseason.

Hayden Langkabel

The Morristown graduate scored a game-high 21 points Tuesday in Marian’s 126-42 win over Cardinal Stritch.

Langkabel also had two rebounds, two steals and one assist in Marian’s second largest win (84 points) in program history.

Marian is 3-0 this season.

On Thursday, Langkabel had 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 103-50 victory over Governors State.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists Saturday for Oakland City in a 62-57 win at Simmons College of Kentucky.

Oakland City won its season opener on Nov. 1, 83-65, at the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis. Moore had 19 points.

Olivia Faust

The Triton Central graduate had 16 points, one rebound, one assist and three steals for Marian University Saturday in an 86-38 win over Cardinal Stritch in the Catholic Classic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The win improves the Knights to 4-0 this season.

On Friday in Milwaukee, Marian defeated St. Francis (Illinois), 70-50. Faust finished with 12 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

Cameron Baker

The Shelbyville graduate scored runner-up finishes for Franklin College Saturday in the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions at Wheaton College.

Baker finished second behind teammate Gauge Creech in the one-meter event (203.90 points) and three-meter competition (297.45).

Dylan Wasson

The Triton Central graduate was credited with one tackle Saturday for Olivet Nazarene in a 27-14 win at Trinity International in Deerfield, Illinois.

Olivet Nazarene rushed for over 400 yards on a rain-soaked, mud-covered Leslie Frazier Field to improve to 5-4 this season.

Hayden Kermode

The Triton Central graduate had four tackles and a forced fumble Saturday for Concordia in a 58-13 win at Madonna in Livonia, Michigan.

The Cardinals used a 27-point third quarter to break open a 21-7 game.

Kenneth Gipson

The Triton Central graduate was part of Rose-Hulman’s starting offensive line Saturday in a 47-17 win at Hanover that set up a second straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game next week.

Rose-Hulman, now 6-3, will travel to No. 23 Mount St. Joseph (9-0) to battle for the HCAC championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Julia Sanders

The Triton Central graduate had one service ace and four digs Saturday in IU Kokomo’s 25-7, 25-16, 25-17 win over Midway University (Kentucky).

The win improved IU Kokomo to 27-6 this season.

On Friday, IU Kokomo defeated Alice Lloyd College (Ky.), 25-7, 25-15, 25-11. Sanders had three assists, three aces and eight digs.

Maggie Schweitzer

The Triton Central graduate finished with two kills, eight assists and 11 digs for Hanover on Nov. 2 in a 25-13, 28-26, 25-14 loss at Rose-Holman in the HCAC Tournament.

Hanover closed out the 2022 season with a 13-14 record.

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate had one assist, two aces and six digs Saturday in Jacksonville State’s 25-17, 33-31, 25-22 win at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The win improved Jacksonville State to 22-5 this season.

On Friday, the Gamecocks were victorious at Lipscomb, 25-22, 25-19, 29-27. Schiffli recorded 11 digs.

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Roncalli outscored Class 2A, No. 8 Triton Central 20-11 over the final quarter Saturday night in the season opener for both programs to secure a 62-53 victory in Fairland.

Taylor Turk scored seven of her game-high 19 points over the final eight minutes to lead the Rebels (1-0).

Sydney Horton hit four three-pointers on the way to 16 points and Claire Lindsey finished with 13 in a game where Roncalli made 11 3s.

All but four of Triton Central’s points were scored by the starting five.

Brooklyn Bailey led the way with 14 points. Hallie Schweitzer finished with 11. Lizzie Graham had nine. Maryrose Felling had eight points in her varsity debut as a freshman. Jenna Cox scored seven.

Kennedy Brown came off the bench and contributed four points.

The Tigers (0-1) led 18-17 after one quarter and 37-30 at halftime. A five-point third quarter allowed Roncalli to even the score at 42-all after three quarters.

Triton Central will host 2A No. 15 Cascade (1-0) Thursday in its Indiana Crossroads Conference opener.

In other girls basketball games Saturday:

South Decatur 48, Southwestern 36

At South Decatur, Kiley Best scored a game-high 22 points to get the host Cougars off to a 2-0 start to the season.

Southwestern struggled in the opening quarter scoring just three points and a five-point third quarter stalled any comeback attempt.

Tanna Tatlock scored a team-high 13 points for Southwestern in its season opener. Cy Stockdale hit a trio of 3s on the way to 10 points.

South Decatur led 11-3 after one quarter and 26-13 at halftime.

Southwestern travels to Waldron (0-2) Friday.

Tri 70, Waldron 20

At Tri, Waldron’s offense struggled for the second consecutive night against a preseason top-10 opponent.

Class A, No. 9 Tri (1-0) built a 22-4 lead after one quarter and outscored the Mohawks 21-7 in the second quarter to build a 43-11 lead.

Waldron scored 28 points Friday at Class A, No. 7 Blue River Valley in a 49-28 loss.

Waldron (0-2) hosts Shelbyville (1-0) Tuesday.

Kopper Kettle Classic

At the Bee Hive in Morristown, the host Yellow Jackets finished 0-2.

Tri-Central pulled out to a 24-10 lead by halftime and finished off the Yellow Jackets, 40-28.

In the other semifinal, Payton Seay scored 30 points, pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists to lead Class 2A, No. 3 University to an 86-24 victory over Henryville.

University defeated Tri-Central, 61-37, in the championship game to improve to 3-0 this season. Tri-Central is 1-2.

Henryville used a 23-point first quarter to separate from Morristown, who was outscored 23-20 over the final three quarters. The Hornets improved to 1-2 with a 46-27 consolation game victory.

Morristown (0-3) travels to Class A, No. 9 Tri (1-0) Tuesday.

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Shelbyville has produced one winning season in the last 15 years.

Head coach Becca Hoefler (photo), now in her fourth season with the Golden Bears, has the program trending in the right direction after seasons of 4-20, 8-15 and 11-12.

Having a Division I athlete like Kylee Edwards to build around has raised expectation levels for the program. The dynamic guard scored a program-record 45 points in Shelbyville’s season-opening 73-53 win over Brown County Tuesday.

Edwards, who will sign her National Letter of Intent this week to play softball collegiately at Mississippi State University, is closing in on Shelbyville’s career scoring record of 1,418 points set by Gretchen Haehl, who was named an Indiana All-Star after her 2004 senior season.

“It’s amazing. I never thought I would get here my freshman year,” said Edwards after the record-setting performance that leaves her 240 points short of breaking the career mark. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe I’m really close to it, but I’m not really thinking about it. I’m just looking at a sectional championship.”

Edwards knows a little something about postseason success. She helped Shelbyville’s softball team to sectional and regional titles earlier this year and was one win away from reaching the Class 4A state championship game.

Many years ago, Edwards opted to make basketball her main focus.

“In elementary school, I was going to hang up softball and go play basketball,” she explained. “I played one season of AAU and said that’s not for me and went back and started playing softball, traveling everywhere for softball as I got serious about it.”

Edwards loves both sports too much to quit one. Even after announcing her verbal commitment to Mississippi State, she never wavered from continuing her basketball career.

“I think my love for basketball is the same as my love for softball but I felt like I could pursue softball more in my future than in basketball,” she said. “Why give up the sport that you love when you can only play it once?”

Edwards knows there are a limited number of basketball games left in her career. She intends to be thankful for each and every opportunity, especially after a summer softball knee injury left her senior year on the hardwood in doubt.

“This fall, I was still recovering,” said Edwards. “About four weeks ago I got fully back when I got cleared. It was up in the air during the summer if I was going to play this season or not.”

As if the tough-as-nails guard didn’t already have the spotlight on her from every opposing coach, scoring 45 points in the season opener only heightens the desire to shut her down. And that dictates Hoefler’s need to use her star in multiple ways.

“Obviously, she won’t score 45 every game,” said Hoefler. “If she does, I’m sitting pretty for this year.

“We are looking to manage her and put her in different spots this year so she doesn’t have to be the main guard bringing up the ball. … We are just going to manage where Kylee can play at and what is the best effective role for her.”

Without a dominant low post threat, Hoefler is pushing for more tempo this season, which suits Edwards just fine. She averaged 17.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.3 steals last season.

Edwards has great chemistry with junior guard Ava Wilson (7.7 points, 3.9 rebounds). The duo are consistently looking to set up defenders for back-door cuts to the rim.

“We love a good back door, especially with Kylee because a lot of teams are going to overplay her,” said Hoefler. “She will get face-guarded a lot this season. We’ve been working on hitting that back cut with the pressure. That goes with having guards that are able to handle the ball a little more.”

Senior Abby Brenner (4.3 points, 2.9 rebounds) and junior Ellie Simpson (photo) give Hoefler more options to push the pace as does freshman Ellie Keller, who had a successful junior varsity and varsity debut against Brown County.

“Ellie is strong, aggressive and her motor does not stop,” said Hoefler of the freshman guard. “She does not stop. I have to pull her back more than I have to tell her to go. When you have a player like that, you don’t want to hold them back when their motor goes, goes, goes.

“Now it’s just easing up what she is doing, making sure she is making smart passes. As a freshman, she will make some freshman turnovers. She will make some freshman mistakes.”

Keller scored 13 quick points in the first quarter of the JV game Tuesday then followed that with an 11-point, 7-rebound game in her varsity debut.

With Wilson and Keller on the floor, Edwards admits she doesn’t feel the need to be the top scoring option all the time.

“This year, I’m just playing my game and having fun with it because it’s my last season,” she said.

Hoefler has senior Hailey Pogue, who just committed to play college softball at the University of Indianapolis, and juniors Lilly Johnson and Ella Johnson to battle in the low post.

Ella Johnson had seven rebounds and two steals in the win over Brown County.

For Shelbyville to produce its first winning season since 2016, it will need a strong start against smaller-school opposition. The Golden Bears will not face a 4A squad until its Hoosier Heritage Conference opener at Pendleton Heights on Nov. 26.

Shelbyville has not started a season 3-0 since the 2004-2005 season when it won its first four games for head coach Michael Gaines.

The Golden Bears will try to match that this week with road games at Waldron (0-1) Tuesday, Edinburgh (1-1) Friday and a home game Saturday against Morristown (0-2). Neither Edinburgh nor Morristown have JV teams this season.

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Steve Bush photos for the Shelby County Post.

If the 2023 season is going to be the last for head coach Bryan Graham, the veteran coach is not saying.

Now in his 15^th year with the Tigers, Graham is 19 wins from career win No. 300. It would be a nice round mark to go out on but Graham is not envisioning a 19-win season. There could be several more wins on tap for an athletic Triton Central squad.

In addition to the win total, Graham’s daughter, Lizzie, is a senior and is committed to play college basketball at Indiana University South Bend.

Graham also serves as Triton Central’s athletic director. At some point in time he has to slow down, right?

“I’m not looking at it from my perspective,” said Graham of the 300-win milestone. “If I do get it then it means we won 19 games.”

The Tigers finished 19-5 last season after a run of five-straight seasons with more than 20 wins. Graduation pushed the versatile Olivia Faust (13.3 points, six rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.6 steals) on to Marian University.

Maia Harris (3.3 points, 4.1 rebounds) was the only other senior on the 2022 roster.

Starting guard Maddy Brown (9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists) opted not to play her senior season opening up a third spot in the rotation.

Graham will likely utilize a four-guard lineup much of the season with Lizzie Graham (12.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, team-high 50 made 3-pointers) being joined by seniors Jenna Cox and Hallie Schweitzer and freshman Maryrose Felling.

“It’s a pretty experienced group with Hallie, Lizzie and Jenna back,” said Bryan Graham. “Riley Ross has just as much varsity experience.”

Graham will turn to junior Brooklyn Bailey (8.2 points, 6.3 rebounds) as the starting center with Ross, a senior, one of the first players off the bench along with junior Kennedy Brown.

“Kennedy has been playing amazing,” said Graham.

Juniors Hailey Harris and Lucy Spall will round out the varsity rotation early in the season.

With Lizzie Graham’s college commitment complete, her father expects to see a more relaxed version of his team’s top shooter.

“She has more varsity experience than anyone,” said coach Graham. “We need a lot of her on-court and off-court leadership. She is already helping the younger girls out.

“She looks relaxed and relieved. She wants to finish off her LTB (Lady Tigers Basketball) and TC career with a good finale.”

Felling, as a freshman, has the pedigree to go right into the starting rotation. The younger sister of Samantha Felling, who had a successful TC career, is the youngest daughter of a pair of basketball coaches.

“She is a very humble player,” said Graham. “She makes things easy for Lizzie. Those two players are a lot alike. They are two shooters at the wings.”

That will give options to Cox and Schweitzer from the point guard position. And the low post presence of Bailey will open up more looks for the shooters.

“She is so big and strong,” said Graham of Bailey. “And she is lot better shooter than people think. She is a lot better shot faker and driver now. And I expect she will be a double-digit rebounder this season.”

Graham has worked to strengthen Triton Central’s schedule which includes Roncalli Saturday night in the season opener and a road trip to Kokomo on Jan. 12.

The Tigers also have scheduled contests with sectional-rival Eastern Hancock, New Palestine, Covenant Christian, Tri-West and Perry Meridian outside of its Indiana Crossroads Conference commitments.

“We need tested early, especially to get better,” said Graham. “Roncalli should be a good matchup.”

Graham is looking forward to the road trip to Kokomo, who went 15-7 last season.

“It’s another big school with an amazing gym and an amazing atmosphere,” he said.

Triton Central will again host an 8-team holiday tournament in late December that includes Heritage Christian, Salem, Lawrenceburg, Northeastern, Bloomington North, Southport and Jac-Cen-Del.

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With his most experienced player out until late in the season, Southwestern head coach Jason West needs to find leadership and consistency quickly.

Point guard Lilly Rooks (10.7 points, four rebounds, two assists in an all-conference junior season) tore an ACL in her knee during a summer basketball event and is out until January. Rooks, a two-time state finalist long jumper, is “recovering really well,” according to West.

“We’re starting off very inexperienced,” said West, in his second season as head coach of the Spartans. “Rooks is a big key we’re missing.”

West will turn to seniors Cy Stockdale and McKinley Correll to lead the program. Correll (4.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists last season) is a four-year varsity player while Stockdale (4.6 points, team-high 20 made 3-pointers) is in her third year.

“From there, we will fill in some roles,” said West. “We’ve got height and athleticism, and a lot of length.”

Haley Casey, a 5-8 junior, returns to the program after sitting out her sophomore year. She was a rostered player on Southwestern’s 2021 sectional championship team.

Sophomore Tanna Tatlock returns to Southwestern where both her older sisters had successful careers. Tatlock started last season at Hauser after attending eighth grade at Southwestern.

“She has a lot of skill and talent,” said West.

Riley Engle, a 5-10 junior, has not played basketball since eighth grade but West labels her and Rooks as the school’s two best female athletes.

Bailey Taylor, a 5-10 sophomore transfer from Columbus North, adds to Southwestern’s front line of athletes.

“She is athletic, a lanky wing to use,” said West. “She had an outstanding volleyball season.”

Junior Ellie Gosser rounds out the varsity rotation.

West anticipates as many as 11 players rotating through the varsity bench this season.

“We have a lot of girls that will get varsity minutes,” he said. “We will be splitting a lot of girls between the junior varsity and varsity. A lot of them will fill out the end of our varsity rotation.”

Southwestern opened the season today at South Decatur. West will use the early part of the season to evaluate the group and figure out how best to use his team’s athletes.

“With so much inexperience, we have to figure out what we can do and what suits our game the best,” said West. “We’ve got athletic ability and length but with Rooks not in, it will take time to figure out what we can do.”

The Spartans ended up losing 48-36 at South Decatur which gives West more information to add to the practice plans.

“We just need to get into a four-quarter game and see what happens,” he said Friday morning. “Win, lose or draw, it’s a learning experience.

“We may take some lumps at the beginning of the year but we will be competitive. We will play hard and do some good things.”

Southwestern will have time to prepare for its next two games. The Spartans are at Waldron (0-1) Friday before hosting Oldenburg Academy Saturday.

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Ilea Shipp knows the expectation level for success this season at Waldron following a 24-2 season and the graduation of seven seniors.

No one knows better the players being elevated to the varsity level than Shipp, now the varsity coach, replacing Anthony Thomas, who resigned at the end of last season’s run to the Class A Final Four.

“From the moment we step up and work hard, we will exceed expectations,” said Shipp, who lost just five games last season as Waldron’s junior varsity coach. “We will be disciplined and work hard.”

Only one player with significant varsity experience from a team that won a program-record 24 games, county and conference titles as well as sectional and regional championships returned.

Now a senior, Josee Larrison takes over the leadership role for the Mohawks. She averaged 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds as a junior.

“She definitely has to take the leading position,” said Shipp, who started coaching this year’s freshman class as fifth graders. Shipp is a 2006 Waldron graduate. “And she has already but we can’t put all the pressure on her. Others have to step up and help her.”

Waldron will have a balanced scoring approach this season with different leading scorers from game to game.

Larrison is one of three seniors along with Cendall Sheaffer and Madison Ping.

Alyssa Benson and Audrey Hogg are the two juniors. Sophomore Allison Hensley, Alivia Fischer and Riley Price will see varsity time this season along with freshmen Jackie Corlett and Emerson Lindsey.

“We will have a more balanced approach. Whoever is ‘on’ we will get the ball to them,” said Shipp. “We need to read the defense and do what is best for the team.”

Shipp’s varsity head coaching debut came Friday at Class A, No. 7 Blue River Valley. She didn’t anticipate being nervous. She was more in tune to seeing just what kind of team she had on the floor.

“We’ve been working so hard in practice,” she said Friday morning. “We’ve looked good. Now I want to see how it translates on the court at game speed and figure out what we need to work on.”

Blue River Valley got out to an 18-4 advantage after one quarter and led the entire way for a 49-28 victory. Waldron had 21 turnovers in the first half.

“We play a lot of ranked teams early on the schedule,” said Shipp. “We need to leave it all on the court. Then, when we get to unranked teams we can take care of business.”

While the nerves were evident in the season opener, Shipp expects the team to settle in and be loose.

“I don’t think they feel any pressure. They think the pressure is off them,” said Shipp. “It’s a young team with one returner. They feel good.”

And as Shipp stated, “They practiced every day last year against (the varsity).”

Shipp was correct about the tough early schedule. The Mohawks travel to Class A, No. 9 Tri tonight and host Class 4A Shelbyville and standout guard Kylee Edwards Tuesday. Edwards scored 45 points in the Golden Bears’ season-opening win over Brown County.

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Rachel Kleine accepted the graciousness of Morristown being ranked in the top 15 of the coaches preseason girls basketball poll. The lofty status came from a strong finish to the 2022 season and great expectations for the 2023 squad.

“I think it feels good. It speaks to where we left last year,” said Kleine, 65-46 in her sixth year with the Yellow Jackets. “It’s a testament to how hard the girls worked last year.”

Morristown put together a five-game win streak before falling to Jac-Cen-Del, 48-41, in the sectional semifinal round.

Three of Morristown’s top four scorers last season are set to return but when that date happens is still a mystery.

“Right now, this is how you end a season,” said Kleine after rattling off a rash of injuries to a team that has just 10 players total in the program. “We’re starting a season this way.”

Raegan Kleine (11.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.2 steals as a junior) played in Morristown’s season opener Thursday at Eastern Hancock but is still recovering from a high ankle sprain that forced her to miss the end of the volleyball season.

Sophomore Olivia Rude suffered a concussion in Morristown’s preseason scrimmage with Martinsville. She will miss the opening stretch of the season.

Sophomore Danika Rutledge (5.6 points, 6.8 rebounds in her debut year) is dealing with a broken finger on her left hand. Her next doctor’s appointment could clear her for action or sideline her longer for surgery.

Sophomore Nevaeh Sanders (10.1 ppg, 2.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals) has not yet reached her IHSAA-mandated number of practices to become eligible.

So Morristown arrived at Class 2A, No. 14 Eastern Hancock for its season opener with seven “healthy” players. The result was a 74-25 loss.

“We’re trying to stay focused, working hard to develop our young players and in the long run it will pay off,” said Kleine. “We’re getting experience now and will be deeper and better off for it.”

Raegan Kleine is one of three seniors on the roster and the program leader.

“It’s natural for her to lead right now,” said coach Kleine, who is Raegan’s mother. “She has played varsity for four years now. She has had big roles on teams from a young age. The kids look to her and I’m proud of the way she has assumed this role.”

Senior Maggie Lutes (2.2 points, 4.9 rebounds) is another strong voice leading from within the program.

“She is really stepping up with leadership,” said coach Kleine. “She has been fabulous.”

The third senior is veteran Sarah Essex, who will have an expanded role early in the season.

“She has played a lot and put her time in,” said Kleine.

Junior guard Alexia Rogers had seven points in the loss at Eastern Hancock and is learning how to be the voice between the seniors and younger players.

“She is doing a good job in that upperclassman role,” said Kleine.

Rutledge has grown to six-foot, two inches tall and is developing into a consistent low post threat after an impressive freshman season.

“She played some AAU (basketball) in the offseason and got stronger,” said Kleine. “She is itching to get back on the floor. She has matured. She is a lot less intimidated. She will be a force to be reckoned with when she gets back on the floor.”

Sophomore Nevaeh Cox led Morristown in scoring at the Martinsville scrimmage and will see an expanded role this season.

“She is extremely quick,” said Kleine.

Rude will fill a variety of roles for Morristown.

“Defensively and offensively, she is a smart player,” said Kleine. “I like what I’ve seen from her.”

Morristown finished 5-2 over its last seven games last season with Sanders averaging 18.6 ppg. With Raegan Kleine and Danika Rutledge, Morristown has a consistent trio of scorers.

“We have a lot of young talent but not a lot of varsity experience,” said Rachel Kleine. “But they are scrappy and coachable.”

With only 10 players in the program, Morristown will not have a junior varsity squad this season. And with the injuries, Kleine has yet to have all 10 players on the floor for a practice.

“We’re just in a tough spot right now,” said Kleine.

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With a new head coach and nearly an entirely new varsity roster, Waldron opened its girls basketball season very inexperienced.

That youthfulness showed Friday with 21 first-half turnovers at Blue River Valley. That put the Mohawks down 34-10 at halftime and they never recovered.

Blue River Valley secured its season-opening win, 49-28.

Cendall Sheaffer and Alyssa Benson each scored eight points to lead Waldron in head coach Ilea Shipp’s varsity debut. The Waldron graduate served as the program’s junior varsity coach last season.

Josee Larrison, Waldron’s lone returning player with significant varsity experience, scored five points and had a team-high nine rebounds.

Blue River Valley won the JV contest, 41-21.

Emerson Lindsey led the Mohawks with six points. Benson and Audrey Hogg each scored five.

Waldron must regroup quickly with a road trip to Tri on tap Saturday.

FAIRLAND – Class 2A, No. 5 Triton Central’s defense made a statement Friday against 2A No. 4 Indianapolis Scecina.

Time and again the Tigers’ defense stifled a Scecina offense averaging 37 points per game. And with the Crusaders pushing for one final score, the Tigers deflected a pair of passes and sacked quarterback David Mendez to put them in desperation mode.

Mendez dropped back on fourth-and-15 and heaved the ball as far as he could down the Scecina sideline. His receiver came up just short of hauling in a diving catch and the Tigers began celebrating a hard-fought 10-7 victory to collect the program’s fourth-consecutive sectional championship.

“This feels great,” said Triton Central senior linebacker Lucas Kleeman. “Going into halftime with a zero on the scoreboard felt great. Our defense was able to stop them the whole game. Coming out of the half, we had to trick our minds. We had the mindset that we were down by 10 and had to get stops.”

Kleeman lived out that mindset with an interception on Scecina’s first drive of the second half. The Crusaders consistently failed to sustain any offensive momentum throughout the game.

“That one touchdown hurt but we knew we were dominating the whole game,” continued Kleeman. “We knew we’ve been doing that this whole season. Last week, (Brownstown Central) ran it on us a little bit and we figured (Scecina) would think they could come out here and do that to us. We showed them that they couldn’t.”

Scecina finished with 49 yards rushing on 20 carries. And after completing 8-of-his-first-10 pass attempts for 90 yards, Mendez failed to connect on 12 of his final 16 attempts.

Only a 45-yard catch and run by Jacob Martin early in the fourth quarter provided Scecina’s points.

The Crusaders were stopped twice in the first half on fourth-down plays in the red zone.

“That was great. That was great. That confidence boost made us know if we get in that situation again, we could hold them,” said Kleeman, who leads Triton Central in total tackles for the second straight year.

Triton Central strung together a 14-play drive to open the game and closed it with a 30-yard field goal from Levi Dewey.

Scecina quickly stalled out on its first series and the Carter Nolan punt bounced off a Triton Central player which forced Brad Schultz to scoop it up and run. And run he did. The senior found a seam and got to the Scecina 28 before being tackled.

Five plays later, Ray Crawford (photo) crossed the goal line for what turned out to be Triton Central’s only touchdown of the night.

With the 10-0 lead, Triton Central stayed conservative on offense, opting to rely on Crawford to keep moving the chains and taking precious time off the clock.

Crawford turned 15 first-half carries into 56 yards and he continued to be the workhorse until late in the third quarter when he was tackled and didn’t get up.

The junior was helped off the field and never returned. Scecina’s next drive resulted in a touchdown and new life, trailing 10-7 with 8:45 left in the fourth quarter.

Triton Central needed a jolt and Brayden Wilkins (photo) was ready to be that lightning bolt. The junior took a pitch from quarterback Jace Stuckey on the first play after the touchdown and turned the corner up the Scecina sideline to race 36 yards and flip the field position.

“I knew I had to step up. I was the next person in line,” said Wilkins of his thoughts when Crawford was helped off the field with a lower leg injury. “I’ve been waiting all year to do it.”

With a little help from Schultz, Wilkins showed off his speed.

“Brad had an amazing block and there was one other kid and I knew I could outrun him,” said Wilkins. “I tried it and it worked. It put us in great field position.”

From there, Wilkins went to work churning up yards and clock. The junior got the next five carries and gained 20 yards down to the Scecina 9.

Stuckey pushed his way to a first down on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive going. Wilkins gained two more yards on his final carry of the night.

Stuckey went to the air on third down and his pass was incomplete in the end zone. He tried a quarterback draw on fourth-and-goal at the 5 and was stopped two yards later.

Scecina needed to flip the field over the final three minutes to steal the victory but Triton Central’s defense did not let that happen.

Scecina had won eight of its last nine meetings with Triton Central including a 21-20 overtime victory on Sept. 30. The redemption was sweet, according to Wilkins.

“This is great. And against Scecina … even better,” said Wilkins.

Wilkins finished with 69 yards rushing on 11 carries and had five receptions for 87 yards.

Triton Central will host fellow 2A No. 5 Evansville Mater Dei (9-3) in the regional championship next week, either Friday or Saturday depending on when travel arrangements are finalized.

While the celebration continued on the field, head coach Tim Able, who has led Triton Central to a sectional championship game in each of his 10 seasons in Fairland, settled off to the side along the fence.

While he took great satisfaction with a win over Scecina and long-time coaching rival Ott Hurrle, Able (photo) was already turning his thoughts to another nemesis in Evansville Mater Dei.

“We have to play well. They are a good team that plays a lot of good teams,” said Able. “We have to regroup and be ready to roll.”

Able’s fifth sectional title at Triton Central comes with a little bittersweet feeling. The 2022 season is his first without his father present. Norman Able died Dec. 4, 2021. He frequently addressed the TC football team after games on Friday nights.

“My first year here, my mom (Roberta) passed and last year dad (passed),” said Able who showed off the underside of the brim of the cap he wore during the game. Mom and Dad were written in big letters. “Yeah, their presence was here tonight and all my family is here.”

Steve Bush photos for Shelby County Post

Triton Central 10, Indianapolis Scecina 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SC (10-2)    0  0  0  7  --  7

TC (10-2)  10  0  0  0  --  10

First quarter:

TC – Dewey 30 field goal, 5:34

TC – Crawford 4 run (Dewey kick), 2:00

Fourth quarter:

SC – Martin, 45 pass Mendez (Nolan kick), 8:51

Individuals:

Rushing: Fitts-Ramsey 12-25, Greathouse 1-6, Mas. Beriault 1-2, Mendez 4-16 (SC); Crawford 20-66, Wilkins 11-69, Schultz 3-8, Stuckey 7-11 (TC).

Passing: Mendez 11-26-177 (SC); Stuckey 7-13-99 (TC).

Receiving: Mas. Beriault 4-51, Ray 3-33, Thibo 2-23, Fitts-Ramsey 2-11, Greathouse 1-16, Martin 1-45 (SC); Wilkins 5-87, Schultz 1-10, Dewey 1-2 (TC).

The Indiana High School Athletic Association Executive Committee approved the sectional assignments Friday in baseball and softball for the next two school years.

The committee accepted the recommendations of the realignment committee which determined the sectional groups for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years.

The Baseball and Softball Realignment Committee was one of four groups of school administrators to realign each of the team sports and represented each IHSAA district and class.

Tournament host sites in both sports, along with other spring sports, will be announced in the spring.

Shelbyville baseball and softball will have identical sectional foes as part of Class 4A, Sectional 14. Now paired with the Golden Bears are Columbus East, Columbus North, East Central, Franklin and Whiteland.

Triton Central baseball was slotted into Class 2A, Sectional 42 with Heritage Christian, Indianapolis Scecina, Irvington Prep and Park Tudor.

Triton Central softball also is in Sectional 42 with Christel House, Heritage Christian, Indianapolis Scecina, Irvington Prep and Park Tudor.

The three Shelby County Class A schools will not be in the same sectional for the next two seasons.

Morristown baseball will compete in Sectional 59 against Edinburgh, Eminence, Greenwood Christian, Indianapolis Lutheran and Indianapolis Metropolitan.

Morristown softball also was assigned to Sectional 59 along with Edinburgh, Eminence, Greenwood Christian, Indianapolis Lutheran and Providence Cristo Rey.

Sectional 60 is identical for six baseball and softball programs. The postseason fields include Jac-Cen-Del, North Decatur, Oldenburg Academy, South Decatur, Southwestern and Waldron.

Class 2A, No. 14 Eastern Hancock moved to 2-0 this season with a 74-25 victory over visiting Morristown Thursday.

The Royals raced out to a 30-2 lead after one quarter against Class A, No. 14 Morristown, who is injury riddled as the season opens.

Grace Stapleton led Eastern Hancock with 13 points and nine assists.

Makenzie O’Neal finished with 12 points. Sammie Bolding added 11 points and four steals. Ellie Meyer had 10.

Raegan Kleine led the Yellow Jackets (0-1) with 10 points. Alexia Rogers had seven points.

Morristown hosts the Kopper Kettle Classic Saturday at the Bee Hive. The Yellow Jackets face Tri-Central (0-0) at 10 a.m. in the first of two semifinal contests.

The second semifinal pits Class 2A, No. 3 University (1-0) against Henryville (0-1).

Tim Able made the call and trusted his offense to move a little over 36 inches forward on one final snap to secure the Indiana Crossroads Conference victory.

Levi Dewey’s extra-point kick tied the game with Scecina in overtime but a penalty moved the ball even closer to the end zone and Able rolled the dice and went for the win rather than a second overtime period.

The handoff to running back Ray Crawford was never secured and the play was stuffed by the Scecina defense allowing the Crusaders a stunning 21-20 victory over Triton Central on Sept. 30.

Thirty-five days later, two of the top-five ranked teams in Class 2A will meet again – this time with much more at stake.

Class 2A, No. 4 Scecina (10-1) travels to 2A No. 5 Triton Central (9-2) Friday for the Sectional 39 championship game.

Triton Central will seek a much cleaner performance than its first meeting with the Crusaders where it almost overcame four fumbles to steal the win.

“Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” said Able.

Scecina and veteran head coach Ott Hurrle have been a thorn in Triton Central’s side since the two programs started meeting regularly in 2013. The Crusaders have won nine of 12 meetings since 2013, including eight of the last nine.

Both programs had postseason success in 2021. Triton Central captured its third sectional title under Able’s direction while Scecina won both sectional and regional titles.

Combined, the two coaches have 439 career victories and three state championships.

Triton Central has reached the sectional championship game with wins at Christel House Manual, 58-6, and Brownstown Central, 24-19.

Crawford (photo), who had 111 rushing yards and a touchdown against Scecina that night, has gotten stronger as the season has gone along. The junior, who is No. 3 on TC’s career rushing yards record board, followed that performance with 95 yards and a TD against Beech Grove, 153 yards and two TDs against Speedway, and 149 yards and a TD at Brownstown Central.

“He’s doing a really good job. The line of scrimmage is picking it up. The continuity of him and the kids (is working) as teams are trying to defend the pass,” said Able.

Crawford was aggressive at Brownstown Central, hitting the first opening in the line of scrimmage.

“We’ve been trying to get him to do that all year,” said Able. “When he does, he gets those results. He runs downhill and does one cut and starts breaking ankles. There are not many kids that can make an open field tackle (on him). He is a strong young man.”

Hurrle agrees that Crawford has been impressive down the stretch.

“He seems to be running stronger every game we’ve watched,” he said.

Triton Central junior quarterback Jace Stuckey has thrown for 2,308 yards and 22 touchdowns this season with senior receiver Brad Schultz putting together a record-setting year with more than 1,300 yards receiving.

That trio has made Triton Central’s offense explosive. The Tigers are averaging 38.1 points per game this season.

“We said after that (first meeting) we were going to meet again and we better be a better team because it won’t be close,” said Hurrle. “They will run away from us. Their offense is explosive.”

Scecina has not had a tough game since Sept. 30. The Crusaders closed out the regular season with wins over Ritter (45-6) and Monrovia (42-0) then defeated Switzerland County (49-0) and Clarksville (48-18) to reach the sectional finale.

The Crusaders’ offense is averaging 37 ppg but had less than 100 yards rushing against Triton Central while junior quarterback David Mendez threw for 159 yards and a touchdown.

Brandon Fitts-Ramsey, Scecina’s leading rusher this season, was held to just 39 yards by a Tigers’ defense that is allowing 16.5 ppg.

Defensively, Triton Central is led by senior Lucas Kleeman (photo) (66 total tackles, an interception and two forced fumbles), junior Brayden Wilkins (55 tackles and a fumble recovery) and senior Hadyn Ball (54 tackles, six quarterback sacks).

Triton Central has 18 interceptions. Junior Levi Dewey (photo) leads the way with four. Crawford and junior Mason Compton each have three.

Senior Mason Beriault tops Scecina with 75 tackles. Seniors Tamir Woods (57) and Adam Young (56) are No. 2 and No. 3 on the team, respectively.

Woods has a team-high 11 QB sacks. Young has eight.

The Crusaders have 11 interceptions with sophomore Madden Beriault leading with four. Mason Beriault has three.

Both teams have experienced kickers. Scecina’s Carter Nolan has connected on 41-of-47 extra-point attempts while Dewey is 33 of 37.

Dewey has hit eight field goals, including a 50 yarder. Nolan has two field goals, both inside 30 yards.

QUICK FACTS:

Class 2A, No. 4 Indianapolis Scecina at Class 2A, No. 5 Triton Central

Game time: 7 p.m. at Mendenhall Stadium in Fairland, Indiana.

Media coverage: 6 p.m. pregame show live from McKeand Stadium with Johnny McCrory and Mark Drake on GIANT fm (96.5 fm, 106.3 fm, 1520 am) or on the GIANT fm app. Shelby County Post News Editor Jeff Brown will have the game story and box score online late Friday.

Admission: General admission tickets are $7, cash only at the gate.

Student Section Theme: Blackout.

Head coaches: Ott Hurrle, 224-145 in 31^st year at Scecina, 225-154 in 33^rd year overall; Tim Able, 89-34 in 10^th year at Triton Central; 214-132 in 29^th year overall.

2022 record: Scecina 10-1; Triton Central 9-2.

2021 record: Scecina 10-4; Triton Central 8-5.

Sagarin ratings: Scecina, 68.99, 68^th overall, 5^th in Class 2A; Triton Central, 67.01, 72nd overall, 6th in Class 2A.

Point spread: The game is a toss-up.

Sectional 40 championship: North Posey (9-2) at Class 2A, No. 5 Evansville Mater Dei (8-3).

Regional championship: If Triton Central and Evansville Mater Dei win, Triton Central will host the regional championship on either a Friday night or Saturday afternoon. If TC and North Posey win, the Tigers would travel to North Posey for the regional title game.

Kylee Edwards entered her senior season in hot pursuit of Shelbyville girls basketball’s career scoring mark. After Tuesday’s record-setting performance in the Golden Bears’ season opener, Edwards may collect the mark sooner than expected.

Edwards (photo) exploded for a program single-game record 45 points Tuesday on Frank Barnes Court at William L. Garrett Gymnasium to lead Shelbyville to a 73-53 victory over Brown County.

“We’re a whole different team. We play so well together. We’re a fast team. I think this is going to be a really special year,” said Edwards after posing for a picture to commemorate breaking the 28-year-old record of 43 points set by Misty (Smith) Albrecht.

Edwards made 16-of-27 shot attempts and 10-of-11 free throws to get to 45 points. She scored 28 in the first half to push the Golden Bears to a 41-26 lead.

Without much front court size and experience this season, Shelbyville is heavily guard-oriented and wanting to push the pace. At times Tuesday, the pace was too fast.

The Golden Bears maintained a double-digit lead over the Eagles from the middle of the second quarter on, but a third-quarter string of turnovers caused head coach Becca Hoefler to implore her team to slow down.

“We have some girls playing in some roles they haven’t been in before and with the defense that we play, we are really looking to run and gun,” said Hoefler. “We were expecting some quick turnovers (on our part) but sometimes the payout is really nice, and tonight the payout was really good for us.”

Shelbyville's Ellie Keller, right, tries to elude the defensive pressure of Brown County's Ava Stogsdill (1) Tuesday at Garrett Gymnasium.

Edwards scored Shelbyville’s first five points of the third quarter and freshman Ellie Keller drove the lane and scored to extend the lead to 48-28.

Turnovers kept the Golden Bears from putting away Brown County and two quick baskets by the Eagles triggered Hoefler to slow her team down.

“Keller is trying to figure it all out,” said Hoefler. “She only knows how to go and doesn’t know how to stop. We are working with her on just making good decisions … and especially our other guards too.

“You don’t hate a team that wants to go fast, that’s for sure.”

Keller responded with a drive and score plus a free throw off a half-court set then followed that with a wing 3-pointer that put Shelbyville up 54-34.

Keller finished her varsity debut with 11 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal after scoring a quick 13 points in the first quarter of the junior varsity contest.

Ava Wilson added 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals in the win.

Edwards’ previous career high was 37 points her sophomore year and she has not let Hoefler forget about not letting her go for the record that night. So 43 points was in the back of the coach’s mind as Edwards hit 40.

The senior had a chance to break the record with a second free throw attempt but missed. A quick turnover put the ball back in her hands and she attacked the rim and scored to add another milestone to her career.

Brown County's Savannah Oden (21) and Shelbyville's Kylee Edwards get tangled up fighting for control of the basketball Tuesday at Garrett Gymnasium.

Edwards now holds the single-game scoring record for a Golden Bear – boy or girl – at Garrett Gymnasium. Mike Sipes scored 41 points in a home win over Greensburg in 1971.

Not too bad for a softball player. Edwards is traveling to Mississippi State this weekend for her official college visit. The highly-ranked middle infielder expects to sign her National Letter of Intent to play for the Bulldogs on Wednesday.

The Garrett Gymnasium record for points in a game is held by Rushville’s Kyle Morgan, who scored 52 points in a regional championship game win over Danville in 2008.

The performance pushed Edwards’ career scoring total to 1,179 points, leaving her behind Brenda Kelsay (1,374) and Gretchen Haehl (1,418).

Shelbyville won the junior varsity contest, 59-17. Freshman Savannah Collins led the Golden Bears with 14 points.

The Golden Bears have three games set for next week – Tuesday at Class A, No. 6 Waldron, Friday at Edinburgh and back to Garrett Gymnasium Saturday for a visit from Class A, No. 14 Morristown.

Shelbyville 73, Brown County 53

BC: K. Tipton 0-1 5-8 5, Austin 5-13 1-2 14, Watson 0-1 2-4 2, Oden 4-7 2-4 10, Huff 2-6 2-2 8, An. Stogsdill 2-11 1-2 5, Av. Stogsdill 2-6 1-2 5, Kemp 2-4 0-0 4, A. Tipton 0-3 0-2 0. Totals: 17-52 14-26 53.

SH: Edwards 16-27 10-11 45, Brenner 0-1 1-2 1, Wilson 5-8 0-0 10, Simpson 0-3 0-1 0, Pogue 1-2 0-0 2, Keller 4-10 1-3 11, E. Johnson 1-3 2-3 4, Marshall 0-1 0-0 0, L. Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, S. Baker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 27-55 14-21 73.
SCORE BY QUARTERS

BC (0-1)    9  17  13  14  --  53

SH (1-0)  17  24  15  17  --  73

Three-point field goals: BC 5-15 (Austin 3-7, Huff 2-4, An. Stogsdill 0-2, Kemp 0-1, A. Tipton 1), SH 5-9 (Edwards 3-6, Simpson 0-1, Keller 2-2). Rebounds: BC 31 (K. Tipton 6, Austin 2, Watson 3, Oden 8, Huff 4, An. Stogsdill 2, Av. Stogsdill 4, Kemp 2), SH 32 (Edwards 7, Brenner 2, Wilson 3, Simpson 2, Pogue 1, Keller 7, E. Johnson 7, L. Johnson 3). Assists: BC 8 (K. Tipton 1, Huff 4, An. Stogsdill 2, Av. Stogsdill 1), SH 13 (Edwards 5, Wilson 2, Simpson 2, Keller 1, E. Johnson 1, Marshall 2). Steals: BC 7 (K. Tipton 1, Huff 3, An. Stogsdill 2, A. Tipton 1), SH 15 (Edwards 3, Wilson 4, Simpson 3, Keller 1, E. Johnson 2, Marshall 2). Blocks: BC 1 (Oden), SH 3 (Edwards 2, L. Johnson 1). Total fouls: BC 18, SH 20. Turnovers: BC 29, SH 28.

JV

Shelbyville 59, Brown County 17

BC: Av. Stogsdill 7, Sanders 4, Smith 4, A. Tipton 2.

SH: Collins 14, E. Keller 13, Asher 9, H. Baker 8, Fortune 7, A. Keller 3, Jones 3, Stewart 2.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

BC    2    9    4    2  --  17

SH  26  11  14    8  --  59

Steve Bush photos for Shelby County Post.

Three of Shelby County’s five high school girls basketball programs will open the season ranked in the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association’s preseason top 20.

Triton Central, 19-5 last season, is ranked No. 8 in Class 2A in the preseason poll. The Tigers debut Saturday in Fairland against Roncalli.

Forest Park is No. 1 in 2A followed by Winchester, University, Fairfield, Andrean, Eastbrook, Carroll (Flora), Frankton, Triton Central and South Central (Union Mills).

Waldron, a regional champion in 2022, is No. 6 in Class A preseason poll. The Mohawks finished 24-2 last season. Waldron and new head coach Ilea Shipp open the season Friday at Blue River Valley, ranked No. 7.

Morristown, 14-10 in 2022 with a strong group returning, is No. 14 in the poll. The Yellow Jackets travel to Eastern Hancock, ranked No. 14 in 2A, Thursday for their season debut.

Lanesville is No. 1 in Class A ahead of Vincennes Rivet, Tecumseh, Jac-Cen-Del, Trinity Lutheran, Waldron, Blue River Valley, Kouts, Tri, North White and Morgan Township.

Mishawaka Marian holds the top spot in Class 3A followed by Benton Central, Norwell, Jay County, Hamilton Heights, Twin Lakes, Corydon Central, Garrett, Indian Creek and Silver Creek.

In Class 4A, Noblesville is No. 1 ahead of Bedford North Lawrence, South Bend Washington, Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, Lake Central, Zionsville, Homestead, North Central and Franklin.

Following a season-opening victory over St. Xavier (Illinois) Thursday, Marian University’s men’s basketball team traveled to Bloomington Saturday for an exhibition game against No. 13 Indiana University.

The Hoosiers rolled to a 78-42 victory over the Knights.

Morristown graduate Hayden Langkabel (photo) led Marian with nine points and three rebounds in 26 minutes of playing time.

On Thursday, Langkabel finished with 17 points, four rebounds and one assist in a 92-64 win over St. Xavier.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

Brooklyn Langkabel

The Morristown graduate played 11 minutes Saturday in Marian’s 60-48 season-opening win at Rochester (Michigan).

Langkabel had seven points, one rebound, one assist and one steal.

Olivia Faust

The Triton Central graduate was in the starting lineup for Marian in her collegiate debut at Rochester.

Faust scored six points, grabbed three rebounds, had one block and three steals in the Knights’ win.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate scored two points and collected one rebound Saturday in Oakland City’s 81-56 exhibition loss to the University of Evansville at the Ford Center in downtown Evansville.

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds for Loyola Sunday in a 73-65 exhibition victory over Purdue Northwest.

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate was credited with one assist and eight digs Saturday for Jacksonville State in a 25-14, 25-14, 25-20 win over Stetson to improve the Gamecocks to 20-5 this season.

On Friday, Florida Gulf Coast defeated Jacksonville State, 25-15, 21-25, 17-25, 25-19, 15-12. Schiffli finished with one kill, one service ace, one assist and eight digs.

Maggie Schweitzer

The Triton Central graduate had one kill, 26 assists, two aces and four digs Saturday in Hanover’s 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21 loss to Rose-Hulman. The loss dropped the Panthers to 13-13 this season.

On Wednesday, Hanover defeated Franklin College, 23-25, 25-22, 25-11, 25-19. Schweitzer collected 19 assists, one ace and nine digs.

Julia Sanders

The Triton Central graduate had one assist and eight digs Saturday in IU Kokomo’s 25-15, 25-17, 25-13 win at Ohio Christian University. The Cougars are 25-6 this season.

On Friday, IU Kokomo traveled to IU East and was defeated 25-18, 27-25, 20-25, 25-22. Sanders finished with one assist and eight digs.

Kenneth Gipson

The Triton Central graduate was part of Rose-Hulman’s starting offensive line that helped quarterback Miguel Robertson tie a single-game record with seven touchdown passes Saturday in the Engineers’ 76-35 win over Defiance.

All seven of Robertson’s TD passes came in the first half as Rose-Hulman raced out to a 62-14 halftime advantage on Senior Day in Terre Haute.

Rose-Hulman improved to 5-3 overall and 5-0 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings.

Hayden Kermode

The Triton Central graduate was credited with one solo tackle and two assists and he had a special teams fumble recovery Saturday in Concordia’s 44-21 win over Lawrence Tech.

Concordia improved to 3-5 this season.

Elizabeth Kemper

The Triton Central graduate closed out Taylor University’s fall golf schedule with an eighth-place finish in the Crossroads League Preview played at Chariot Run Golf Course in Laconia, Indiana, on Oct. 24-25.

Kemper carded rounds of 80 and 76 for a two-day total of 156 to finish tied for eighth in the individual standings.

Taylor, ranked No. 9, led the team standings after day one with a 301 but shot 319 on day two and slipped to runner-up status in the finale behind Indiana Wesleyan.

Jill Anspaugh

The Shelbyville graduate finished 22^nd overall for Franklin College in Saturday’s Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships held at the Bluffton Nature Preserve in Bluffton, Ohio.

Anspaugh’s finishing time of 25 minutes, 31 seconds left her just outside of an all-conference designation.

Franklin College finished third overall in the women’s team standings.

Michael Fox

The Shelbyville graduate placed 49^th in the men’s HCAC race in Bluffton.

Fox, competing for Manchester University, finished the course in 28:38. Manchester finished third overall.