Shelbyville’s game Saturday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium looked eerily familiar.
The only difference was the aggressor was the Golden Bears, who forced Franklin County into 32 turnovers and 27% shooting from the field to produce their seventh-straight win to start the season, 50-31.
The staggering struggles of Franklin County was a consistent theme to Shelbyville losses over the past three seasons. Now starting a four-guard lineup made up of two seniors and two juniors, head coach Becca Hoefler is turning up the pressure on the opposition, which is creating more fast-break scoring opportunities.
“I think every single game for the past three years, our offensive ball handling has always been an issue for us,” said Hoefler, now 30-47 in her fourth year with the program. “This year, we’ve gotten to the point where multiple people can bring the ball up. In years previous, we had one, maybe two. Now, we have at least four people on the court, sometimes five that can bring it up anytime.”
After six first-quarter turnovers Saturday against Franklin County (5-2), Shelbyville committed just one turnover in the second quarter when it created separation from the Wildcats.
Over the same eight-minute span, Franklin County had 14 turnovers and shot just 1-of-6 from the field to fall behind 24-10 at halftime.
“We weren’t hitting shots the first half (9 of 33, 27%) but we wanted to keep creating our own energy on the defensive end,” said Hoefler. “We can always get a steal. We can always make that extra effort. The more turnovers for us means we are on offense more.”
The starting quartet of Kylee Edwards, Abby Brenner, Ava Wilson (photo) and Ellie Simpson combined for 12 of Shelbyville’s 13 steals in the game.
“I think we are surprising teams,” admitted Hoefler. “Teams are so used to it being Shelbyville, it’s an easy win, so I think they are overlooking us. I think it’s neat we are kind of making a name for ourselves that we’re not going to be an easy, walk-in win for anybody.”
Edwards and Wilson combined for 30 of Shelbyville’s 35 points over the second and third quarters to extend the lead to 41-24. Edwards and Wilson scored the final four points of the third quarter off mid-court steals and layins.
“They are killing it. They talk the same way. They communicate very well on the court together. They both are die-hard competitors that want to win,” said Hoefler of the duo averaging 44 points per game this season. “This is their third year playing together and you can see how they have formed a good relationship on the court.”
Edwards finished with a game-high 21 points Saturday and pulled down 15 rebounds.
Wilson scored 18 points and added seven rebounds to go with five steals.
Kassidy Schell led Franklin County with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The last time Shelbyville was 7-0 to start the season was in 2004, when the Michael Gaines-led Golden Bears opened 8-0.
“I wasn’t quite sure we would be 7-0 but I knew we were capable of it,” said Hoefler. “I wasn’t quite sure what teams would show at us. It’s been nice that what teams have done to us has not affected our game. That’s been big for us. We are always going to do what we need to do and teams have to adjust to us. That’s been a big change for us.”
Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 5-0 with a 35-31 victory Saturday. Savannah Collins led the Golden Bears with 12 points. Sophia Asher finished with 10 points – all in the second half.
Shelbyville 60, Southwestern 21
The Golden Bears got to 6-0 Friday at Southwestern.
After a sluggish first half, Shelbyville scored 23 third-quarter points to pull away from the Spartans (0-4).
Edwards scored 22 points while Wilson followed at 14. Brenner added nine in the win.
McKinley Correll led the Spartans with eight points. Haley Casey and Cy Stockdale each scored four points.
Up Next
Southwestern travels to Hauser (1-2) Monday.
Shelbyville has the week to prepare for its Hoosier Heritage Conference opener Saturday afternoon at Pendleton Heights (4-2, 2-0 HHC).
The Golden Bears have lost 15 straight to the Arabians.
Record Watch
With 43 points in two wins this week, Edwards now has 1,322 points.
She trails Brenda Kelsey by 52 points for No. 2 on the Golden Bears’ career scoring list.
Edwards, averaging 26.9 ppg through the first seven games of her senior season, needs 97 points to surpass Gretchen Haehl’s career mark of 1,418 points.
Shelbyville 50, Franklin County 31
FC – Ki. Schell 0-4 1-3 1, Ka. Schell 5-11 0-1 12, Mears 2-3 0-1 4, Rolfes 2-12 3-3 8, Billman 2-9 0-0 5, Kaiser 0-1 1-4 1, Stacy 0-1 0-0 0, Crain 0-0 0-0 0, Singer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-41 5-12 31.
SH – Edwards 8-21 3-4 21, Brenner 0-4 2-4 2, Simpson 2-2 0-0 6, Wilson 7-22 4-4 18, Pogue 0-2 0-0 0, Keller 0-5 1-2 1, L. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, E. Johnson 1-6 0-3 2, Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, S. Baker 0-0 0-0 0, H. Baker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-62 10-17 51.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
FC (5-2) 6 4 14 7 -- 31
SH (7-0) 6 18 17 9 -- 50
Three-point field goals: FC 4-18 (Ki. Schell 0-2, Ka. Schell 2-6, Rolfes 1-4, Billman 1-6, Stacy 0-1), SH 4-16 (Edwards 2-9, Brenner 0-1, Simpson 2-2, Wilson 0-2, Keller 0-2). Rebounds: FC 32 (Ki. Schell 3, Ka. Schell 7, Mears 4, Rolfes 6, Billman 3, Kaiser 8, Stacy 1), SH 36 (Edwards 15, Brenner 3, Simpson 2, Wilson 7, Pogue 1, Keller 2, E. Johnson 6). Assists: FC 5 (Ki. Schell 1, Mears 1, Billman 2, Kaiser 1), SH 4 (Edwards 1, Wilson 1, Pogue 1, Keller 1). Steals: FC 4 (Ki. Schell 2, Billman 2), SH 13 (Edwards 2, Brenner 2, Simpson 3, Wilson 5, Pogue 1). Blocks: FC 2 (Rolfes 1, Billman 1). Total fouls: FC 17, SH 17. Fouled out: Mears (FC), Brenner (SH). Turnovers: FC 32, SH 13.
JV
Shelbyville 35, Franklin County 31
FC: Cox 10, Singer 6, Broshear 6, Brewer 4, Maddock 3, Grimmeissen 2.
SH: Collins 12, Asher 10, H. Baker 5, Lee 4, Stewart 3, Jones 1.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
FC 4 10 8 9 -- 31
SH 2 11 16 6 -- 35
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