EDINBURGH – With two starters in street clothes and two more starters fouled out, Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett was left with a makeshift lineup trying to secure a road win Tuesday at Class A, No. 10 Edinburgh.

The Golden Bears built a 34-20 lead midway through the third quarter before the Lancers turned up the defensive pressure. A 16-4 run followed that got the hosts within 38-36 with 4:06 left in the fourth quarter.

Kohen Myers, who has seen very limited varsity minutes this season, scored six points in the fourth quarter and the Golden Bears hit 9 of 12 free-throw attempts to hold off Edinburgh, 53-46.

Shelbyville has won five of its last six games to improve to 9-9.

“We got up 14 (points) and we had some guys that haven’t been in that situation all year,” said Hartnett. “We had guys step up and make plays.”

Shelbyville played without its top two scorers in senior Ollie Sandman (16.8 ppg) and sophomore Damon Badgley (8.6 ppg), who were serving mandatory one-game suspensions after being ejected from the previous game at Indian Creek.

The Golden Bears calmly built a double-digit lead Tuesday behind the play of freshman point guard Caden Claxton, who finished with a game-high 21 points.

“This week during practice we put a lot of sets in to make sure that (Caden) was coming off ball screens and coming off pin downs to make sure the ball was in his hands to make plays,” said Hartnett. “Not only is Caden a good shooter and good scorer but he is a good passer and he finds guys that are open.”

Defensively, Shelbyville frustrated Edinburgh and its career scoring leader Caleb Dewey (20.2 ppg), who took just one field goal attempt in the second quarter and had just five points at halftime.

Jackson Parker (photo) did much of that work on Dewey but collected foul No. 5 with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter which brought Myers into the rotation.

The Lancers opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run that was stifled by a Myers layin off an inbounds play to make it 40-36. The junior added another score at the rim off an assist from Claxton to push the lead to 46-43 and started a 7-0 run.

Claxton and Myers hit four straight free throws in a 13-second span to extend the lead to 50-43.

Braylon Bryant made a corner 3-pointer to cut the lead to four but Claxton and Ethan Lambert sank three free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the victory.

Luke Brinkman (main photo), who fouled out late in the fourth quarter as well, finished with nine points and five rebounds. Parker had eight points, five rebounds and three blocks. Lambert scored five points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots.

Dewey led Edinburgh (12-6) with 15 points and five rebounds. Bryant finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Connor Ramey had 10 points.

After a slow start, Shelbyville pulled away from the Lancers to earn a 56-31 victory in the junior varsity game.

Logan Reinhart hit four 3s to lead Shelbyville with 14 points. Gavin Reed finished with 10.

Rylan Londeree led Edinburgh with 15 points.

Shelbyville has been above .500 just once this season – at 2-1. To get above .500 again, the Golden Bears will have to upset Class 4A, No. 10 New Palestine (17-1, 5-0 Hoosier Heritage Conference) Friday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.

“They are the real deal. We will be put to a big test Friday,” said Hartnett. “We will not back down from them. They have it at all five positions. They have guys that can shoot. Their sixth man could start on pretty much any team in the state right now. We have to be ready for a physical game in Garrett Gym.”

Steve Bush photos

Shelbyville 53, Edinburgh 46

SH – Brinkman 3-6 2-4 9, Parker 4-11 0-0 8, Claxton 5-15 10-13 21, Asher 2-8 0-0 4, Lambert 1-2 3-4 5, Myers 2-2 2-2 6, Runnebohm 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-44 17-23 53.

ED – Dewey 5-13 4-10 15, Turner 2-9 0-0 6, Bryant 4-7 2-2 12, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Ramey 4-10 2-5 10, Brockman 0-1 1-2 1, Hartwell 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 16-53 9-19 46.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH (9-9)    12  14  10  17  --  53

ED (12-6)  13     4    9  20  --  46

Three-point field goals: SH 2-14 (Brinkman 1-1, Parker 0-1, Claxton 1-9, Asher 0-3), ED 5-21 (Dewey 1-4, Turner 2-7, Bryant 2-5, Ramey 0-4, Brockman 0-1). Rebounds: SH 28 (Brinkman 5, Parker 5, Claxton 3, Asher 4, Lambert 9, Myers 2, Runnebohm 1), ED 21 (Dewey 5, Turner 3, Bryant 7, Smith 3, Ramey 1, Hartwell 2). Assists: SH 7 (Brinkman 2, Parker 2, Claxton 1, Asher 2), ED 7 (Dewey 1, Turner 4, Ramey 2). Steals: SH 1 (Brinkman 1), ED 2 (Turner 1, Bryant 1). Blocks: SH 5 (Parker 3, Lambert 2), ED 2 (Dewey 1, Hartwell 1). Total fouls: SH 16, ED 21. Fouled out: Brinkman, Parker (SH). Turnovers: SH 9, ED 10.

JV

Shelbyville 56, Edinburgh 31

SH – Reinhart 14, Reed 10, West 8, Owens 6, Runnebohm 6, Isaacs 5, Myers 5, Fischer 2.

ED – Londeree 15, Seegers 6, Branigin 4, Smith 4, Burkman 2.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH  6  17  20  13  --  56

ED  8    2  14    7  --  31

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