Shelbyville struggled to find a higher gear on Senior Night.

Trailing 15-10 midway through the second quarter Thursday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium, the Golden Bears scored the final six points of the half then blitzed Hauser, 35-9 in the second half, to close out the regular season with a 51-24 victory.

Shelbyville finished 14-8 – the first winning season for the program since 2016 and the most wins in a season since 2007 (18).

“Obviously we have the sectional here at Garrett (Gymnasium) and (the seniors) will have another moment to shine but on Senior Night, you always want to give the seniors a lot of respect,” said fourth-year Shelbyville head coach Becca Hoefler, who started her run with the Golden Bears with Kylee Edwards, Abby Brenner and Hailey Pogue (photo) as freshmen. “Our program, where it’s at now is because of these seniors. They have put the work in the last four years. They started off their career 4-20 and for them to stick it out and continually get better and put in the work to get us to 14-8, is because of these seniors.”

Ava Wilson scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the second half that helped Shelbyville outscore the Jets, 41-9 over the final two-and-a-half quarters.

Brenner finished with 12 points and Edwards, still recovering from an ankle injury suffered Jan. 18 at Whiteland, scored 10 points and had eight rebounds.

“This is what I’ve always said about Kylee, ‘Kylee’s 50% is a lot of people’s 100%.’” said Hoefler. “Injuries happen all the time and high ankle sprains happen all the time. It’s all about getting it taped and getting back moving. I think she will be ready to roll for Friday (in the sectional).”

Shelbyville scored the first six points of the game before Hauser (9-11) settled down and went on a 15-4 run.

“That was definitely one of our worst starts of the season which is not what we wanted coming out,” said Hoefler. “We went into halftime and there was a little yelling and we came out in the second half and played our game.”

Edwards, Shelbyville’s career scoring leader at 1,530 points, scored with 2:10 to go in the first half and was fouled. She missed the free throw but Pogue got the offensive rebound and scored to cut the lead to 15-14.

Edwards hit a 17-foot jumper with 38 seconds left to give Shelbyville a 16-15 lead at the break.

Wilson scored five points in just under five seconds to start the second-half scoring. She scored then stole the ball and scored again to push the Golden Bears’ lead to 20-15.

Wilson hit a three-pointer later in the quarter that sparked an 8-0 run and open up a double-digit lead.

Up 32-21 after three quarters, Wilson opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a 3 and followed it with a pair of free throws to make it 37-21.

The Jets scored just three points over the final eight minutes and suffered their sixth-straight loss to end the regular season.

Kyleigh Parrott led Hauser with eight points. Madelyn Poe finished with six points, six rebounds and two assists.

In the junior varsity game, Maddy Jones and Sophia Asher each scored 13 points to lead the Golden Bears to a 57-28 victory. The win closed Shelbyville’s season with a 16-4 mark.

Shelbyville is the host school for Class 4A, Sectional 14. The Golden Bears received the bye and will debut Friday in the semifinal round against either Columbus East (9-13) or East Central (15-10), who play Tuesday at Garrett Gymnasium.

The other quarterfinal game Tuesday features Franklin (15-5) against Columbus North (14-8), with the winner advancing to take on Whiteland (12-10) in Friday’s semifinal round.

Shelbyville 51, Hauser 24

HA – Parrott 3-14 1-2 8, Berkenstock 1-3 0-0 2, Musillami 0-2 2-2 2, Poe 3-12 0-0 6, Sims 0-2 0-0 0, Kilps 2-6 0-2 4, Overroad 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 10-41, 3-6 24.

SH – Edwards 5-8 0-5 10, Brenner 5-9 1-4 12, Simpson 0-1 2-2 2, Wilson 7-20 2-2 18, Pogue 2-5 0-0 4, E. Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Keller 0-4 2-2 2, S. Baker 1-1 0-0 3, H. Baker 0-0 0-0 0, L. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Fortune 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-52 7-17 51.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

HA (9-11)  8    7    6     3  --  24

SH (14-8)   8    8  16  19  --  51

Three-point field goals: HA 1-13 (Parrott 1-8, Berkenstock 0-2, Poe 0-3), SH 4-14 (Edwards 0-2, Brenner 1-2, Simpson 0-1, Wilson 2-5, Pogue 0-2, Keller 0-1, S. Baker 1-1). Rebounds: HA 26 (Parrott 1, Berkenstock 4, Musillami 3, Poe 6, Sims 1, Kilps 3, Everroad 8), SH 38 (Edwards 8, Brenner 8, Simpson 2, Wilson 4, Pogue 5, E. Johnson 3, Marshall 1, Keller 5, H. Baker 1, Fortune 1). Assists: HA 5 (Parrott 1, Musillami 1, Poe 2, Sims 1), SH 8 (Edwards 2, Brenner 3, Wilson 1, Keller 1, H. Baker 1). Steals: HA 4 (Berkenstock 3, Musillami 1), SH 13 (Edwards 2, Brenner 1, Simpson 2, Wilson 4, Pogue 2, E. Johnson 1, Keller 1). Blocks: HA 2 (Parrott 1, Berkenstock 1), SH 2 (Edwards 1, Simpson 1). Total fouls: HA 9, SH 9. Turnovers: HA 19, SH 14.

JV

Shelbyville 57, Hauser 28

HA: Williams 8, Kilps 4, Wetzel 4, C. Miller 4, Mires 3, Phelps 3, K. Miller 2.

SH: Jones 13, Asher 13, H. Baker 9, Collins 7, Keller 6, Stieneker 4, Morrell 3, Fortune 2.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

HA    2  13    8    5  --  28

SH  18  14  12  13  --  57

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