Local Sports

Greenfield-Central finds way to win at Shelbyville

A potential storybook ending was falling into place. Only Greenfield-Central sophomore Chaney Brown had a different ending in mind.

Trailing 40-39, Shelbyville needed one final stop to get a chance at grabbing a Hoosier Heritage Conference victory Tuesday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium. And with senior Kylee Edwards sitting two points away from breaking the program’s career scoring record, an enthralled celebration would have ensued had Edwards gotten an opportunity to hit a game winner.

Instead, Brown calmly knocked down a 15-foot jumper with 9.6 seconds left on the scoreboard clock to give the visiting Cougars a 42-39 lead.

Edwards got a rushed 3-pointer off from the corner in the final seconds but it missed – leaving the record to be broken another day.

Brown finished with a team-high 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in her team’s 42-39 win that improved G-C to 5-6 this season and 2-1 in the HHC standings.

“She has a beautiful jump shot. She is really cool, calm and collected for a sophomore,” said Shelbyville head coach Becca Hoefler of Chaney Brown. “You usually don’t see that out of a sophomore. She does a nice job of making contested shots around the basket.”

Brown averaged 15.5 points per game as a freshman and is backing that averaging 15 ppg and 6.3 rebounds as one of the leaders for the Greenfield-Central squad.

Edwards was primed for a record-breaking night and the current record holder, 2004 Shelbyville graduate Gretchen Haehl, was in the building.

Edwards started slowly, missing all six of her first-quarter shots, but Abby Brenner picked up the scoring slack, scoring eight points in that span to give the Golden Bears a 10-6 lead.

Edwards scored eight points in the second quarter and Ellie Simpson hit what turned out to be Shelbyville’s only three-pointer of the game to stake the Golden Bears to a 21-18 lead at halftime.

“We were trying to get to the basket a little bit more. We were taking way too many outside shots,” said Hoefler. “We needed to get to the rim. In the second half, we started to get to the rim exactly how we needed to and now we need to finish at the basket. That is an ongoing theme we will be hitting hard these next couple of days.”

Greenfield-Central struggled to a 1-for-8 performance from beyond the arc in the third quarter but Shelbyville failed to capitalize with its own 2-for-9 shooting performance from the field and the Cougars cut the lead to 28-27.

Aryana Hibbard and Brown connected on three straight 3s to start the fourth quarter and the Cougars quickly built a 38-30 advantage.

Shelbyville needed a spark. Shelbyville needed Ava Wilson, who entered the game averaging 19.5 ppg but was still scoreless midway into the fourth quarter.

The junior guard finally found room to operate in the lane, scored and drew a foul with 3:43 left. She hit the free throw to cut the lead to 38-33.

Edwards got an easy layin off a turnover 37 seconds later to make it 38-35 and pull her within five points of the record.

Wilson missed a pair of free throws on the next possession but Edwards collected the rebound, scored and was fouled. She hit the free throw to tie the game with 2:30 to go. And she was sitting at 1,417 career points – one shy of tying Haehl’s mark.

Brown quickly slowed the rally with a 12-foot jumper from the wing to put Greenfield-Central up for good.

Brenner hit one of two free throws with 1:24 left to make it 40-39 and Hoefler trusted her defense to create a turnover.

A pair of Cougars passed up quick shot attempts before the ball rotated to Brown near the top of the key where she never hesitated to take the shot.

Edwards took a high pass deep in the corner after a timeout but didn’t get to square up her shot that would have made history and sent the game to overtime.

She finished with a game-high 20 points and six rebounds. Brenner had 11 points and six rebounds. Wilson finished with three points and three assists.

Shelbyville won the junior varsity game, 34-22. Sophia Asher led the Golden Bears with 12 points.

After starting the season 7-0, Shelbyville (9-3, 1-3 HHC) has lost three of its last five – all HHC contests by a total of 13 points – and now has Franklin (8-3), a potential sectional opponent, coming to Garrett Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

Edwards will get one last opportunity to break the record on her home floor. Shelbyville travels to Valparaiso for a Dec. 22 tournament and three road games follow that trip.

 

Greenfield-Central 42, Shelbyville 39

GC – McConnell 3-10 1-2 9, Holmes 2-5 0-0 4, Brown 6-12 3-4 17, Hibbard 4-7 0-0 12, J. Smith 0-3 0-0 0, T. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 15-39 4-6 42.

SH – Edwards 7-23 6-6 20, Brenner 5-12 1-2 11, Simpson 1-3 0-0 3, Wilson 1-7 1-3 3, Pogue 1-2 0-0 2, Keller 0-4 0-0 0, E. Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-52 8-11 39.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GC (5-6)    4  12  9  15  --  42

SH (9-3)  10  11  7  11  --  39

Three-point field goals: GC 8-23 (McConnell 2-8, Brown 2-6, Hibbard 4-7, J. Smith 0-1, Anderson 0-1), SH 1-14 (Edwards 0-8, Brenner 0-2, Simpson 1-1, Wilson 0-2, Keller 0-1). Rebounds: GC 30 (McConnell 3, Holmes 7, Brown 6, Hibbard 5, J. Smith 4, Anderson 5), SH 20 (Edwards 6, Brenner 6, Simpson 2, Wilson 2, Pogue 2, E. Johnson 2). Assists: GC 11 (McConnell 1, Holmes 2, Brown 4, Hibbard 1, J. Smith 1, Anderson 2), SH 6 (Simpson 3, Wilson 3). Steals: GC 2 (Brown 1, Anderson 1), SH 11 (Edwards 1, Brenner 2, Simpson 4, Wilson 1, Pogue 2, E. Johnson 1). Blocks: GC 2 (Brown 1, Hibbard 1), SH 3 (Edwards 1, Brenner 1, Pogue 1). Total fouls: GC 7, SH 9. Turnovers: GC 21, SH 12.

JV

Shelbyville 34, Greenfield-Central 22

GC – D. Smith 5, Jones 4, Forshey 4, Moss 3, Hasty 3, Nelson 3.

SH – Asher 12, Stieneker 6, Baker 5, Keller 5, Collins 4, Fortune 2.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GC    6  5  5  6  --  22

SH  15  9  4  6  --  34

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