Kylee Edwards entered her senior season in hot pursuit of Shelbyville girls basketball’s career scoring mark. After Tuesday’s record-setting performance in the Golden Bears’ season opener, Edwards may collect the mark sooner than expected.

Edwards (photo) exploded for a program single-game record 45 points Tuesday on Frank Barnes Court at William L. Garrett Gymnasium to lead Shelbyville to a 73-53 victory over Brown County.

“We’re a whole different team. We play so well together. We’re a fast team. I think this is going to be a really special year,” said Edwards after posing for a picture to commemorate breaking the 28-year-old record of 43 points set by Misty (Smith) Albrecht.

Edwards made 16-of-27 shot attempts and 10-of-11 free throws to get to 45 points. She scored 28 in the first half to push the Golden Bears to a 41-26 lead.

Without much front court size and experience this season, Shelbyville is heavily guard-oriented and wanting to push the pace. At times Tuesday, the pace was too fast.

The Golden Bears maintained a double-digit lead over the Eagles from the middle of the second quarter on, but a third-quarter string of turnovers caused head coach Becca Hoefler to implore her team to slow down.

“We have some girls playing in some roles they haven’t been in before and with the defense that we play, we are really looking to run and gun,” said Hoefler. “We were expecting some quick turnovers (on our part) but sometimes the payout is really nice, and tonight the payout was really good for us.”

Shelbyville's Ellie Keller, right, tries to elude the defensive pressure of Brown County's Ava Stogsdill (1) Tuesday at Garrett Gymnasium.

Edwards scored Shelbyville’s first five points of the third quarter and freshman Ellie Keller drove the lane and scored to extend the lead to 48-28.

Turnovers kept the Golden Bears from putting away Brown County and two quick baskets by the Eagles triggered Hoefler to slow her team down.

“Keller is trying to figure it all out,” said Hoefler. “She only knows how to go and doesn’t know how to stop. We are working with her on just making good decisions … and especially our other guards too.

“You don’t hate a team that wants to go fast, that’s for sure.”

Keller responded with a drive and score plus a free throw off a half-court set then followed that with a wing 3-pointer that put Shelbyville up 54-34.

Keller finished her varsity debut with 11 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal after scoring a quick 13 points in the first quarter of the junior varsity contest.

Ava Wilson added 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals in the win.

Edwards’ previous career high was 37 points her sophomore year and she has not let Hoefler forget about not letting her go for the record that night. So 43 points was in the back of the coach’s mind as Edwards hit 40.

The senior had a chance to break the record with a second free throw attempt but missed. A quick turnover put the ball back in her hands and she attacked the rim and scored to add another milestone to her career.

Brown County's Savannah Oden (21) and Shelbyville's Kylee Edwards get tangled up fighting for control of the basketball Tuesday at Garrett Gymnasium.

Edwards now holds the single-game scoring record for a Golden Bear – boy or girl – at Garrett Gymnasium. Mike Sipes scored 41 points in a home win over Greensburg in 1971.

Not too bad for a softball player. Edwards is traveling to Mississippi State this weekend for her official college visit. The highly-ranked middle infielder expects to sign her National Letter of Intent to play for the Bulldogs on Wednesday.

The Garrett Gymnasium record for points in a game is held by Rushville’s Kyle Morgan, who scored 52 points in a regional championship game win over Danville in 2008.

The performance pushed Edwards’ career scoring total to 1,179 points, leaving her behind Brenda Kelsay (1,374) and Gretchen Haehl (1,418).

Shelbyville won the junior varsity contest, 59-17. Freshman Savannah Collins led the Golden Bears with 14 points.

The Golden Bears have three games set for next week – Tuesday at Class A, No. 6 Waldron, Friday at Edinburgh and back to Garrett Gymnasium Saturday for a visit from Class A, No. 14 Morristown.

Shelbyville 73, Brown County 53

BC: K. Tipton 0-1 5-8 5, Austin 5-13 1-2 14, Watson 0-1 2-4 2, Oden 4-7 2-4 10, Huff 2-6 2-2 8, An. Stogsdill 2-11 1-2 5, Av. Stogsdill 2-6 1-2 5, Kemp 2-4 0-0 4, A. Tipton 0-3 0-2 0. Totals: 17-52 14-26 53.

SH: Edwards 16-27 10-11 45, Brenner 0-1 1-2 1, Wilson 5-8 0-0 10, Simpson 0-3 0-1 0, Pogue 1-2 0-0 2, Keller 4-10 1-3 11, E. Johnson 1-3 2-3 4, Marshall 0-1 0-0 0, L. Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, S. Baker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 27-55 14-21 73.
SCORE BY QUARTERS

BC (0-1)    9  17  13  14  --  53

SH (1-0)  17  24  15  17  --  73

Three-point field goals: BC 5-15 (Austin 3-7, Huff 2-4, An. Stogsdill 0-2, Kemp 0-1, A. Tipton 1), SH 5-9 (Edwards 3-6, Simpson 0-1, Keller 2-2). Rebounds: BC 31 (K. Tipton 6, Austin 2, Watson 3, Oden 8, Huff 4, An. Stogsdill 2, Av. Stogsdill 4, Kemp 2), SH 32 (Edwards 7, Brenner 2, Wilson 3, Simpson 2, Pogue 1, Keller 7, E. Johnson 7, L. Johnson 3). Assists: BC 8 (K. Tipton 1, Huff 4, An. Stogsdill 2, Av. Stogsdill 1), SH 13 (Edwards 5, Wilson 2, Simpson 2, Keller 1, E. Johnson 1, Marshall 2). Steals: BC 7 (K. Tipton 1, Huff 3, An. Stogsdill 2, A. Tipton 1), SH 15 (Edwards 3, Wilson 4, Simpson 3, Keller 1, E. Johnson 2, Marshall 2). Blocks: BC 1 (Oden), SH 3 (Edwards 2, L. Johnson 1). Total fouls: BC 18, SH 20. Turnovers: BC 29, SH 28.

JV

Shelbyville 59, Brown County 17

BC: Av. Stogsdill 7, Sanders 4, Smith 4, A. Tipton 2.

SH: Collins 14, E. Keller 13, Asher 9, H. Baker 8, Fortune 7, A. Keller 3, Jones 3, Stewart 2.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

BC    2    9    4    2  --  17

SH  26  11  14    8  --  59

Steve Bush photos for Shelby County Post.