Local Sports

Claxton carries Golden Bears to tough road win at Indian Creek

TRAFALGAR -- Shelbyville freshman Caden Claxton scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Golden Bears to a 64-56 overtime victory Friday in an emotionally-charged environment at Indian Creek.

Three players were ejected, including Shelbyville’s top two scorers, but the Golden Bears still prevailed.

Ollie Sandman was called for an offensive foul with 3:57 left in the fourth quarter. In his frustration, the senior tossed the ball to the official who was not looking for it and the ball struck him. He immediately called a technical foul on Sandman and ejected him.

Carter Modlin hit one of the two technical free throws to give Indian Creek a 47-43 lead.

 

 

What started as a monumental week for Sandman (photo), who committed to play collegiately at DePauw University Monday, ended with him scoring 13 points and not on the floor in a hostile atmosphere.

Modlin added another free throw with 3:00 to go to give the Braves a 48-43 advantage.

“The team saw their leading scorer and overall best offensive player leave the game and it fueled them,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “They were fired up and ready to go. They held their heads up high and knew they could get it done even with Ollie out of the game.”

That’s when the youngest kid on the floor took control. Claxton hit a pair of 3s in the game’s final 2:07 and had the assist on an Aidan Asher layin that put Shelbyville up 54-52 with 35 seconds on the clock.

“(Caden) is a competitor. He has been brought up to this level for a reason and it’s to step up in situations like this,” said Hartnett. “He is a great kid that works his butt off and he’s earned every single minute and second he has played this year – and he showed that tonight. He took over when our best player got thrown out of the game. He made some big plays, along with all the other guys.

“This is not one person that go this job done. This is a collective team effort.”

Adam Crouch scored in the lane with 24 seconds left to tie the game and Claxton missed a 3 in the game’s final seconds and a Luke Brinkman rebound and shot rolled off the rim to send the game to overtime.

Crouch hit a pair of free throws to give Indian Creek a 56-54 lead but the Braves never scored again. Three straight turnovers followed a Damon Badgley 3-pointer and Claxton hit six straight free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the win.

But not after Modlin and Badgley (main photo) tied up on a rebound attempt. Modlin tried to rip a rebound from Badgley and the two went to the floor, neither releasing the ball. As they rolled over and players tried to pull them apart, the officials issued technical fouls to the pair and ejected both.

Claxton finished the game hitting 6 of 11 shots and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Brinkman finished with nine points and six rebounds. Asher had eight points off the bench.

Highly-touted sophomore Landon Sichting (20.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg) led Indian Creek with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. After scoring 11 points in the first half, he had just one field goal in the second half and was held in check by Jackson Parker and Ethan Lambert.

“Early we let Sichting catch the ball a little bit too easily. And he is a very good player,” said Hartnett. “He is very crafty at his height (6-5), and he took advantage of us early.”

Modlin finished with 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out and being ejected.

 

 

Shelbyville won the junior varsity game, 45-35. Brody Runnebohm led the Golden Bears with 16 points and Kohen Myers had 13.

The Golden Bears are off until Feb. 7 when they travel to Class A, No. 15 Edinburgh (10-5). Hartnett (photo) did not have a firm answer as to whether Sandman or Badgley will be available for the game due to the ejections.

“We will go back to Shelbyville and we will talk about it with the administration and figure it out,” said Hartnett after the game.

Steve Bush photos

 

Shelbyville 64, Indian Creek 56, OT

SH – Sandman 4-13 2-2 13, Badgley 2-7 0-0 5, Brinkman 3-6 3-4 9, Parker 0-0 1-2 1, Claxton 6-11 8-8 22, Asher 3-5 0-1 8, Lambert 3-6 0-1 6, Myers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-48 14-18 64.

IC – Pemberton 1-3 0-0 2, Volz 2-5 0-0 6, Emberton 2-4 2-2 6, Crouch 3-12 2-3 9, Sichting 6-17 4-4 18, Modlin 4-6 2-4 10, Connell 2-3 0-0 5, Pappas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-51 10-13 56.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH (8-9)  16    7  17  14  10  --  64

IC (9-5)    14  13    9  18    2  --  56

Three-point field goals: SH 8-23 (Sandman 3-10, Badgley 1-2, Brinkman 0-1, Claxton 2-6, Asher 2-4), IC 6-19 (Pemberton 0-1, Volz 2-5, Crouch 1-4, Sichting 2-6, Connell 1-2, Pappas 0-1). Rebounds: SH 22 (Sandman 3, Badgley 1, Brinkman 6, Parker 3, Claxton 5, Asher 1, Lambert 3), IC 26 (Pemberton 2, Volz 2, Emberton 2, Crouch 4, Sichting 7, Modlin 9). Assists: SH 9 (Badgley 3, Parker 2, Claxton 2, Asher 1, Lambert 1), IC 11 (Pemberton 2, Volz 1, Emberton 1, Crouch 3, Sichting 3, Modlin 1). Steals: SH 3 (Brinkman 1, Claxton 2), IC 3 (Sichting 1, Modlin 2). Blocks: IC 2 (Volz 1, Sichting 1). Total fouls: SH 14, IC 18. Fouled out: Modlin (IC). Turnovers: SH 7, IC 8.

JV

Shelbyville 45, Indian Creek 35

SH – Runnebohm 16, Myers 13, Reinhart 6, Schene 6, Reed 4.

IC – Lowhorn 11, Statts 8, DeHart 7, Fleetwood 5, Nuetzman 2, Voris 2.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH  11  11  11  12  -- 45

IC    12    4    5  14  -- 35

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