EDINBURGH -- John Shaw was unsure why Waldron had such a poor first half Wednesday against Jac-Cen-Del at the Edinburgh Sectional. The result was a 29-13 halftime deficit.

Lucas Shaw, Waldron’s leading scorer, got more involved in the offense in the third quarter and the Mohawks started clawing their way back against the Eagles.

The deficit was down to 10 at the end of three quarters and an 8-0 run to the mid-point of the fourth quarter got Waldron within three, 43-40.

Clark Dwenger and Carson Hughes followed with back-to-back three-pointers to hold off the Mohawks’ surge and Brady Comer made six free throws in the game’s final minute to seal a 55-44 victory and a date in Friday’s semifinal round against South Decatur.

“First half, we came out with an energy I haven’t seen before this year. We were just dead,” said Waldron interim head coach John Shaw. “I don’t know if the moment was too big at the time or just those first shots didn’t fall and people didn’t know how to handle it.”

Comer finished with 19 points and seven rebounds to push Jac-Cen-Del’s record to 10-14. Wednesday’s win was the Eagles’ second win this season over Waldron (9-13). Dwenger finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

The two seniors combined for 20 first-half points to lead Jac-Cen-Del to a quick double-digit lead.

Lucas Shaw had just two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the opening 16 minutes but capitalized on more opportunities in the third quarter which helped the Mohawks get back in the game.

“We were trying to get him to go hard but we weren’t cutting hard and getting open,” said coach Shaw. “They play a good man-to-man, sagging man-to-man (defense). They were cutting off all those dribble drives and we had to be willing to pull up and take the shot.”

Shaw had seven points in the third quarter but made just 1-of-4 free throws that added to his team’s 3-of-10 performance from the charity stripe in the opening three quarters.

“Uncharacteristic for us, especially Lucas,” said coach Shaw. “He is about an 80% free throw shooter and for him to short arm everything to start with was tough to see. We talk as coaches how those first free throws kind of dictate how you are going to be the rest of the game.”

Waldron closed out the third quarter on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to 36-26.

Jac-Cen-Del always seemed to find an answer when Waldron gained momentum. Brady Borgman opened the fourth quarter hitting a 3-pointer from the wing and the lead grew to 13.

Shaw scored on back-to-back possessions to get the lead under 10 and it was the junior that splashed a quick 3 from the top of the key following a Jac-Cen-Del turnover that punctuated the 8-0 run to the 4:21 mark that got the Mohawks within three points.

“I didn’t want us to exert all our energy right there,” said coach Shaw. “I knew it would go down to the wire. 

“We got them to shoot some 3s. The bad part was they made them. That was the killer.”

Dwenger drilled his second 3 of the game on the next possession and Waldron’s run finally stalled. The Eagles then spread the floor and put Waldron in chase mode.

Hughes then delivered the final knockout punch with a 3 from the wing in front of his team’s bench to make it 49-40 with 2:08 left in the clock.

Shaw scored 18 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 20 points. He also had six rebounds.

Will Larrison, another junior, had 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Keith Settles, one of three seniors that played their final game for Waldron Wednesday, finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

John Shaw’s record as a head coach ends at 5-7. He was named interim coach in mid-January when David Corder resigned. He got the program to the sectional in good shape and now he will step aside to allow the school administration to find the program’s next head coach.

“It was exhausting for me because I’m not a teacher and I’m not in the school system,” he said. “I have another job and thankfully my partners at my business knew what I was doing and we’re on board with me.

“It was exhausting but I had a blast. If it wasn’t for that group of kids, I don’t think I would have jumped at the opportunity.”

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ST. LEON – Wyatt McLaughlin was not going down without a fight.

Already without starting guard and leading scorer Jazz Banwait, who was out due to illness, McLaughlin took over Whiteland’s Sectional 14 opener in the second half against Shelbyville and carried his team to a 63-54 victory in the Class 4A, Sectional 14 opener for both teams.

The senior guard scored all 18 of his points in the second half Tuesday and never let the Golden Bears regain a lead they built to 23-19 midway through the second quarter.

“We did an excellent job in the first half of shutting down McLaughlin. He didn’t score,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett, “but he is a really good player and he was really tough to stop (in the second half).”

The Warriors led 17-11 after one quarter but Shelbyville went on a spirited 12-2 run to get the lead. However, the Golden Bears did not score again in the quarter after a Mar Nicholson basket with 3:23 left on the clock.

Whiteland scored the final seven points to take a 26-23 lead at halftime then added 6-0 and 7-0 runs in the third quarter to get the lead to double digits.

“We made some key mistakes and key turnovers that cost us late,” admitted Hartnett.

While McLaughlin struggled to hit free throws in the fourth quarter, he made all four of his field goal attempts and the Warriors shot 89% (8 of 9) from the field to keep the Golden Bears at bay.

Ethan Edwards finished with 15 points for Whiteland (15-10). Gavin Stubbe had 14 points and five rebounds. And Akol Akol added nine points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Warriors advanced to Friday’s semifinal round where they will face Franklin (16-4). The two teams split a pair of games this season. In the semifinal opener Friday, the host, East Central (11-13), will take on Columbus East (7-16), a 41-33 winner Tuesday over Columbus North.

Nicholson (photo) finished with a game-high 20 points for Shelbyville (11-12). Caden Claxton had 13 and Luke Brinkman came off the bench to collect eight points, seven rebounds and two assists.

The strongest part of Shelbyville’s schedule came in the final month and it showed. The Golden Bears were 11-6 after a 67-50 win at Speedway on Jan. 26.

The program finished the season with six straight losses but with an improved win total for the second straight season after winning five games two years ago and 10 games last season.

“It was a good year and a good start for us. This just shows our guys where the program can go,” said Hartnett. “We were 11-6 at one point then played some of top teams around at the end of our schedule but that made us better going into tournament time.”

The program graduates five seniors – Brinkman, Kohen Myers, Ethan Lambert, Kyle Clouse and Brock Kuhn. Damon Badgley (photo) and Kenny Owens, who was on the junior varsity roster this season but dressed with the varsity Tuesday, will be the only seniors next season.

“Badgley has to accept a new role next year and that is a being a leader,” said Hartnett. “He will be the senior captain next year and followed along with (current sophomores) Caden Claxton, Mar Nicholson, Cole Schene, Brody Runnebohm and Gavin Reed that will help contribute. We will be talented. I am really excited to see what we can do the next two years.”

Shelbyville’s three leading scorers this season were Claxton (14.3 ppg), Nicholson (13.4 ppg) and Badgley (8 ppg).

Steve Bush photos

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Southwestern could not find an answer for Morristown all season.

On Tuesday in the opening game of the Edinburgh Sectional, the Spartans rolled out to a 19-12 lead after one quarter but could not hold off the Yellow Jackets, who hit seven three-pointers over the final three quarters to secure their third win over the Spartans this season.

Kane Snyder hit four 3s and scored a team-high 16 points to help Morristown advance with a 66-51 victory. Brayden Keithley scored 15 points and Kellen Crim finished with 13 to get the Yellow Jackets a semifinal round game at Class A, Sectional 60 Friday against Oldenburg Academy (11-11).

Mitchell Clements and Michael Clements each hit two 3s in the opening quarter to stake Southwestern to a 7-point lead at the first break.

Five different Yellow Jackets scored in the second quarter to get them into the lead, 31-28, at halftime.

The two rivals traded baskets in the third quarter with Morristown holding a 46-43 advantage going into the final quarter.

The Spartans (3-18) scored just eight points in the final eight minutes and Morristown (5-18) made 10-of-14 free-throw attempts to seal the program’s first sectional game victory since 2021.

Ben Kahler scored a game-high 22 points to lead Southwestern. Mitchell Clements finished with 12 points.

Carter Snepp, Southwestern’s lone senior, scored seven points in his final game.

The Edinburgh Sectional continues tonight with two quarterfinal round contests.

In the opener, Jac-Cen-Del (9-14) takes on Waldron (9-12) at 6 p.m. GIANT fm (96.5 fm, 1520 am, GIANT fm app) will broadcast the game. The pre-game show starts at 5:30 p.m.

In the second game, the host Lancers (11-10) battle South Decatur (10-13). The winners of both Wednesday games return to Edinburgh Friday for a 7:30 p.m. semifinal contest.

Morristown will seek a better outcome Friday in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. against Oldenburg Academy after suffering a 64-46 loss on Nov. 28 to the Twisters.

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With a 68-65 win over No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan Saturday, Marian’s women’s basketball team secured its 10^th Crossroads League championship and the top seed in the postseason tournament.

The win was the 25^th consecutive for the Knights (27-1, 18-0 Crossroads League).

On Wednesday, Marian collected win No. 26 in a 72-42 victory over Mt. Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio).

Triton Central graduate Olivia Faust had three points, one rebound and one assist for Marian.

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

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had 11 points, six rebounds and one assist Saturday in SMU’s 74-64 loss to East Carolina.

The Mustangs are 13-13 this season and 7-8 against their American Athletic Conference opponents.

Kyle Crim

The Morristown graduate finished with seven points, two rebounds and seven assists Friday to help Hanover upset No. 2 seed Transylvania, 78-64, in the semifinal round of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament in Anderson.

On Saturday, top-seed Anderson ended the Panthers season in a 90-73 tournament-championship victory.

Hanover finished the season 18-10.

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate scored 14 points and added two rebounds, three assists and one steal to her stat line Friday in Hanover’s 69-57 loss to Mount St. Joseph in its HCAC Tournament opener.

The Panthers closed out their season with an 18-8 record.

Earlier in the week, Heath earned her third First Team All-HCAC honor. She led the conference in assists per game at 5.0.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate had nine points and four rebounds Saturday in Oakland City’s 87-68 loss to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

Oakland City is 7-21.

Tenleigh Phelps and Lizzie Graham

The Triton Central graduates helped IU South Bend clinch the best regular-season record in school history Saturday in a 109-61 win over Judson University.

Phelps finished with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists. Graham had two points and one assist.

The Titans improved to 27-1 overall and 19-1 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings.

Zaleeya Martin

The Shelbyville graduate placed sixth in the 60 meters (7.85 seconds) and 17^th in the 200 (26.6) for the University of Indianapolis at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Fall Creek Pavilion Saturday and Sunday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Allison Batten

The Morristown graduate finished 14^th in the 400 (1:08) for Trine University Saturday in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championships.

The event was hosted by Trine in Angola, Indiana.

Kina Schultz

The Shelbyville graduate placed sixth in the 60 hurdles (9.7) for Muskingum in the Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in New Concord, Ohio.

HCAC Indoor Track and Field Championships

Ava Ruschhaupt

The Shelbyville graduate placed 19^th in the 60 meters (9.58) Saturday for Franklin College in Terre Haute.

Alison Muck

The Southwestern graduate finished second in the 60 hurdles (9.61) and fifth in the high jump (1.47 meters) for Franklin.

Bailey Stamper

The Triton Central graduate placed 14^th in the shot put (9.20 meters) for Franklin.

Madalyn Hudnall

The Waldron graduate finished third in the shot put (11.87 meters) and set a new personal best in throwing 12.59 meters in the weight throw to finish eighth for Mount St. Joseph.

Brayden Basey

The Shelbyville graduate had three hits including a double, scored four runs, stole two bases and drove in two runs in Trine baseball’s three-game series at Anderson University.

Basey had two hits, two RBI and scored three runs Sunday in Trine’s 21-17 win over the Ravens – the first of the season for the program.

Morgan Stieneker and Erica Henry

Indiana University Columbus softball opened its season Sunday with a doubleheader loss to Calumet College at Ceraland Park in Columbus.

Stieneker, a Shelbyville graduate, had a run-scoring single and stole a base in a 17-6 loss.

In game two, Calumet prevailed 25-3. Stieneker had a hit and scored a run.

Henry, also a Shelbyville graduate, had a hit and drove in a run for IU Columbus. She also took the loss as the starting pitcher in the game.

Cory Taylor

The Shelbyville graduate had hits in the first two games of Eastern Michigan’s three-game series at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.

In the opener Friday, Taylor had a hit and a walk, stole a base and scored a run in Eastern Michigan’s 11-8 loss.

Eastern Michigan won game two, 7-4, then dropped the series finale Sunday, 3-1.

The Eagles are 2-5 this season.

Charlie Rife

The Shelbyville graduate had two hits and a walk for Bellarmine Friday in a 20-3 loss at the University of North Carolina Asheville.

Bellarmine was swept in the three-game series to fall to 1-6 this season.

Karissa Hamilton

The Shelbyville graduate had hits in three of the five games for the University of Kentucky at the Wings Etc. Classic in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The Wildcats (11-2) opened the event with a 7-3 win Friday over Akron and a 9-0 win over the host, the University of South Carolina Upstate.

On Saturday, Kentucky defeated Monmouth, 6-1, and Akron, 7-5. Hamilton had a hit and a walk and scored a run in the second victory over the Zips.

Kentucky closed out the invitational Sunday with an 11-6 win over USC Upstate. Hamilton had a hit and a walk, scored a run and drove in a run.

Kylee Edwards

Mississippi State, who entered the top 25 rankings last week, finished 3-2 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California.

On Thursday, Mississippi State defeated Central Florida, 2-1, and Notre Dame, 7-4. Edwards, a Shelbyville graduate, had two hits including a solo home run and drove in two runs against Notre Dame.

Mississippi State lost to top-ranked Oklahoma Friday, 9-3.

Edwards had two hits, stole a base and scored a run Saturday in the Bulldogs’ 4-2 win over Cal State Fullerton.

Fresno State defeated Mississippi State, 3-1, later that day.

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The Mid-Hoosier Conference champion Hauser Jets had four selections to the 2024 MHC All-Conference Boys Basketball Team.

Juniors Ledger Gelfius and Taeshaun Tate and sophomores Kameron Blair and Stryker Gill top the 12-player All-MHC squad.

Also named all-conference were Morristown freshman Kellen Crim, Southwestern junior Ben Kahler, Waldron junior Lucas Shaw (photo, center), Edinburgh senior Austin Brockman and junior Connor Ramey, North Decatur senior Kaden Muckerheide and junior Owen Eldridge, and South Decatur senior Jacob Scruggs.

Six more players were selected All-MHC Honorable Mention. They were Morristown’s Colin Kieninger, Southwestern’s Carter Snepp, Waldron’s Max Jones and Keith Settles, Hauser’s Alex Cord, and South Decatur’s Colby Rathburn.

Hauser head coach Trent Moorhead was named the MHC Coach of the Year after leading the Jets to the conference title with a 6-0 mark. Hauser is 17-6 this season.

North Decatur finished second in the conference standings at 13-11 (5-1 MHC) ahead of South Decatur (10-13, 3-3), Waldron (9-12, 3-3), Edinburgh (11-10, 2-4), Morristown (4-18, 1-5) and Southwestern (3-17, 1-5).

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Two seniors headline the 2024 Mid-Hoosier Conference All-Conference Girls Basketball Team.

Waldron’s Alyssa Benson and North Decatur’s Elle Kunz are part of the 12-player all-conference squad following this past season.

Benson averaged 11.7 points and 4.9 assists for the Mohawks during her senior season.

Kunz averaged 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds while helping the Chargers capture the MHC title.

Eight juniors earned All-MHC status. They are Morristown’s Danika Rutledge (main photo) (10 ppg, 8 rpg), Southwestern’s Tanna Tatlock (9.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg), North Decatur’s Madi Allen (14 ppg, 6.9 rpg), Kelsey Haley (6.7 ppg, 3.2 apg) and Claire Kinker (4.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg), Hauser’s Norah Berkenstock (10.2 ppg, 3.1 apg), and South Decatur’s Kylie Best (10.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and Makayla Somers (11.8 ppg, 9 rpg).

The final two selections are freshmen – Waldron’s Grace Fischer (photo, left) (15.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Morristown’s Jayla Keithley (7.9 ppg, 2.6 apg).

Eight more girls were named All-MHC Honorable Mention.

They are Waldron’s Alivia Fischer and Emerson Lindsey, South Decatur’s Molly Eden and Paige McQueen, Hauser’s Bella Kilps, North Decatur’s Sydney Rohls, and Edinburgh’s Kenna Streeval and Kyah Streeval.

North Decatur’s Doug Laker was named MHC Coach of the Year after leading the Chargers to an 18-7 record that included a 6-0 mark against MHC foes.

South Decatur was runner-up at 14-11 (5-1 MHC) followed by Waldron (8-14, 4-2), Morristown (11-14, 3-3), Hauser (6-18, 1-5), Southwestern (3-20, 1-5) and Edinburgh (3-21, 1-5).

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Morristown sophomore Remi Spicklemire was the only Shelby County gymnast to advance out of Saturday’s Connersville Sectional.

Spicklemire (photo, third from right) finished sixth in the balance beam competition with a score of 8.25 which will allow her to compete Friday in the Franklin Central Regional that will feature top-six finishers from the Connersville and Franklin Central Sectionals.

Southwestern junior Mikayla Claiborne finished seventh on the balance beam (8.20) and eighth on the uneven bars (7.45).

Claiborne placed 10^th in the all-around competition with a 31.675. Spicklemire was 11^th at 31.625.

The top-six finishers in each of the four individual events and the all-around competition advanced out the Connersville Sectional. The top three teams also advanced to the regional event.

New Palestine captured the sectional title by .05 points over Connersville, 100.575-to-100.525. Also advancing was New Castle (96.225).

Shelbyville finished sixth in the team standings at 85.725. Morristown was seventh (80.90).

Shelbyville freshman Lilli Conway had a top-10 finish on the uneven bars with a 7.4. She also placed 10^th in the vault (8.575).

Shelbyville’s Haylee Barnes finished tied for 11^th with Spicklemire in the vault (8.55).

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Will Rife is the first Golden Bear to swim a 100-yard butterfly in less than 52 seconds. And he did it at the State Finals Friday in the final race of his high school career.

Rife, seeded 26^th in the field after winning the New Palestine Sectional title with a school record time of 52.12 seconds, went faster at the Indiana University Natatorium Friday in his preliminary heat of the 100 butterfly.

Rife won his heat in 51.88 seconds to lower his own Shelbyville school record. The senior improved his seeding by two positions, placing 24^th in the state championship event.

In other prep events Friday:

Boys basketball

Triton Central 68, Speedway 59

At Triton Central on Senior Night, Eli Sego and Silas Blair combined for 51 points to secure the Tigers a runner-up finish in the Indiana Crossroads Conference standings.

Sego had 18 points in the first half when Triton Central (16-6, 5-2 ICC) built a 37-28 lead. Sego finished with a game-high 29 points.

Blair totaled 14 of his 22 points in the second half as the Tigers turned a 4-point lead after three quarters into a 9-point victory.

Speedway (9-12, 4-3 ICC) finished with four players scoring in double digits. Cam Reich led the way with 19 points. Landon Short (12 points), Kendrick Kiser (11) and Drew Matelic (10) followed Reich in the scoring column.

Triton Central will host Class 2A, Sectional 42 and will wait until Friday to face the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal contest between Eastern Hancock (12-10) and Indianapolis Scecina (8-15).

Sheridan 59, Waldron 56

At Sheridan, Lucas Shaw scored 28 points but it was not enough to get Waldron the victory. The junior also had 10 rebounds and three assists but the Mohawks (9-12) have lost four of their last five heading into the postseason.

Keith Settles finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Max Jones had eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Sheridan improved to 13-8.

Waldron travels to Edinburgh for the Class A, Sectional 60 tournament Wednesday. The Mohawks open the postseason with a quarterfinal contest at 6 p.m. against Jac-Cen-Del (9-14), who have lost six straight.

The game will be broadcast on GIANT fm (96.5 fm, 1520 am or GIANT fm app) with the pre-game show starting at 5:30 p.m.

Tri 66, Morristown 39

At Tri, the host Titans improved to 15-7 with their third straight win to close out the regular season.

Morristown dropped to 4-18 overall but was 2-3 in its last five contests.

Class A, Sectional 60 kicks off Tuesday with one quarterfinal contest – Morristown vs. Southwestern (3-17) at 7 p.m. The winner advances to Friday’s semifinal round to take on Oldenburg Academy (11-11).

Half of Morristown’s wins this season came against Southwestern.

North Decatur 69, Southwestern 29

At North Decatur, the Spartans were held to their lowest offensive output of the season.

Mitchell Clements topped Southwestern (3-17, 1-5 Mid-Hoosier Conference) with 12 points. Carter Snepp followed with nine points and Ben Kahler had seven.

Kaden Muckerheide led North Decatur (13-11, 5-1 MHC) with a game-high 31 points. Logan O’Dell finished with 13 points and Owen Eldridge had 10 points to help the Chargers break a 3-game losing streak and secure second place in the MHC standings this season behind Hauser.

North Decatur won the junior varsity game, 59-40. Thomas Werbe led the Spartans with 19 points.

Southwestern starts the postseason Tuesday at the Edinburgh Sectional against Morristown.

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Shelbyville fell behind early but recovered to get within two points of Batesville near the mid-point of the second quarter Thursday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.

Over the next eight minutes on the scoreboard clock stretching across two quarters, the visiting Bulldogs outscored the Golden Bears 26-5 and closed out their regular-season schedule with a 70-45 victory.

The trio of Sam Johnson, Cade Kaiser and Jack Grunkemeyer combined for 44 points and 25 rebounds to improve Batesville to 17-5 this season. The Bulldogs have won six straight and eight of their last nine heading into the postseason – and they’ve won five straight against Shelbyville.

Johnson finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kaiser had 16 points and seven rebounds and Grunkemeyer, a Northwestern baseball recruit, added nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Caden Claxton led Shelbyville with 12 points. Damon Badgley finished with nine. The Golden Bears (11-11) have lost five straight and seven of their last nine. In those seven losses, the offense is averaging just 43.6 points per contest.

On Senior Night at Garrett Gymnasium, Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett inserted the program’s five seniors into the starting lineup. The Golden Bears fell behind 12-4 forcing Hartnett to call an early timeout and the team’s two leading scorers, Claxton and fellow sophomore Mar Nicholson, entered the game.

Shelbyville cut the lead to 16-11 at the end of the first quarter and Nicholson hit a short jump shot in the lane that closed the deficit to 18-16 with 5:30 left in the second quarter.

It was all Batesville after that. Johnson hit a 3-pointer. Kaiser scored off his own miss then had an easy layin on a back door cut. Trenten Luers followed with another 3 and the Bulldogs extended the lead to 30-18 at halftime.

Batesville opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run and the Golden Bears trailed 41-18 before Badgley sank a corner 3 at the five-minute mark.

“We made a nice run to come back and had a chance to tie it up and missed a transition layup and they went on a nice run,” said Hartnett. “Our keys at halftime were to come out and get a couple of stops, then go down and try to execute and they got a quick 7-0 run and that was the hole we dug ourselves in to and couldn’t get back out.”

Shelbyville shot 39% from the field and hit just 6-of-12 free-throw attempts in the loss. Batesville made 24-of-46 shot attempts (52%) and sank 8 of 17 3-pointers.

The end was somber for seniors Luke Brinkman, Brock Kuhn, Kohen Myers, Ethan Lambert and Kyle Clouse, all of whom played their final game at Garrett Gymnasium.

“We told those seniors, especially Lambert, Brinkman and Myers who had more experience and playing time and those guys that came back to the program (Kuhn and Clouse) that they mean just as much as everybody,” said Hartnett. “Kyle Clouse and Brock Kuhn showed up every day to practice regardless of playing time and worked their butts off every single day. We told them they are just as important as anyone on this team. They made us better this year. All those guys deserved a start tonight.”

Shelbyville’s junior varsity under head coach Bryan Fischer closed out their campaign with a 15-7 record after Thursday’s 42-29 victory over Batesville.

Kenny Owens finished with a game-high 12 points. Brody Runnebohm had nine and Gavin Reed and Tyler Gwinnup each finished with eight.

Shelbyville opens the postseason Tuesday at East Central High School against Whiteland (13-10) in the second quarterfinal game. The winner advances to Friday’s semifinal to face Franklin (15-4).

The first quarterfinal game Tuesday pits Columbus East (6-16) against Columbus North (6-14). The winner advances to take on East Central (11-12) in Friday’s semifinals.

Whiteland eliminated Shelbyville from the 2023 sectional, 47-45. In their regular-season meeting early this season, the Warriors prevailed 65-53.

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Shelbyville senior Ava Wilson has been selected to the Hoosier Heritage Conference’s Girls Basketball All-Conference Team.

Wilson averaged 20.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 steals per game for a Golden Bears team that finished 15-8. Wilson closed out her playing career at Shelbyville with 1,213 career points – fourth best all-time in the program.

Also selected All-HHC were:

• Delta’s Jillian Barr – 15.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg and 3.3 bpg
• Greenfield-Central’s Chaney Brown – 13.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg
• Greenfield-Central’s Madison Sonsini – 14.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg
• Mt. Vernon’s Ellery Minch – 14.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg
• Mt. Vernon’s Easton Wampler – 7.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg
• New Castle’s Emma Hart – 15.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg
• New Palestine’s Allison Blum – 17 ppg, 5 rpg and 3.6 spg
• New Palestine’s Vivian Miller – 11.2 ppg, 4 rpg
• Pendleton Heights’ Kaycie Warfel – 25.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 5.6 spg
• Pendleton Heights’ Olivia Jones – 9.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg
• Yorktown’s Lilly Sylvester – 14.5 ppg, 7 rpg

Pendleton Heights (15-10, 6-1 HHC) and New Palestine (14-11, 6-1) shared the HHC title.

Greenfield-Central (17-7, 5-2) finished third in the standings ahead of Mt. Vernon (13-14, 4-3), Shelbyville (15-8, 3-4), Yorktown (13-11, 3-4), Delta (11-12, 1-6) and New Castle (2-21, 0-7).

First-year New Palestine head coach Craig Moore was named HHC Coach of the Year.

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Shelbyville fell behind 20-11 at the end of the first quarter, recovered to take the lead in the third quarter but struggled to score points in the fourth and lost their final Hoosier Heritage Conference game of the season 51-42.
Class 3A, No. 6 Delta (17-6, 3-4 HHC) closed out the third quarter with a 41-38 lead then outscored Shelbyville (11-10, 1-6 HHC) 10-4 over the final eight minutes.
Jayden Furney and Jackson Wors each scored 13 points to lead the Eagles to their fourth straight victory. D’Amare Hood finished with 12 points.
Mar Nicholson topped the Golden Bears, who have lost four straight, with 11 points. Damon Badgley had 10 points.
Shelbyville’s final game of the regular season is tonight against Batesville (16-5). The basketball program will honor its seniors ahead of their final game at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.
GIANT fm will broadcast the varsity game. The pre-game show will air at approximately 7:15 p.m.

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Shelbyville softball’s top pitcher the last three seasons recently announced her commitment to the University of Indianapolis.

Cheyenne Eads, who has helped the Golden Bears win 68 games the last three seasons, is considering majoring in Biology and Business while competing with the top-10 ranked Division II Greyhounds softball program.

“I am really excited to go there,” said Eads this week. “The coaching staff, the coaching style, all the players and the family environment they have is really great. It’s a great program. You know you have to go in and compete for a spot.”

Eads, the daughter of Jesse and Felicia Eads, also seriously considered Northern Illinois and Loyola but ultimately opted to stay close to home where she will play collegiately with another Golden Bear, University of Indianapolis freshman pitcher Hailey Pogue.

“I know coming in there will be a really competitive environment and I will have to push myself every day,” said Eads.

Eads was thrust into a varsity role as soon as she arrived in the program in 2021. She went 10-4 in the pitcher’s circle with a 2.73 earned run average as a freshman for a team that finished 24-5. She also hit .361 at the plate with three home runs and 17 runs batted in.

Shelbyville went from a top-10 ranked program to state title contender in 2022. Eads went 14-5 with a 1.91 ERA and was the starting pitcher in the program’s sectional and regional championship games.

The Golden Bears went on to defeat Bedford North Lawrence in the semistate semifinal before losing to eventual state champion Roncalli in the semistate championship game.

Eads had 138 strikeouts that season in 120 innings pitched.

As a junior, Shelbyville again won 20 games with Eads going 10-7 with a 2.30 ERA and 193 strikeouts over 127 innings. She also hit .344 with four home runs and 23 RBI.

Now a senior, she realizes she must step into a new leadership role this season.

“I’ve always been kind of a backseat leader of this team,” she said. “Now, being a senior I’ve got the spotlight to help form this program and help (new head coach Megan (Cory) Leffler) bring up the new prospects and build this whole program.”

Eads will find that process easier than the recruiting process.

“The process was all stressful but once it got over, it was such a relief,” she said with a smile. “It’s go time right now. I am really excited.”

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A trio of Tigers were selected All-Conference by the Indiana Crossroads Conference.

The 12-player All-ICC Girls Basketball Team was recently announced and conference champion Triton Central had three representatives.

Sophomore Maryrose Felling (photo), who averaged 17.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.3 steals for Triton Central this past season, headlined the All-ICC squad.

Senior Brooklyn Bailey (photo), 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, also was one of the top vote getters in the selection process.

Senior Hailey Harris (photo), seven points, five rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 assists, also was honored by the conference coaches.

Also selected All-ICC were Beech Grove junior Mylee Boling (14.7 ppg, 10.8 rpg) and freshman Harper Moore (12.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg), Speedway seniors Alex DeLisle (12.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Danielle Galvez (11.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg), Cascade senior Creedance Chittenden (9.5 ppg, 2.7 apg) and junior Chloe Smith (9 ppg, 2.6 rpg), Lutheran senior Grace King (16.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg), Monrovia senior Mary Cox (10.7 ppg, 8 rpg), and Ritter senior Nila Stubblefield (13 ppg).

Triton Central claimed the ICC title with a perfect 7-0 mark in a season where it finished 17-7.

Cascade was the runner-up at 6-1 (13-11 overall) ahead of Speedway (16-8, 5-2 ICC), Beech Grove (14-9, 4-3), Monrovia (13-10, 3-4), Lutheran (12-10, 2-5), Ritter (7-16, 1-6) and Scecina (8-17, 0-7).

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Seymour is so good defensively that a double-digit deficit can feel insurmountable. Shelbyville tested that notion Tuesday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium and can concur.

The Owls built a 12-2 lead after one quarter and used patient offensive sets and a physical defensive presence to never trail in a 42-32 victory that improved them to 17-4 this season.

Brady Harpe topped Seymour with 13 points. Jaylin Johnson finished with 10 points and Bret Perry had nine.

Seymour took just 26 shots, making 12 including four first-half three-pointers, and controlled the tempo of the game.

“That is a very tough Seymour team,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “Even when we were down 10 it felt like we were down 20. When we were down four, it felt like we were down eight to ten points. It’s just a tough hole to climb out of.

“I’m very proud of our guys for fighting back and we could have folded and gave up at halftime.”

Seymour opened the lead to 28-13 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter before Shelbyville finally found an offensive rhythm.

Kohen Myers scored and was fouled with 1:48 to go in the quarter. The senior converted the free throw and sparked a 13-2 run that lasted to the middle of the fourth quarter when the Golden Bears cut the lead to 30-26.

Johnson, who torched Shelbyville for 21 points in last season’s game, scored off an offensive rebound to end the run then dished to Harpe for an easy layin on the next possession to quickly extend the lead to 34-26.

From there, the Owls made 8-of-10 free throws to seal the program’s third-straight victory over Shelbyville.

Caden Claxton led the Golden Bears with 11 points and three assists. Mar Nicholson finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists. Myers had seven points.

Shelbyville made just 1-of-13 3-point attempts and had just one free-throw attempt in its lowest scoring output of the season.

“Offensively tonight, (Seymour) is a team that is going to come up and pressure you. Every single time you catch the ball they are going to be in your face,” said Hartnett. “They are a tough, defensive team and its hard to get in a groove offensively when there is a team like that that plays good, strong defense and how physical they are.

“When we catch the ball outside the arc, we are over-thinking it. We’re not just playing basketball. When we are on offense, they need to relax and run through what we are running, take care of the ball, pass the ball around and move it. Right now, it’s coming to a stall a few times in the game and it’s costing us late down the road.”

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 14-6 with a 42-32 victory Tuesday. Brody Runnebohm scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Gavin Reed and Nick Fischer each had eight points.

Shelbyville (11-9, 1-5 Hoosier Heritage Conference) closes out its conference schedule tonight at Class 3A, No. 6 Delta (16-6, 2-4). The game was originally scheduled for Friday but inclement weather forced the postponement.

On Thursday, the Golden Bears celebrate Senior Night during the final game of the regular season. Batesville (16-5) comes to Garrett Gymnasium with the JV game tipping off at 6 p.m.

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Morristown boys basketball celebrated Senior Night Tuesday with a dominant win over Providence Cristo Rey.

Kane Snyder made five three-pointers and led the Yellow Jackets to a 67-29 victory. Snyder finished with a game-high 21 points.

Kellen Crim and Colin Kieninger followed with 14 points apiece and Cade Mahin delivered 10.

Morristown (4-17) took a 19-8 lead after one quarter and extended it to 30-12 by halftime.

Providence Cristo Rey is 1-18 this season.

Morristown closes out its regular-season schedule Friday at Tri (14-7).

In other prep events Tuesday:

Boys basketball

Hauser 40, Waldron 34

At Hauser, a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter got Waldron within 31-29 but the Jets settled and pulled away down the stretch to complete a perfect run through their Mid-Hoosier Conference schedule.

Taeshaun Tungate and Stryker Gill each had 10 points for Hauser (17-5, 6-0 MHC) and Ledger Gelfius and Kam Blair each added eight points to help the Jets secure their first MHC title since 2018.

Lucas Shaw topped Waldron (9-11, 3-3 MHC) with 12 points. Max Jones and Will Larrison each had eight points.

The Mohawks finish their regular-season schedule Friday at Sheridan (12-8).

Gymnastics

New Palestine 101.025, Westfield 99.975, Shelbyville 82.925

At the Gymnastics Company, New Palestine gymnasts won all four events and finished first, third and fifth in the all-around standings to secure the team victory.

New Palestine’s Lynzie Stiller captured the all-around competition with a combined score of 34.5 on all four events. She finished first on the uneven bars (8.6) and floor exercise (9.4) and tied for first in the vault (8.55) with teammate Chiara Polo.

New Palestine’s Olivia Frank won the balance beam competition with an 8.675.

Southwestern’s Mikayla Claiborne finished sixth in the all-around competition with a score of 31.875. She was runner-up in the vault (8.525) and fourth on the balance beam (8.075).

Haylee Barnes produced Shelbyville’s best finish – seventh on the balance beam (7.7) and sixth in the vault (8.225).

Shelbyville’s Lilli Conway placed ninth in the all-around (29.35), just ahead of Barnes (28.975) and Lily Zelaya (24.6).

Gymnasts representing Shelbyville, Southwestern and Morristown travel to Connersville Saturday to compete in the Connersville Sectional. The field also includes Franklin County, Milan, Muncie Central, New Castle, New Palestine, Northeastern, Richmond, Rushville, Tri, Union County and the host Spartans.

The top six place winners in each event and the all-around competition advance to the Franklin Central Regional on March 1. The top three finishing teams also advance to the regional.

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Kina Schultz broke the Muskingum University indoor hurdles record Friday.

The Shelbyville graduate clocked 9.67 seconds in her qualifying heat of the 60-meter hurdles event on her home track in New Concord, Ohio in the Muskie Pride Event.

The old record was 9.74, set in 2014.

In the championship race, Schultz finished fifth in 9.89.

Schultz also was part of Muskingum’s runner-up 800 relay team (1:58.08).

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

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had five points, two rebounds and one assist Wednesday for SMU in a 63-53 win at Tulane.

On Sunday, Chandler was credited with one rebound in a 64-49 win over Charlotte that improved the Mustangs to 13-12 overall and 7-7 in the American Athletic Conference.

Kyle Crim

The Morristown graduate had one rebound Sunday for Hanover in a 62-58 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament win over Rose-Hulman.

The Panthers improved to 17-9 and will face the tournament’s No. 2 seed Transylvania Friday.

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate led Hanover to a pair of wins and the No. 2 seed in the upcoming HCAC Tournament.

On Feb. 13, Heath scored 19 points and added three rebounds, eight assists and six steals to her stat line in Hanover’s 75-68 win at Anderson.

On Friday, Hanover defeated Mount St. Joseph, 63-55. Heath had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists to improve the Panthers to 18-7 overall and 16-2 against HCAC foes.

Hanover will face Mount St. Joseph again Friday in the semifinal round of the HCAC Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate finished with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists on Feb. 13 for Oakland City in an 83-58 loss to IU East.

Two days later, Moore had four points, three rebounds and two assists in an 83-66 loss at Brescia University.

Oakland City is 7-19 (2-14 River States Conference).

Bella Larrison

The Waldron graduate had five points and seven rebounds on Feb. 13 in Anderson’s 75-68 loss to Hanover.

In the regular-season finale Friday, Larrison had 18 points and nine rebounds – both team highs – in the Ravens’ 85-69 win at Manchester that secured the program the sixth seed in the HCAC Tournament.

Anderson was defeated Saturday in its tournament opener at Mount St. Joseph, 83-61. Larrison had 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Ravens closed out the season with a 12-14 record.

Tenleigh Phelps

The Triton Central graduate finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in IU South Bend’s first loss of the season, 72-55, at St. Xavier (Illinois) Wednesday. The loss ended the Titans’ program record 24-game win streak to start the season.

On Saturday, IU South Bend defeated Roosevelt, 69-53, to improve to 25-1 and 17-1 in conference games to clinch the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship for the second straight season.

Phelps had 17 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Cameron Baker

The Shelbyville graduate helped Franklin College to a runner-up finish in the HCAC Championships at the Vigo County Aquatics Center in Terre Haute.

On Wednesday, Baker finished second in the three-meter board diving competition with 421.65 points in 11 dives.

On Friday, he followed that with a third-place finish on the one-meter board with 417.10 points.

Ava Ruschhaupt

The Shelbyville graduate finished fourth in the 60 meters (9.64 seconds) and sixth in the 200 meters (33.89) Friday for Franklin College in the Rose-Hulman Friday Night Tune-Up.

Tristin Maloney

The Shelbyville graduate placed 28^th in the one-mile race (5:34.83) for Franklin College at the Rose-Hulman indoor track event Friday.

Beau Kenkel

The Shelbyville graduate finished seventh in the 800 meters (2:05.2) and was part of Rose-Hulman’s third-place finishing team in the 1,600 relay (4:13.78) Friday in a home indoor track and field competition.

Madisen Hinderliter

The Shelbyville graduate finished seventh in the women’s weight throw (14.59 meters) for St. Francis (Indiana) in the Crossroads League Indoor Championships in Indianapolis.

Zaleeya Martin

The Shelbyville graduate placed fifth in the 60 meters (7.86) and third in the 200 meters (26.41) for the University of Indianapolis Saturday in the Indiana State Open in Terre Haute.

Michael Fox

The Shelbyville graduate finished 26^th in the 3,000 meters (9:28.54) for Manchester University Saturday at the Wittenberg Invitational.

Hadyn Ball

The Triton Central graduate finished 2-2 for Wabash College in the Mid-State Invitational Saturday at Trine University.

Competing at 197 pounds, Ball lost his opening-round match to Ohio Northern’s Ajay Locke. He returned to the mat and pinned Manchester’s George Thomason in 75 seconds.

In his next match, he defeated Heidelberg’s Aidan Belgiomo then lost to Olivet’s Kody Krupp.

Hailey Pogue

The Shelbyville graduate secured the win in her first collegiate appearance for the University of Indianapolis’ softball program.

Pogue entered the pitching circle Saturday in relief and tossed 2.1 innings, allowed four hits, a walk and two runs but earned the win in the Greyhounds’ 10-7 victory over Gannon at the Music City Invitational in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The Greyhounds are 6-1 this season.

Karissa Hamilton

The Shelbyville graduate had a home run and two runs batted in Thursday in Kentucky’s 6-5 win over Wisconsin in the ESPN Shriners Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Florida.

The Wildcats opened the event Thursday with a 12-10 win over North Carolina. Hamilton had three hits, including a pair of doubles, drove in two runs and threw out a runner attempting to steal.

Kentucky, ranked No. 14 entering the event, was defeated Friday by No. 5 Washington, 8-1.

Kylee Edwards

The Shelbyville graduate had a double and a triple Sunday in Mississippi State’s 2-1 loss to UC Davis in the Puerto Vallerta College Challenge.

The loss was the first of the season for Mississippi State (8-1).

The Bulldogs swept a doubleheader on Feb. 13 against No. 23 Louisiana and followed that with wins in Puerto Vallerta over No. 8 Clemson, 6-3, and No. 13 Utah, 10-2.

Cory Taylor

The Shelbyville graduate had two hits, including a double, and scored a run Friday in Eastern Michigan’s season-opening 4-3 loss at Belmont.

Taylor had a walk in Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Belmont and did not record a hit in Sunday’s 16-6 win – the program’s first of the season.

Taylor had a run batted in Sunday in the second game of the doubleheader at Belmont, a 9-7 loss.

Charlie Rife

The Shelbyville graduate had a hit, two walks and a run batted in Friday in Bellarmine’s season-opening win, 11-3, at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Bellarmine lost the final two games of the series, 5-1 Saturday and 8-1 Sunday.

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Southwestern secured its first road win and Mid-Hoosier Conference win of the season Monday at Edinburgh.

The Spartans scored 24 points in the second and fourth quarters against the Lancers to net a 65-62 victory.

Ben Kahler scored a game-high 26 points and Avery Dennison finished with 19 to improve Southwestern to 3-16 overall and 1-4 in the MHC standings.

Southwestern led 32-21 at halftime and survived Edinburgh’s 24-point third quarter that got the Lancers a 45-42 lead.

Carter Snepp scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth quarter for Southwestern and Mitchell Clements drained a pair of three-pointers in the quarter to seal the victory.

Connor Ramey led Edinburgh (10-10, 2-4 MHC) with 20 points. Bailey Totten added 12 and Rylan Londeree finished with 11.

Edinburgh won the junior varsity game, 45-32. Cecil Newton led the Spartans with 12 points.

The final week of the boys basketball regular season continues this week for Southwestern with a road trip Friday to North Decatur (12-9, 4-1 MHC).

Gymnastics

Morristown scored an 81.275, its highest team score of the season, but could not prevail in a dual meet at Rushville.

Sophomore Remi Spicklemire finished second in the all-around competition with a second-place finish on the balance beam and third-place finishes on the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.

Freshman Savannah Theobald placed fourth in the all-around with best results in the vault (fourth) and floor exercise (fifth).

Junior Annika Roots placed fifth in the all-around.

Morristown will enter the postseason Saturday at the Connersville Sectional.

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The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced the sectional pairings Sunday for the 114^th Annual Boys Basketball State Tournament.

Sectional games will be played Feb. 27-28 and March 1-2.

Regional championship games follow on March 9. Teams will be assigned to one of eight regional sites following the conclusion of the sectional. Southern regional host sites are Southport, Seymour, Lebanon, Washington, Greenfield-Central, Southridge, Martinsville and Loogootee.

The semistate semifinal and championship games are March 16.

The state championship games will be played a week later this year due to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, site of the IHSAA championship games, hosting the NCAA Men’s Basketball First and Second Round tournament games.

The 2024 IHSAA state champions will be crowned on March 30.

East Central Sectional

The host Trojans (11-12) received the bye in Class 4A, Sectional 14 and will await the winner of the Feb. 27 quarterfinal game between Columbus East (5-15) and Columbus North (6-12).

The other quarterfinal game on Feb. 27 pits Shelbyville (11-8) against Whiteland (12-10), with the winner advancing to face Franklin (15-3) on March 1.

Whiteland defeated Shelbyville, 65-53, on Dec. 9.

Whiteland and Franklin have split two meetings this season.

Franklin defeated Shelbyville, 61-40, on Dec. 27.

The sectional championship game is March 2.

Triton Central Sectional

The Class 2A, Sectional 42 hosts drew a bye in the five-team sectional.

On Feb. 27, Eastern Hancock (10-9) opens against Indianapolis Scecina (7-15), with the winner getting Triton Central (15-6) in the semifinals.

Triton Central is 3-0 against potential sectional foes, including securing wins over Eastern Hancock (48-28) and Scecina (41-36) this season.

The other semifinal game is Indianapolis Riverside (6-12) taking on Irvington Prep (12-9).

Edinburgh Sectional

The seven-team sectional features five teams with nine or 10 wins. The only two teams without at least nine wins – Morristown and Southwestern – will meet in the opening game.

Class A, Sectional 60 begins Feb. 27 with the third meeting of the season between Morristown (3-17) and Southwestern (2-16). Two of the Yellow Jackets’ three wins this season have come against the Spartans – both on Southwestern’s home floor.

The winner of the Feb. 27 contest will return March 1 for a sectional semifinal contest with Oldenburg Academy (10-10).

In the Feb. 28 quarterfinal contests, Jac-Cen-Del (9-12) takes on Waldron (9-10) and South Decatur (9-11) faces the host Lancers (10-9). The winners return for a semifinal contest March 1.

The sectional championship game at Edinburgh is March 2.

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ST. LEON -- Carson Pieczonka hit East Central’s first three-pointer of the game with 90 seconds left in the third quarter. That started a 16-0 explosion for the Trojans that Shelbyville never overcame.

Trailing 31-29 at the end of three quarters Saturday, East Central’s first four scoring possessions of the fourth quarter resulted in three points apiece. Eli Ertel hit a 3 and Eli Sehlhorst followed. Ertel then scored off an offensive rebound and was fouled. He converted the free throw for another three-point possession and Sehlhorst sank another 3 to make it 40-31.

Shelbyville frantically but unsuccessfully tried to recover the lead and lost 58-51 to a potential Sectional 14 opponent.

“This one definitely stings,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “Our guys kind of folded tonight and weren’t mentally tough enough to finish off the job. We had opportunities to put the game away early and didn’t extend the leads we had. … In the third quarter, we got up seven and they started getting easy buckets and threw in a couple of 3s and we kind of folded after they hit those 3s. We have to be able to respond when things go wrong and not panic and give up games like this.”

Dylan Maxwell led East Central (11-12) with 22 points. The senior guard scored eight points and had three assists in the fourth quarter when the Trojans protected their lead.

Pieczonka finished with 15 points and Ertel had seven points and seven rebounds.

Mar Nicholson (photo) topped the Golden Bears (11-8) with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Caden Claxton finished with 12 points.

Shelbyville never trailed in the first three quarters in the gym where Sectional 14 will be contested beginning Feb. 27.

Kohen Myers hit a pair of first quarter 3s to help stake Shelbyville to a 13-4 lead. But the lead never reached double digits.

The Golden Bears shot just 23% from the field in the second quarter and, if not for a pair of long 3s by Claxton, could have been trailing by halftime. Instead, the lead was 23-18.

Back-to-back scores from Claxton and Myers (photo) pushed the lead to 29-22 midway through the third quarter and a Nicholson score around the rim set the score at 31-24 with 1:52 remaining on the clock.

East Central took over from there with a Pieczonka 3 and a Maxwell score off an offensive rebound that cut the lead to 31-29 and gave the Trojans confidence.

“I think what sparked them was their offensive rebounding. They are big, physical and strong,” said Hartnett. “They just kind of pushed some of our guys out of the way and went after those rebounds. … They got some nice easy shots late in the game and that’s something we can’t give up.”

East Central entered the game shooting 59% from the free-throw line but hit 10-of-19 attempts in the fourth quarter to extend the lead as large as 12 points.

Shelbyville scored nine of the final 12 points in the game but it was not enough to stave off a key loss that could cost the program its first winning record since 2019.

The Golden Bears have three games to play in the final week of the regular season. They host Seymour (16-4) Tuesday and Batesville (15-5) Thursday. Friday’s postponed road trip to Class 3A, No. 8 Delta (16-6) also must be rescheduled, likely Wednesday.

Shelbyville is an underdog in two of those three games based on the Sagarin Ratings.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity dropped to 13-6 this season with a 49-37 loss at East Central. Brody Runnebohm led the Golden Bears with 15 points. Gavin Reed finished with eight points.

Steve Bush photos

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Shelbyville senior Will Rife broke his own school record Saturday while winning the 100-yard butterfly event at the New Palestine Sectional.

Rife (photo, center) touched the wall just over two seconds ahead of Mt. Vernon’s Elijah Webster to qualify for the IHSAA State Finals. Rife’s new school record time was 52.12 seconds. Webster finished in 54.19.

Rife also finished runner-up in the 50 freestyle (22.56). Richmond’s Owen Fowler earned the state finals berth with a winning time of 21.12.

The Golden Bears’ 200 freestyle relay team finished third in the sectional championship race. Rife, Everett Stegemiller, Andrew Duffy and Brody Jeanette stopped the clock in 1:37.67.

Jeanette, a freshman, was the only other Shelbyville swimmer to compete in a championship race Saturday. He finished seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:56.45) and seventh in the 500 freestyle (5:20.11).

Competing in consolation races were Shia Veach (15^th in 200 individual medley), Duffy (10^th in 50 freestyle; 13^th in 100 breaststroke), Anderson Mollenkopf (16^th in 100 freestyle) and Stegemiller (13^th in 100 backstroke.

Rife, Stegemiller, Duffy and Jeanette also combined for a sixth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.

The 87^th Annual IHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving State Finals start Friday with preliminary races at the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis.

Championship races and the diving competition are Saturday.

In other prep events:

Boys basketball

Beech Grove 59, Triton Central 51

At Triton Central Friday, the visiting Hornets jumped out to a 16-4 lead after one quarter and held off the Tigers the rest of the way in the Indiana Crossroads Conference contest.

Triton Central (15-6, 4-2 ICC) cut Beech Grove’s lead to eight at halftime and four by the end of the third quarter but Jeremiah Lee scored 10 of his 15 points in the final quarter to seal the win for the Hornets (5-16, 3-4 ICC).

Jarron Murry Jr. led Beech Grove with 18 points.

Eli Sego scored a game-high 24 points for Triton Central, who dropped into a three-way tie for second place in the ICC standings with the loss. Silas Blair finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tigers close out their regular-season schedule Friday when Speedway (9-11, 4-2 ICC) comes to town. The winner of the game will finish in sole possession of second place in the ICC standings.

Liberty Christian 51, Waldron 42

At Waldron, the visiting Lions held the Mohawks below 10 points scoring in each of the first three quarters to seal the victory.

Class A, No. 17 Liberty Christian improved to 12-9 with the win.

Jacob Lindsey led Waldron with 13 points. Lucas Shaw finished with 12 points. Max Jones had eight points and eight rebounds.

On Saturday, the Mohawks scored their second win of the season over Seven Oaks Classical School (1-19).

With the win, Waldron improved to 9-10 (3-2 Mid-Hoosier Conference) with two road games left on the regular-season schedule. The Mohawks are at Hauser (16-5, 5-0 MHC) Tuesday and at Sheridan (11-8) Friday.

Union County 60, Morristown 44

At Union County Saturday, the visiting Yellow Jackets suffered their ninth loss in their last 10 games to fall to 3-17 this season.

The host Patriots improved to 9-11.

Colin Kieninger led Morristown with 23 points and five assists. Kane Snyder finished with 10 points.

Morristown plays its final home game of the season Tuesday against Providence Cristo Rey (1-17). The Yellow Jackets close out the regular season Friday at Tri (13-7).

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Shelbyville senior Will Rife will chase two sectional swimming titles Saturday at New Palestine High School.

Rife qualified Thursday for sectional championship races in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly.

Rife finished third in the 50 freestyle in 22.75 seconds. Richmond’s Owen Fowler produced the top qualifying time in the field at 21.58. Mt. Vernon’s Adison Mayes followed at 22.62.

In the 100 butterfly, Rife posted the second fastest qualifying time at 54.66. New Palestine’s Jacob Myers had the top qualifying time of 54.46.

Rife also will be part of two Shelbyville relay teams that qualified for sectional championship races.

The Golden Bears finished third in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:37.47 with Rife, Everett Stegemiller, Andrew Duffy and Brody Jeanette.

That same Shelbyville quartet also placed seventh in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:40.29.

Jeanette, a freshman, also earned two sectional championship swims Saturday at New Palestine. He finished sixth in the 200 freestyle in 1:55.69 – more than seven seconds faster than his seed time.

Jeanette also finished eighth in the 500 freestyle in 5:19.15 – a seed time drop of more than 18 seconds.

The top eight finishers in each event Thursday qualified for sectional finals. The next eight fastest return to New Palestine Saturday for consolation swims.

Also earning consolation swims for Shelbyville were:

• Everett Stegemiller in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke
• Andrew Duffy in the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke
• Anderson Mollenkopf in the 100 freestyle

All sectional champions qualify for the IHSAA State Finals Feb. 23-24 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.

In another prep event Thursday:

Gymnastics

New Palestine 98.15, Morristown 75.2, Fishers Inc.

At Morristown, New Palestine’s Lynzie Stiller won three individual events and had the top all-around score. Stiller took first in the uneven bars (8.45), vault (8.65) and floor exercise (9.025). Her all-around score was 34.475.

Morristown’s Remi Spicklemire won the balance beam competition with an 8.575. She also finished second on vault, third on uneven bars and sixth in floor exercise. Spicklemire also was third in the all-around with a 31.675 behind New Palestine’s Chiara Polo (31.9).

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The Indiana High School Athletic Association will announce the sectional pairings for the 114th Annual Boys Basketball State Tournament at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Pairings Show, hosted by Bob Lovell and Greg Rakestraw, will stream exclusively at IHSAAtv.org and air on affiliates of the IHSAA Champions Network which includes the GIANT fm radio station in Shelbyville (96.5 fm, 1520 am or the GIANT fm app).

Shelby County boys basketball teams will compete in three sectional tournaments.

In Class 4A, Sectional 14 at East Central High School, Shelbyville (11-7) will seek its first sectional title since 2001. The Golden Bears are one of six teams in the sectional that includes Franklin (15-3), Whiteland (12-9), Columbus North (6-12), Columbus East (5-15) and the host Trojans (10-12).

Triton Central is the host school for Class 2A, Sectional 42. The five-team sectional includes the Tigers (15-5), Indianapolis Scecina (7-14), Eastern Hancock (10-9), Irvington Prep (11-9) and Indianapolis Riverside (5-12). 

Triton Central will seek its third sectional championship in the last four seasons.

Edinburgh is the host site for Class A, Sectional 60.

The seven-team sectional includes South Decatur (9-11), Jac-Cen-Del (9-11), Edinburgh (10-9), Oldenburg Academy (9-10), Waldron (8-9), Morristown (3-16) and Southwestern (2-16).

Three teams in this field -- South Decatur, Edinburgh and Waldron -- each have four wins against potential sectional opponents. Jac-Cen-Del and Oldenburg Academy have three wins this season against teams in Sectional 60.

Southwestern last won a sectional title in 2021. Morristown’s last sectional title was in 2019. Waldron has not cut down the sectional nets since 2009.

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MONROVIA — Once Triton Central regained the lead just past the mid-point of the fourth quarter Tuesday night at Monrovia, it never relinquished it again thanks to strong performances from Sam Collier and Taggy Goul.

Collier scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including hitting five free throws in the final 30 seconds while Goul protected the rim at the other end of the floor, blocking two shots and grabbing three rebounds, to seal a hard-fought 50-44 conference road victory.

Goul finished with six points, nine rebounds and four blocks to help keep the Tigers in contention for the Indiana Crossroads Conference title. Triton Central improved to 15-5 overall and 4-1 against ICC opponents.

Indianapolis Ritter (8-12, 6-1 ICC) has already secured no worse than a share of the conference championship.

Triton Central arrived at Branch McCracken Memorial Gymnasium Tuesday to face a Monrovia squad playing its best basketball and riding a 4-game win streak, victorious in seven of its last eight contests. And Senior Tucker Rahn has been deadly from beyond the arc, hitting 62-of-136 attempts (46%) this season.

The Tigers prefer a possession-to-possession style of game and that kept the Bulldogs (10-11, 2-4 ICC) from explosive runs in its final home game of the regular season.

“That was a big win for us,” said Triton Central head coach Mark James. “Partly because we had to have peripheral guys step up and play big minutes for us and they did. They made some really big plays for us at the end.

“I thought Taggy did a great job guarding (McCloud) at the end. And Collier came in and hit some big free throws for us and defended well.”

Triton Central jumped out to a 6-0 lead with terrific ball movement that resulted in three easy buckets at the rim. 

Monrovia got on the scoreboard when Hayden McCloud scored in the low post and was fouled. The junior converted the three-point play and proved to be a problem for the Tigers the rest of the first half.

Triton Central scored the final five points of the opening quarter for an 11-6 advantage. McCloud outscored the Tigers 10-4 over a stretch of the second quarter but Silas Blair converted in the low post in the final minute of the half and hit 1-of-2 free throws with 30 seconds left to give the Tigers a 20-19 lead at the break.

McCloud, who finished with a game-high 17 points, scored the first two points of the third quarter and Triton Central never led. But Monrovia struggled beyond the arc and was never able to open more than a 5-point lead. Rahn ended the game with just eight points, half his season average, and was an uncharacteristic 2-of-10 from beyond the 3-point line.

“When you are not shooting the ball well, everybody wants to keep putting it up,” said James. “We don’t have a shot clock in high school and I don’t believe in that. It’s still a possession game when you are not shooting the ball well. That’s when you have to make your free throws and we hit our free throws tonight (10 of 13 in the fourth quarter) and we rebounded with a bigger team.”

Eli Sego scored six of his team-high 16 points in a 2-minute stretch of the fourth quarter that gave Triton Central the lead for good.

From there, Goul helped limit the Bulldogs to just five points over the final four minutes and Collier was steady at the free-throw line.

“That’s a good team and if we didn’t guard them well we were going to get beat because they were on a little bit of a roll,” said James. “They have a really nice team and we will take the ‘W’.”

Blair finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists and Max Crouse had seven points, four assists and two steals.

Jayden Jones came off the Monrovia bench and scored 10 points. Clay Tharp had nine points to complete the Bulldogs’ scoring.

Triton Central raced out to a quick lead in the junior varsity game and secured a 58-43 victory. Nine different Tigers scored, led by Brady Ciriello’s 14 points. Cael Butler had 12 and Conner McClure finished with 11.

Triton Central, who will host Class 2A, Sectional 14 this year, plays its final two games of the regular season at home. The Tigers host Beech Grove (4-16, 2-4 ICC) Friday and Speedway (8-10, 3-2 ICC) on Feb. 23.

The Tigers must win both games to earn a share of the ICC title with Ritter. 

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Knightstown’s 24-point first quarter proved too much for Southwestern to overcome in their final home game of the season.

Michael Roberson and Brayden McDaniel each scored seven points in the opening quarter to propel the Panthers to a 67-50 victory Tuesday at Southwestern.

Ben Kahler scored nine of his game-high 25 points in the second quarter to cut into Knightstown’s 24-7 early lead and make it 32-23 at halftime.

Both teams traded baskets in the second half and the Panthers’ balanced scoring carried them to their fourth-straight victory.

Roberson led Knightstown (11-9) with 16 points. McDaniel and Palmer Newkirk each scored 13 and Travis Louks had 12.

Mitchell Clements finished with 11 points for Southwestern (2-16). Carter Snepp had nine points.

Knightstown won the junior varsity game, 34-31, despite being held scoreless in the final quarter. Thomas Werbe topped the Spartans with 11 points.

Southwestern’s final four games of the regular season are on the road beginning with Friday’s Mid-Hoosier Conference game at North Decatur (12-9).

In another boys basketball game Tuesday:

Oldenburg Academy 44, Waldron 35

At Oldenburg Academy, the host Twisters won their fourth game in their last five contests to improve to 9-10.

Lucas Shaw led Waldron (8-9) with 18 points, three rebounds and two assists. Keith Settles finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Waldron hosts Class A, No. 17 Liberty Christian (11-9) Friday.

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Kylee Edwards needed just one pitch to announce her arrival in the college softball world.

The Shelbyville graduate and Mississippi State freshman blasted a solo home run Friday in her collegiate debut. Facing Alabama-Birmingham, Edwards’ home run came on the first pitch of her first at bat. 

Mississippi State defeated UAB, 11-0, in the opening game of The Snowman: Alex Wilcox Memorial in Starkville, Mississippi. The Bulldogs also defeated IUPUI, 8-0, Friday. Edwards had a double in that win. 

On Saturday, Edwards added two more hits, including a double, and had her first stolen base in second wins over IUPUI (10-0) and UAB (6-2).

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

Karissa Hamilton

The Shelbyville graduate had a solo home run off Stanford ace NiJaree Canady Saturday to help Kentucky earn a second-straight win over the third-ranked Cardinal.

Kentucky opened the San Diego Season Kickoff Friday with wins over Santa Barbara (5-1) and Stanford (2-1). Hamilton had a walk and scored a run in the win over Santa Barbara.

Hamilton broke up Canady’s perfect game bid in the fifth inning Saturday to tie the game at 1-all. The Wildcats went on to defeat Stanford 3-2 in eight innings.

Kentucky suffered its first loss of the season in its next game Saturday against No. 24 San Diego State, 2-1.

The Wildcats closed out their trip to San Diego with a 3-2 win in eight innings Sunday over Minnesota.

Kina Schultz

The Shelbyville graduate finished 10th in the 60-meter hurdles Saturday for Muskingum in the All-Ohio Championships hosted by Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. She crossed the finish line in 9.87 seconds.

Jacob Batten

The Morristown graduate was runner-up Friday in the 400 meters for Trine in the Crimson & Gold Invitational at Oberlin College. He stopped the clock at 54.26.

Zaleeya Martin

The Shelbyville graduate finished seventh in the 60 meters (7.9) and eighth in the 200 (26.63) for the University of Indianapolis Friday in the Marian Indoor Invite at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

DePauw Invitational

Southwestern graduate Alison Muck cleared a personal-best 1.55 meters Saturday for Franklin College to win the high jump competition at DePauw. She also placed ninth in the 200 (28.28).

On Monday, Muck was named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Female Field Athlete of the Week.

Shelbyville graduate Ava Ruschhaupt placed 21st in the 60 meters (9.69) and 22nd in the 200 (33.75) for Franklin.

Triton Central graduate Bailey Stamper finished 15th in the shot put for Franklin with a best throw of 8.20 meters.

Shelbyville graduate Beau Kenkel placed 10th in the 800 (2:06.41) for Rose-Hulman.

Shelbyville graduate Michael Fox finished seventh in the 5,000 in 16:30.

Bella Larrison

The Waldron graduate scored eight points, grabbed two rebounds, had two steals and two blocks Saturday for Anderson in a 63-58 loss at Bluffton University.  

On Wednesday, the Ravens defeated Earlham, 81-77. Larrison finished with seven points, eight rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block.

Anderson is 11-12 this season and 7-9 in the HCAC.

Tenleigh Phelps and Lizzie Graham

Unbeaten Indiana University South Bend improved to 24-0 Saturday with an 81-44 victory over Saint Ambrose University.

Phelps, a Triton Central graduate, had 14 points, nine rebounds, one assist and one steal for the victorious Titans.

On Wednesday, IU South Bend defeated Calumet College of St. Joseph, 81-44. Phelps scored a team-high 22 points and had seven rebounds and one assist.

Graham, also a Triton Central graduate, finished with two points, two rebounds, one assist and three steals for the Titans.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate scored a team-high 14 points and added four rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal Saturday in Oakland City’s 70-59 loss to IU Southeast.

Moore had eight points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal Wednesday in a 74-62 loss at Midway.

Oakland City is 7-17 this season.

Kyle Crim

The Morristown graduate came off the Hanover bench Saturday and had two rebounds and seven assists in an 85-58 win at Defiance. 

The Panthers improved to 15-8 (11-5 HCAC).

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate had eight points, one rebound, eight assists and two steals Saturday to help Hanover defeat Defiance, 86-31.

Heath finished with 10 points, three rebounds, eight assists and four steals Wednesday in a 78-73 win over Rose-Hulman.

The Panthers are 16-7 (14-2 HCAC) this season.

Olivia Faust

The Triton Central graduate had two points, two rebounds and one block Friday for Marian in a 76-44 win over Huntington University.

The Knights are 23-1 this year.

Rylie Stephens

The Triton Central graduate was in the starting lineup for Samford Thursday in a 55-39 loss to Chattanooga. Stephens was credited with one rebound in the loss.

The Bulldogs are 11-13.

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate finished with six points, one rebound and one assist Saturday in SMU’s 78-65 victory at North Texas.

SMU improved to 11-12 this season.

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Based on the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s member school enrollment statistics that were released Monday, Shelbyville High School’s athletics program will be reclassified to Class 3A in baseball, basketball, softball and volleyball beginning this fall.

In June, the IHSAA announced it would change how schools are classified in four-class sports. The IHSAA Executive Committee approved a percentage-based system and adjusted it to 20-25-25-30 ratio.

With this next classification cycle, the largest 20% of member schools will be Class 4A. Class 3A will be the next 25%. Class 2A would then be the next 25% with the smallest 30% of member schools being Class A.

“The Board of Directors recognized the concerns brought to us by the IIAAA (Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association) which were the enrollment gap in Class 4A and the smaller schools that were being moved up to a larger class without a significant enrollment change due to new member schools joining the Association,” said IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig in a June media release. “This change also addresses a desire for schools to be in the same class in baseball, basketball, softball and volleyball but also gives us an opportunity to adjust those percentages in the future if necessary.”

The certified enrollment figures used by the IHSAA were provided by the Indiana Department of Education.

With the IHSAA releasing enrollment figures for 406 schools, the 81 largest schools will now comprise Class 4A in the four sports mentioned. With 1,093 students at Shelbyville High School, the school is the 90^th largest school – and now will be one of the largest Class 3A schools.

The IHSAA has yet to announce the official cutoff numbers for each class. New sectional pairings also will come at a later date.

East Central, with an enrollment of 1,241, and Logansport, enrollment 1,226, are the 80^th and 81^st largest schools.

Of note, Greenwood (1,211), New Palestine (1,209), Cathedral (1,172) and Indianapolis Crispus Attucks (1,170) follow Logansport on the enrollment list.

Other notable schools close to Shelbyville geographically in Class 3A will be Roncalli (1,082), Connersville (930), Beech Grove (892), New Castle (824), Batesville (670), Greensburg (662), Rushville (645) and Indian Creek (636).

The new enrollment figures will not affect a reclassification for Triton Central (2A), Morristown (A), Southwestern (A) and Waldron (A).

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NEW PALESTINE – Shelbyville’s defense has carried the team to several wins this season. And for one quarter Friday, the Golden Bears were doing a good job keeping one of the state’s leading scorers in check.

After hitting just one shot in the opening period, New Palestine’s Julius Gizzi, averaging 29.9 points per game this season, changed his approach and attacked the lane. The result was trip-after-trip to the free-throw line where he kept racking up points and making it hard for Shelbyville to cut into the New Palestine lead.

Gizzi finished with a game-high 26 points on the strength of a 15-for-15 performance from the charity stripe and the Dragons secured a 72-52 victory – the seventh straight win in the series against the Golden Bears.

Shelbyville (11-7, 1-5 Hoosier Heritage Conference) allowed a season-high 72 points also matched by Mt. Vernon on Dec. 15 in a 72-35 win.

“I thought early on we did an excellent job of taking away Gizzi, holding him to two points in the first quarter,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “We let some other guys get some open shots which was the game plan.”

Evan Darrah came off the New Palestine bench and hit a pair of first-half 3s and Brady Armstrong also hit a 3 in the second quarter when the Dragons outscored the Golden Bears 23-14 to open up a 34-25 lead.

Gizzi made four free throws and a 3 in the second quarter, added three more free throws in the third and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in the fourth to close within 14 points of tying the basketball program record for points in a season (608).

Four of New Palestine’s first five scoring possessions of the third quarter produced three points and Shelbyville never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

“At halftime our big talk was we had nine turnovers (in the first half) that led to nine points and we were down nine at the half,” said Hartnett. “We got off to a great start (in the first quarter). Our guys came out with a lot of energy but once we experienced a little adversity we had some key turnovers that led to a big 3 and then they had a couple of easy fast break layins and you can’t have those against a good team like New Palestine.”

Ben Slagley finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three assists for Class 4A, No. 16 New Palestine (16-4, 5-1 HHC). Darrah had nine points – all on 3s – and Moses Haynes added eight points.

The Dragons shot 44% (21 of 48) from the field in the win – 53% (17 of 32) over the final three quarters – and made 23 of 24 free-throw attempts.

Caden Claxton topped the Golden Bears with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. Mar Nicholson had 13 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 13-5 with a 45-38 victory. Tyler Gwinnup led the Golden Bears with 15 points. Gavin Reed had 10.

Shelbyville continues its HHC schedule Friday at Class 3A, No. 8 Delta (15-6, 2-4 HHC).

Steve Bush photos

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Jacob Harker came within one win of reaching the IHSAA State Wrestling Finals.

The Shelbyville senior, making his second consecutive New Castle Semistate appearance, defeated Hamilton Southeastern’s Nate Ingalls in his opening match at 285 pounds, 7-5. That win moved Harker (photo, left) to the “Ticket Round” where wrestlers punch their tickets to the state finals.

Facing No. 7-ranked Austin Hastings of Noblesville, Harker was defeated via pinfall in the third period.

Harker closed out his final season as a Golden Bear with a 26-6 record.

Shelbyville sophomore Julian Eads, competing at 157 pounds, suffered a first-period pinfall defeat to Milan’s Kaleb Wilburn. Eads’ season ended with a 17-14 record.

In other prep events:

Boys basketball

Indianapolis Ritter 60, Triton Central 48

At Ritter, Xavier Highbaugh scored a game-high 22 points and Devin Bolden and Cheick Wade finished with 13 points apiece to help the Raiders clinch no worse than a share of the Indiana Crossroads Conference title.

Ritter improved to 8-12 overall and 6-1 against ICC opponents.

Triton Central dropped to 14-5 (3-1 ICC).

Max Crouse led the Tigers with 16 points. Eli Sego had 14 and Silas Blair added 11.

Triton Central led 17-13 after one quarter but was outscored 17-3 in the second quarter and never recovered.

The Tigers travel to Monrovia (9-10, 1-3 ICC) Tuesday for another conference clash.

Eastern Hancock 65, Morristown 36

At Morristown, Kayden Ruble scored half of his game-high 28 points in the first half as the Royals raced out to a 35-18 advantage. Eastern Hancock then outscored the Yellow Jackets 17-4 in the third quarter and cruised to the victory.

Ruble had 28 points. Luke Schilling added 10 points for the Royals (10-8).

No Morristown player scored in double figures. Brayden Keithley led the way with nine points. Kellen Crim and Kane Snyder each had seven points.

Morristown (3-16) will host Providence Cristo Rey (1-17) Friday in its final home game of the regular season.

Waldron 57, South Decatur 54, OT

At Waldron, Jacob Lindsey hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime and the Mohawks went on to defeat the Cougars (9-10, 3-3 Mid-Hoosier Conference).

With the win, Waldron (8-8, 3-2 MHC) moved into sole possession of third place in the conference standings behind Hauser (14-5, 5-0 MHC) and North Decatur (12-8, 4-1 MHC).

Keith Settles scored 21 points to lead Waldron. Max Jones scored 13 points and Lucas Shaw finished with 11 points.

The Mohawks, winners of four of their last five games, travel Tuesday to Oldenburg Academy (8-9).

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Southwestern rattled. Then Morristown rolled.

Down by 12 points going into the fourth quarter, Morristown outscored the Spartans 25-6 to steal a 55-48 victory despite having two starters out with injuries.

With Cade Mahin (ankle injury) and Mathew Carlton (hand) sidelined, senior Kane Snyder stepped into a starting role Thursday at Southwestern and scored a game-high 17 points to get the Yellow Jackets their second win this season against the Spartans (2-15, 0-4 Mid-Hoosier Conference).

“There was a lot of emotion in that game and to come out on top for how we started and our second quarter … we had a great response toward the end of the first quarter and just kind of fell dead again in the second quarter,” said Morristown head coach Cory Kreiger. “And then came out from halftime and grind, and grind, and grind and had some grit and be on the winning end at the end of it. I am proud of our guys. They had no quit in them. It was a really hard-fought victory.”

Morristown’s two-point second quarter put it on the verge of a knockout. Ben Kahler scored half of his 14 points in the quarter and the Spartans built a 26-14 lead. That 12-point advantage held through the end of the third quarter, 42-30, despite Morristown (3-15, 1-5 MHC) starting to heat up offensively.

Snyder drilled a three-pointer just 15 seconds into the second half to end his team’s 0-for-14 performance from behind the arc in the first half.

Mitchell Clements, held scoreless in the first half, scored seven of his 11 points in the third quarter and the Spartans kept the Yellow Jackets, losers of seven straight coming into the conference game, from gaining ground.

Kellen Crim, who missed his first seven 3s in the game, broke through early in the fourth quarter and the Yellow Jackets started their comeback. Crim’s 3-pointer was followed by a Brayden Keithley 3-pointer and the Yellow Jackets were quickly within six.

Clements pushed the lead to 44-36 with a 15-foot jumper but the Yellow Jackets scored the next nine points to take their first lead of the game with 3:04 to go.

Kahler answered with a baseline drive and score on Southwestern’s next possession. Colin Kieninger scored in the lane at the other end to put Morristown back up again 47-46.

Twelve seconds later Clements scored off a Kahler assist to give the Spartans their final lead.

Crim hit another 3 to start a contentious final minute. The Spartans’ frustration boiled over with an intentional foul followed by three technical fouls called in the game’s final 30 seconds.

Crim sank two intentional foul free throws to make it 52-48. The Morristown freshman was then fouled to stop the clock and he hit another free throw.

The final piece to Morristown’s comeback came on a long entry pass down court that was deflected by Michael Clements but landed right in Kieninger’s hands for an easy layin and a 55-48 lead.

Another technical foul was called on a Southwestern player with two seconds on the clock. Crim missed the first of two free throws with plenty of dissatisfaction building in the gymnasium. The officials then ended the game and walked off the floor with time still on the clock. 

Kahler and Carter Snepp each scored 14 points to lead Southwestern, who hosts Knightstown (9-9) Tuesday.

Snyder entered the game averaging 3.8 points per game. He scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, made 7-of-11 shots from the field and had three rebounds and two steals.

“Kane is a senior for us and kind of played a lot of minutes early on and has earned a little bit bigger role for us this last month and he was huge for us in the second half,” said Kreiger. “He stepped up tonight at the right time.”

Kieninger had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Crim had 12 points and four assists and Keithley scored nine points off the bench.

Morristown returns to action Feb. 16 for its final home contest of the season against Providence Cristo Rey (1-16).

In the junior varsity game Thursday, Southwestern outscored Morristown 14-5 in the fourth quarter to earn a 39-30 victory.

Cecil Newton scored a game-high 14 points to lead Southwestern. James Oliver had nine points.

Keithley, Ruston Kleine and Colton Cavaletto each scored seven points for Morristown.

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Line judges will be required to change sides of the court between sets when teams remain on the same bench. The change in officiating procedure highlights the 2024-25 high school volleyball rule changes.

In all, four rules changes were recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Volleyball Rules Committee at its annual meeting in early January. All rules changes were reviewed and approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Rule 5-9-2b, which outlines judge responsibilities, includes the new note requiring that they switch sides of the court when, by state association adoption, teams remain on the same bench throughout the match. The corresponding item on the state association adoption chart was also amended to add the requirement, which was added to promote fair officiating.

“Since the pandemic many state associations have adopted the rule to require teams to remain on the same bench throughout the match,” said Lindsey Atkinson, NFHS Director of Sports and liaison to the Volleyball Rules Committee. “The unintended consequence of this adoption is that the same line judge officiates the same lines for the same teams throughout the match. This change allows teams to see both line judges and promote equity in officiating.”

In other rules changes, Rule 11-4-1b now allows teams to substitute for a replacement player during a referee’s timeout when the libero is injured or ill, allowing the team to avoid playing the replacement out of position.

Two rules dealing with uniforms and rosters were amended to address when a uniform and for the roster to be adjusted accordingly with no penalty when a uniform is bloodied or damaged. Rule 7-1-1 Note was also changed to specify that blood on or damage to the uniform are acceptable reasons to change uniforms.

The first referee’s responsibilities were modified in Rule 5-4-3c(1) to direct players to the end lines prior to the first set and then direct starting players onto the court for play. Previously, only starting players were directed to the end lines for prematch announcements. The rule now allows but does not require teams to include more team members in the prematch ceremony.

According to the most recent NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, volleyball is the second-most popular sport for girls (trailing track and field) with 470,488 participants in 16,610 schools nationwide. In addition, there are 77,287 boys participating in the sport at 3,376 schools.

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Two Shelbyville wrestlers need two more wins to extend their seasons one more week.

Senior Jacob Harker (main photo), 25-5 this season, and sophomore Julian Eads (17-113) compete Saturday in the New Castle Semistate.

Wrestling at 157 pounds, Eads opens his first semistate against No. 25-ranked Kaleb Wilburn (43-2), a junior from Milan. A win would then set up a match against either Carmel’s Jario Ojeda-Cortes (18-11) or Hamilton Heights’ Michael Cain (38-5, ranked No. 11).

There are four state-ranked wrestlers seeded into the top half of the 157-pound bracket opposite of Eads (photo). They are No. 4 Silas Foster (35-2) of Purdue Polytechnic, No. 5 Anthony Cashman (31-3) of Warren Central, No. 12 Aidan Kincade (32-4) of Noblesville and No. 13 Zach Lang (37-3) of Hamilton Southeastern.

At 285 pounds, Harker, a semistate qualifier in 2023, will face Hamilton Southeastern senior Nate Ingalls (19-6) in the opening round. A win would create a quarterfinal-round match against either No. 7 Austin Hastings (36-2) of Noblesville or No. 25 Levi DeGroat (24-4) of Connersville.

There are three state-ranked wrestlers in the top half of the 285-pound bracket. They are No. 8 Hosia Smith (34-6) of Cathedral, No. 14 Jacob McClure (31-6) of Perry Meridian and No. 21 Killian Miller (12-4) of Carmel.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the State Finals, held in Evansville this year.

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Ben Kahler and Carter Snepp combined for 19 first-quarter points to get Southwestern an early lead.
The Spartans kept pushing the pace and built a 39-20 lead by halftime and rolled to a 73-43 victory Tuesday over Indiana Deaf.
Kahler finished with a game-high 23 points for Southwestern (2-14). Snepp ended with 16 points and Avery Dennison (14 points) and Michael Clements (12) also reached double digits in the scoring column.
Jayden DeFalco topped Indiana Deaf (11-5) with 18 points and Matthew Saaty finished with 12 points.
Southwestern, 0-3 against Mid-Hoosier Conference opponents this season, hosts Morristown (2-15, 0-5 MHC) Thursday. That game can be heard on GIANT fm with the pregame show airing at approximately 7 p.m.

Taylor Heath was one of three seniors honored Saturday on Senior Day for the Hanover women’s basketball program.

The Triton Central graduate (photo, left) then took the floor and scored 11 points, grabbed two rebounds and dished out five assists in Hanover’s 71-44 victory over Manchester University.

Hanover hosted No. 2 Transylvania University Wednesday and was defeated 62-50. Heath finished with five points, one rebound, three assists and one steal.

The Panthers are 14-7 overall and 12-2 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standing with both losses coming to Transylvania.

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

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had seven points, one rebound, four assists, one block and three steals Saturday for SMU in an 81-73 win over Memphis.

On Wednesday, SMU lost at Rice, 69-60. Chandler finished with two points, two rebounds and one assist.

SMU is 11-11 this season.

Olivia Faust

The Triton Central graduate had four points, two rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals Saturday for Marian University in an 86-51 win over Taylor University.

The Knights improved to 21-1 this season and have won 19 straight games.

Tenleigh Phelps

The Triton Central graduate recorded her team-leading sixth double-double of the season Saturday in IU South Bend’s 77-67 win over Governors State. Phelps finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal to improve the Titans to 22-0 this season.

On Wednesday, IU South Bend defeated the University of St. Francis (Ill.), 83-66 in Joliet, Illinois. Phelps had 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Kyle Crim

The Morristown graduate finished with two rebounds and one assist Wednesday in Hanover’s 87-64 loss at Transylvania.

On Saturday, Crim came off the Hanover bench and had two rebounds and one steal in a 74-67 win over Manchester.

The Panthers are 13-8.

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate had 10 points, three rebounds and one assist Saturday but it was not enough to keep Oakland City from losing its eighth-straight game, 99-52 at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in Terre Haute to fall to 7-15 this season.

Oakland City lost at IU Kokomo on Jan. 30, 82-81 in double overtime. Moore finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Bella Larrison

The Waldron graduate had seven points, two rebounds and one steal Saturday for Anderson in a 76-49 loss to No. 2 Transylvania University.

On Wednesday, Larrison had 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and one block in a 71-68 overtime victory at Rose-Hulman.

The Ravens are 10-11 this season.

Zaleeya Martin

The Shelbyville graduate finished 10^th in the 60 meters (7.94 seconds) for the University of Indianapolis at the Lewis Invitational Friday in Chicago.

Martin also notched a personal-best time of 26.57 in the 200 meters to finished 12^th overall.

Anderson Indoor Invitational

Franklin College and Mount St. Joseph were two of the track and field programs competing at Anderson University Saturday.

Southwestern graduate Alison Muck, running for Franklin, won the 60-meter hurdles in 9.53 seconds.

Shelbyville graduate Ava Ruschhaupt, also competing for Franklin, finishes 11^th in the 60 meters (9.67) and 12^th in the 200 (35.15).

Mount St. Joseph’s Madalyn Hudnall, a Waldron graduate, finished runner-up in the shot put (36-2.75) and fifth in the weight throw (37-9.5)

Mrs. G Alumni Invitational

Athletes representing Manchester University and the host school, Trine, among others competed Friday in the first home indoor track and field meet for Trine this season.

Manchester’s Michael Fox, a Shelbyville graduate, placed 27^th in the 1-mile run in 4:58.

Trine’s Jacob Batten, a Morristown graduate, placed 25^th in the 200 (25.22) and 20^th in the 400 (56.16).

Allison Batten, also a Morristown graduate competing for Trine, placed 19^th in the 200 (30.55) and 14^th in the 400 (1:09).

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Lucas Shaw scored a team-high 22 points to lead Waldron to a 60-56 win Saturday afternoon over Tri.

Keith Settles followed with 12 points and four rebounds for the Mohawks (7-8), who have won three of their last four contests.

Max Jones had eight points, five rebounds and three assists.

Tri dropped to 11-5 with the loss.

Waldron hosts South Decatur (9-8) Friday.

In other prep events Saturday:

Boys basketball

Alexandria 62, Morristown 44

At Alexandria, Kellen Crim and Mathew Carlton combined for 24 points but it was not enough to get the visiting Yellow Jackets past the Tigers (9-9).

Crim scored a team-high 13 points and had three rebounds, three assists and four steals in the loss. Carlton finished with 11 points and three rebounds.

Colin Kieninger had three points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Morristown (2-15) is at Southwestern (1-14) Thursday before hosting Eastern Hancock (8-8) Friday.

Gymnastics

Rushville Invitational

Shelbyville placed third and Morristown was fifth in the seven-team invitational hosted by Rushville.

Morristown sophomore Remi Spicklemire tied for second on the balance beam with a score of 8.25 and finished fifth in the vault (8.425) and on uneven bars (7.5). She also finished fifth in the all-around with a 31.45.

Southwestern’s Mikayla Claiborne placed third in the vault (8.475) and fourth on balance beam (8.075) to finish sixth in the all-around (30.9).

Shelbyville’s Lilli Conway placed seventh on the uneven bars (6.875) and eighth in vault (8.325).

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Shelbyville sophomore Riley Everette finished less than one second away from qualifying for the IHSAA Swimming and Diving State Finals.

Competing Saturday at the New Palestine Sectional, Everette finished second in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.92 seconds. Greenfield-Central’s Rachel Stutz won the race in 24.01 to earn the state finals berth.

Everette (photo, right) also finished third in the 100 butterfly in 59.54. Greenfield-Central’s Taylor Parsons won the event in 57.29.

Everette also was part of Shelbyville’s third-place finishing 200 freestyle relay team. She joined with Miriam Garringer, Naomi Garringer and Paige Bohman to stop the clock in 1:44.99.

In other sectional events featuring Shelbyville swimmers:

• Miriam Garringer finished sixth in the 200 freestyle in 2:07.67 and seventh in the 100 freestyle in 57.4.
• Naomi Garringer placed 11^th in the 50 freestyle in 26.74 and 10^th in the 100 freestyle in 1:00.15.
• Paige Bohman finished 12^th in the 50 freestyle (27.25) and 12^th in the 100 freestyle (1:00.88).
• Emma Wheelhouse finished 15^th in the 100 butterfly (1:35.88).

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Shelbyville senior Jacob Harker will make a return trip to the New Castle Wrestling Semistate while sophomore Julian Eads will make his first appearance.

Both Golden Bears won their first match Saturday morning at the Perry Meridian Regional to automatically advance to the semistate round of competition.

Eads (photo below), competing at 157 pounds, pinned Lawrence Central’s Kiaun Fields late in the third period in his opening match. Eads then lost to eventual regional champion Anthony Cashman of Warren Central and was defeated in the third-place match by New Palestine’s Jaedyn Jeffries, 7-1.

At 285 pounds, Harker (main photo) pinned Beech Grove’s Dusty Miller in the second period to advance. He then lost to Greenfield-Central’s Brayden Flener, who won the regional title, and Warren Central’s Perris Green, 6-4, in the third-place match.

A total of 10 Shelbyville and Triton Central wrestlers competed at the Perry Meridian Regional.

Triton Central’s Chance Uhls (106 pounds), Ayden Nufio (113), Anthony Toon (120) and Conner Phipps (126) all suffered pinfall losses in their first matches.

Shelbyville’s Andrew Burton (165) and Brayden Schultz (190) also lost by pinfall. Tripp Garner was defeated 15-6 by Southport’s Keegan Dresslar at 113 pounds. Brady Bryant took a 17-2 loss to North Central’s Jessie Franklin at 150 pounds.

Harker and Eads will need to win two matches Saturday at New Castle to advance to the IHSAA State Finals on Feb. 16-17 that will be held this year at the Ford Center in Evansville.

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Anthony Garafalo, an insulation company owner from Loveland, Ohio, scored the top spot in the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) Qualifier held Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Garafalo had a big finish to surge to the top among 108 entrants. The top five places received cash prizes and advance to the NHC Finals beginning March 15 in Las Vegas at Horseshoe.

“I got pretty lucky with the last contest race,” said Garafalo, who had three wagers on Race 7 at Santa Anita. “The speed came back, and I never disregard luck. I’ve been playing horses my whole life and this will be my 13^th time qualifying (for the NHC Final), but it’s the first time I’ve qualified here (Horseshoe Indianapolis).”

Garafalo was in good positioning early, then dropped out of the top 25 before making a comeback to pass Mike Gillum of Indianapolis, who led the leaderboard most of the way until the final race. Garafalo completed the contest with a tally of $3,011.79 over Gillum’s $2,807.20. Players had the option to choose whether to attend the 2024 or 2024 NHC Finals. Garafalo will wait for the 2024 NHC Finals while Gillum is headed to the 2024 event.

Joining Garafalo and Gillum as qualifiers for the NHC Finals included Greg Gass of Zionsville, Ind., who adds a second entry into the 2024 final, Cheryl McIntyre, former winner of the NHC Finals, of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. who will save her entry for the 2025 event, and James Orban of Homer Glen, Ill, who will participate in the 2024 NHC Finals.

In addition to the NHC Finals seats, the top five shared total prize money of $10,500 with Garafalo earning the lion’s share of the money at $4,000 for his victory.

Horseshoe Indianapolis will host a double contest during Indiana Derby Weekend July 5-6. The separate contests will feature live racing from Horseshoe Indianapolis with three advancing to the NHC Finals on Friday and the top four headed to the 2025 NHC Finals on Saturday. Cash prizes will also be allotted to the top players.

The 22^nd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing begins with a special April 8 racing program at noon for the Total Solar Eclipse Day. Racing extends through Nov. 14.

For more information on live racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis.

Photo:  From left, James Orban (5^th); Cheryl McIntyre (4^th); Anthony Garafalo (1^st); Mike Gillum (2^nd); and Greg Gass (3^rd) during the NHC Qualifier at Horseshoe Indianapolis. 

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INDIANAPOLIS – Sammie Bolding did not play in the regular-season meeting between Class 2A, No. 3 Eastern Hancock and 2A No. 15 Triton Central. The Royals still won by nine points.

In the rematch Friday in the first semifinal game of the Indianapolis Scecina Sectional, Bolding demonstrated how impactful she can be on the court. The senior hit three first-half 3-pointers and scored 14 points to propel the Royals to a 27-16 halftime advantage.

The University of Toledo softball commit then added eight more points in the fourth quarter to hold off a hard-charging Tigers squad for a 56-38 victory.

Eastern Hancock, now 22-1, sank all 14 of its free-throw attempts in the final quarter and hit 18 of 19 in the game to go along with six 3s to get into the Sectional 42 championship game Saturday night against the host Crusaders (8-16), who defeated Irvington Prep, 53-12.

Bolding finished with a game-high 25 points and Brooklyn Willis, a University of Indianapolis softball commit, had 11 points on the strength of three first-quarter 3s to put Triton Central in a double-digit deficit early on.

“We said if they hit two (3s) we have to start adjusting,” said Triton Central head coach Bryan Graham of the Royals’ long distance shooting. “They had six in the first half and zero in the second half.”

Bolding’s third 3 extended the lead to 25-8 midway through the second quarter but Katherine Collier and Maryrose Felling hit back-to-back 3s that finally allowed Triton Central to relax.

“Those two shots were huge,” admitted Graham. Still, Triton Central trailed by 11 points at halftime after shooting just 29% from the field.

“Movement. We just didn’t move. We didn’t cut hard. We kind of let their physicality in the first half take over,” said Graham. “We didn’t play aggressive. We played hesitant. We played not to make mistakes and in the second half, it was the total opposite. I thought we attacked and executed and ran our offense.”

The Tigers slowly chipped away at the Eastern Hancock lead and got it to 36-28 after three quarters when Hailey Harris scored off a steal with 11 seconds to go.

Lucy Spall hit two free throws very early in the fourth quarter and the lead was down to six, but that was as close as the Tigers could get.

Eastern Hancock head coach Shari Doud called a timeout to reset her team and it responded. Makenzie O’Neal scored on a backdoor cut and Bolding drove the lane and scored to get the lead to nine.

The Royals made just one field goal the rest of the game but pulled away from the free-throw line where they were perfect over the game’s final 4:33.

Felling led Triton Central with 11 points and six rebounds. Harris and Brooklyn Bailey, both seniors, finished with seven and six points, respectively.

Lucy Spall, Triton Central’s third senior, scored a season-high nine points and grabbed five rebounds (four offensive) and had four steals.

“She played absolutely amazing,” said Graham. “Her hustle and determination … if every kid had what she has in that big heart of hers, because her skill set is nothing to talk about but her hustle … you always tell kids if you worked as hard as this girl, you would be unstoppable. “Lucy is that prime example. If kids at all age levels use her as an example of hustle and heart and how much she cares, kids would be amazing.”

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Four Golden Bears qualified for sectional championship races Saturday at the New Palestine Girls Swimming and Diving Sectional.

At Thursday’s preliminary races, Shelbyville sophomore Riley Everette finished second in the 50-yard freestyle (24.84 seconds) and the 100 butterfly (59.92) with personal-best times in both events.

Senior Miriam Garringer also had a pair of top-8 finishes to qualify for the finals. She finished sixth in the 200 freestyle (2:06.83) and seventh in the 100 freestyle (57.72).

Everette and Garringer also will compete in two sectional championship relay races with Naomi Garringer and Paige Bohman. The quartet finished third in the 200 freestyle relay (1:47.68) and third in the 400 freestyle relay (2:57.33).

All sectional champions advance to the 50^th Annual IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals on Feb. 9-10 at the Indiana University Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis.

In other prep events Thursday:

Boys basketball

Triton Central 45, Covenant Christian 44

At Covenant Christian, Max Crouse scored a game-high 18 points to improve Triton Central to 14-4 this season.

Taggy Goul finished with eight points and Sam Collier had seven against a future Indiana Crossroads Conference opponent. The Warriors join the ICC next season to replace Cascade, who is departing.

Nef Farrell led Covenant Christian (7-9) with 12 points. Nathan Crane finished with 11 points.

Triton Central is off until Feb. 9 when it travels to Indianapolis Ritter (6-11, 4-1 ICC) for an ICC game between the top two teams in the standings.

North Decatur 47, Waldron 38

At North Decatur, the host Chargers extended a 3-point halftime lead to double digits after three quarters after outscoring the Mohawks 15-7.

Kaden Muckerheide finished off Waldron with a 16-point, 6-assist performance that keeps North Decatur (11-8, 4-1 Mid-Hoosier Conference) in contention for the conference title. Hauser sits atop the MHC standings at 13-4 (5-0 MHC).

Waldron dropped to 6-8 this season and 2-2 against MHC foes. The Mohawks host Tri (11-4) Saturday afternoon.

Hauser 64, Southwestern 37

At Southwestern, the visiting Jets scored 25 points in the second quarter to secure its fifth MHC victory of the season.

Alex Cord scored a team-high 15 points. Kameron Blair finished with 12 points.

Ben Kahler scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half for Southwestern (1-14, 0-3 MHC). Carter Snepp finished with seven points.

The Spartans host Indiana Deaf (11-4) Tuesday.

Gymnastics

Franklin Central 99.725, Shelbyville 84.85, Richmond 81.6, Lapel Inc., Southwestern Inc.

Austyn Dykes won three events but did not compete in the vault which allowed her Franklin Central teammate, Ava Rebennack, to secure the all-around title and lead the Flashes to the team victory over Shelbyville and Richmond.

Dykes scored 9.4 in the floor exercise, 8.85 on uneven bars and 9.425 on the balance beam. Rebennack won the vault with an 8.7 and the all-around title at 34.35.

Southwestern and Lapel also had gymnasts competing and Southwestern’s Mikayla Claiborne placed third in the all-around (30.05) behind Lapel’s Myleigh Carpenter (31.05). Claiborne’s best event finish was third on the balance beam (7.75).

Shelbyville’s Lilli Conway placed third on the vault (8.575) and fourth on the uneven bars (6.875). Haylee Barnes was fourth in the vault (8.45) and Renee Aldridge was fifth on uneven bars (6.575) and balance beam (7.75).

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Six of the 10 Shelbyville and Triton Central wrestlers will face a state-ranked competitor in their quarterfinal-round match Saturday at the Perry Meridian Regional.

It only takes one win to advance to the New Castle Semistate but that win will not come easy.

Triton Central senior Ayden Nufio, 21-8 this season, the only Shelby County wrestler to win a sectional title at the Shelbyville Sectional, opens against Mt. Vernon junior Connor Bayliss, 31-4 and ranked No. 9 in the state. Bayliss was a state qualifier at 106 pounds in 2023 but finished fourth at the Southport Sectional at 113 pounds to set up a match with Nufio.

Bayliss was one of four state-ranked wrestlers to advance out of the Southport Sectional at 113 pounds. The other three were Roncalli sophomore Blake Getz (31-3), Southport junior Keegan Dresslar (32-7) and Perry Meridian senior Hruai Lian (17-8).

Nufio defeated Shelbyville freshman Tripp Garner (18-5) in the sectional championship at Garrett Gymnasium. Garner will face Dresslar, ranked No. 21, in his first regional match.

Shelbyville’s Julian Eads (main photo, left) and Jacob Harker (photo) each finished third in their respective weight classes at the sectional and avoided regional quarterfinal round matches against champions from the Southport Sectional.

At 157 pounds, Eads (16-11), a sophomore and regional qualifier in 2023, will face Lawrence Central senior Kiaun Fields (14-6) with the winner advancing to wrestle either Lawrence North senior Darius Brown (12-19) or Warren Central senior Anthony Cashman (28-3), ranked No. 5 at 157 pounds, in the semifinals.

Harker (24-3), a 2023 semistate qualifier, needs to defeat Beech Grove junior Dusty Miller (20-14) in the regional quarterfinal round at 285 pounds to earn a repeat trip to New Castle. A win over Miller sets up a semifinal round match with either Greenfield-Central’s Brayden Fleener (28-7) or Lawrence Central’s Jaxson Owens (5-10).

The remaining six Golden Bears and Tigers will square off with Southport Sectional champs in their first matches.

• 106 pounds — Triton Central freshman Chance Uhls (17-12) (photo) vs. Roncalli sophomore Peyton Schoettle (32-1, ranked No. 5)

• 126 pounds — Triton Central freshman Conner Phipps (10-12) vs. Mt. Vernon sophomore Eli Broady (33-3, ranked No. 9)

• 150 pounds — Shelbyville sophomore Brady Bryant (29-5) vs. North Central junior Jessie Franklin (11-2)

• 165 pounds — Shelbyville junior Andrew Burton (22-11) vs. Roncalli junior James Dozier (25-7)

• 175 pounds — Shelbyville freshman Reuben Martins-Thomas (16-11) vs. Lawrence North sophomore Michael White (29-5, ranked No. 16)

• 190 pounds — Shelbyville junior Brayden Schultz (19-9) vs. Perry Meridian senior Jaylen Young (26-3, ranked No. 12)

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Rachel Kleine did not expect a tight game between a pair of teams she labeled as “streaky.”

Kleine’s assessment proved spot on Wednesday night as Morristown and Waldron exchanged runs during their Sectional 60 quarterfinal round contest at Southwestern High School.

Three players produced double-double performances and five players scored in double digits while two more players finished with nine points in Morristown’s 67-54 victory over Waldron that avenged a 56-47 loss to the Mohawks on Dec. 8.

The Yellow Jackets have now won five of its last six and 10 of its last 14.

“I really just had a feeling with the way we are playing, when we get hot and I talk about finding that zone a little bit, or when Waldron gets hot, it’s just one of things where I felt like whomever got hot first would take the game,” said Morristown head coach Rachel Kleine.

Morristown freshman Jayla Keithley scored a game-high 21 points and had 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. Danika Rutledge, a junior, finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds to get the Yellow Jackets a rematch with Class A, No. 11 Oldenburg Academy (18-4) in Friday’s sectional semifinal round. The Twisters defeated Morristown 50-33 on Dec. 14 which left the Yellow Jackets just 2-10.

Morristown built a 12-3 lead after one quarter Wednesday as Waldron struggled to knock down shots — a constant source of frustration all game long. The Mohawks missed 15 of their first 16 shots over the opening eight minutes.

Keithley and Rutledge combined to score 10 points in the first half of the second quarter to extend the lead to 22-9 before Waldron found momentum.

The Mohawks scored nine of the next 11 points to cut the lead to 24-18 with 77 seconds left in the half. Emma Nelson followed with back-to-back three pointers and Rutledge hit a 3 just before time expired to almost instantly push the lead to 33-18.

“That was so huge,” said Kleine. “Emma got a little discouraged early and during a timeout I told her shooters have to have amnesia. You have to forget about that one and you have to pull the trigger for the next one – and credit to her that is exactly what she did.”

Nelson missed her first four 3-point attempts in the game before closing out the half with consecutive makes from beyond the arc.

Waldron never got closer than nine points in the second half. The Yellow Jackets pushed the advantage to 39-20 early in the third quarter before the Mohawks went on an 8-0 run sparked by a Grace Fischer 3. The freshman added a pair of free throws with 2:13 remaining in the quarter and the “streak” grew to a 13-3 run.

Keithley responded with a drive in the lane and score and Alexia Rogers, Morristown’s only senior, followed suit for two more points and the Yellow Jackets closed out the third quarter leading 48-35.

“Every time we felt like we really needed a stop or needed a bucket, even if we didn’t get that stop we found that bucket,” said Kleine. “I am so proud of our kids for stepping up. We had three or four kids on the floor really willing to make that flash to the basket, that cut or that drive and go get the rebound. They are stepping into their roles.”

Waldron scored 19 points in the fourth quarter but Morristown matched that output with a more efficient shooting performance.

Fischer missed all nine of her shot attempts in the final quarter and still finished with a team-high 16 points. She pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds (10 offensive) and had three assists.

Senior Alyssa Benson had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Audrey Hogg, Waldron’s only other senior, had six points, six rebounds, two steals and a block.

Waldron shot 26% from the field on a staggering 80 shot attempts. The Mohawks hit just 5-of-27 shots from beyond the arc.

Rogers finished with 12 points for Morristown. Nelson had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Waldron closed out its second season under head coach Ilea Shipp at 8-14.

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Class A, No. 11 Oldenburg Academy established a physical low post presence and overmatched Southwestern in a Sectional 60 quarterfinal contest Wednesday at Southwestern High School.

Sophomore center Rachel Suttmann scored a game-high 23 points, pulled down nine rebounds and added three assists, two blocks and one steal to advance the Twisters past the Spartans, 52-24.

Suttmann connected on 9-of-11 shots in the middle two quarters when Oldenburg Academy outscored Southwestern 29-12.

“You look at us, size wise they are bigger at every position. They are stronger at every position. And coach (David) Disbro knows what he is doing,” said third-year Southwestern head coach Jason West. “He is going to exploit us. We have a decent relationship and we’ve talked all week. I know what he is going to do and he knows what we are going to do.

“ There were no surprises. They just beat us doing what they do better than what we did.”

Kate Weber, one of three seniors on the Oldenburg Academy roster, finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals. 

Southwestern (3-20) entered the sectional averaging just under 30 points per game. The Spartans needed a fast start Wednesday to compete with the Twisters (18-4).

Weber had two quick steals and easy scores in transition to get Oldenburg Academy out to a 10-2 lead but Tanna Tatlock, Southwestern’s leading scorer this season, attacked the lane and scored and Riley Engel and Tatlock followed with successful 15-footers to keep the Spartans close at the first break, 12-8.

Suttmann was dominant in the low post once she got position established. She had 10 points in the second quarter to help the Twisters extend the lead to 28-11 by halftime. She hit all five of her field goal attempts in the third quarter and the lead grew to 41-20.

Tatlock, a junior, and sophomore Emma Isgrigg each scored seven points to lead Southwestern. Tatlock also had eight rebounds and three assists.

The pair will be key offseason building blocks for a basketball program that has won just nine games over the last two seasons.

“They played phenomenal,” said West. “We have to get Isgrigg more confidence. Shooters need to continue to shoot. You can’t let misses and things out of your control affect you.

“Tanna, we have to get her to finish. We can get her to the rim. Now we have to take that next step and get her finishing moves.”

West knows there are challenges ahead to build depth within the program.

“We have to have people come in and work,” he said. “We have our Advanced (Physical Education) class going. We’re getting stronger. We just have to buy in.

“We are building something. We just got to have everybody buy into it.”

 With the win, Oldenburg Academy returns to Southwestern Friday for a semifinal game against Morristown — a 67-54 winner over Waldron Wednesday in the second quarterfinal game. The Twisters defeated Morristown, 50-33, on Dec. 14.

In the first semifinal Friday, No. 8 Jac-Cen-Del (18-5) battles South Decatur (14-10), who defeated the Eagles 43-38 on Nov. 28.

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