Shelbyville needed every weapon it had to deal with Class 4A, No. 10 New Palestine.
For 16 minutes Friday at Garrett Gymnasium, the Golden Bears were up to the challenge, building a 22-20 halftime lead.
Foul trouble and an injury left Shelbyville vulnerable in the third quarter and the Dragons took full advantage.
Seniors Ollie Sandman and Aidan Asher each collected four first-half fouls which left them out of the third-quarter action and freshman Caden Claxton, who scored 43 points in his team’s last two wins, could only watch from the bench after suffering a hand injury in the win Tuesday at Edinburgh.
Ben Slagley scored nine of his 15 points in the third quarter where New Palestine outscored Shelbyville 20-9 to take a 40-31 lead.
Blaine Nunnally then took over in the fourth quarter scoring 11 of his game-high 23 points, including a 7-for-8 performance from the free-throw line, that secured the Dragons a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference title in a 61-51 victory.
“It was a very physical game. Our guys were ready for it,” said Shelbyville coach John Hartnett. “I am proud of how hard our guys came out and played. They knew they were being overlooked. They knew they were the underdogs and expected to come out here and get throttled by 20 or 30 points and they weren’t going to let that happen.”
New Palestine improved to 18-1 overall and 6-0 against HHC opponents. The Dragons can clinch the title outright on Friday against Mount Vernon.
Slagley, a six-foot, four-inch sophomore, bothered Shelbyville all night. He finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
“He is a good post presence to have with guys that shoot it that well,” said Hartnett. “They are a really good team that is going to go far in the tournament.”
Shelbyville junior Ethan Lambert did his best to match Slagley with a 12-point, 10-rebound performance that kept the Golden Bears in the game as Sandman (16.8 ppg) watched from the bench.
“Lambo plays his butt off every single night,” said Hartnett. “If there was one guy that wanted it tonight, it was him.”
Sandman got back into the fight in the fourth quarter, and along with Damon Badgley, got Shelbyville as close as five points twice.
Badgley scored Shelbyville’s first five points of the fourth quarter to quickly cut the lead to 42-37 but Moses Haynes scored five points off the New Palestine bench in less than 60 seconds to extend the lead to 47-39.
Sandman followed with a cut to the rim and score and Lambert added a free throw to slice the lead to 47-42 with 3:38 to go.
Nunnally then used his strength to score in the low post twice and the Golden Bears got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
“He’s a dude,” said Hartnett of Nunnally. “He gets after it and he is very tough to stop. Luke Brinkman did a good job of keeping him in front of him but Nunnally has that post presence and he can shoot the 3. And if you go out on him to contest the 3, he is going to go around you. He has a very quick first step.”
Sandman led Shelbyville (9-10, 1-5 HHC) with 16 points. Badgley finished with 13.
New Palestine hit 21 of 32 free throws while Shelbyville was 3 of 6.
Shelbyville won a hotly-contested junior varsity game, 42-41.
Kenny Owens was fouled in the lane with 1.4 seconds left and hit the second of two free-throw attempts to secure the win for the Golden Bears.
Brody Runnebohm led Shelbyville with 10 points.
The Golden Bears will celebrate Senior Night Friday when Delta (12-8, 2-4 HHC) visits Garrett Gymnasium. It is the final home game of the regular season for Shelbyville, who finish on the road at Seymour (7-11) and Batesville (13-6).
Tipoff for the junior varsity game Friday is 6:30 p.m.
New Palestine 61, Shelbyville 51
NP – Stephens 2-9 3-5 7, Br. Nunnally 0-1 2-2 2, Bl. Nunnally 6-12 11-17 23, Roudebush 2-3 0-0 4, Slagley 6-7 3-6 15, Gizzi 2-4 0-0 5, Haynes 1-1 2-2 5, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Tippit 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-37 21-32 61.
SH – Sandman 6-14 0-0 16, Badgley 5-12 1-1 13, Brinkman 1-2 0-0 2, Parker 2-4 0-0 5, Lambert 5-9 2-5 12, Asher 0-2 0-0 0, Myers 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 20-46 3-6 51.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
NP (18-1) 11 9 20 21 -- 61
SH (9-10) 15 7 9 20 -- 51
Three-point field goals: NP 2-7 (Br. Nunnally 0-1, Bl. Nunnally 0-2, Roudebush 0-1, Gizzi 1-2, Haynes 1-1), SH 8-21 (Sandman 4-10, Badgley 2-4, Brinkman 0-1, Parker 1-2, Asher 0-2, Myers 1-2). Rebounds: NP 24 (Stephens 6, Bl. Nunnally 1, Slagley 13, Gizzi 2, Haynes 1, Hill 1), SH 26 (Sandman 4, Badgley 3, Brinkman 2, Parker 4, Lambert 10, Asher 1, Myers 2). Assists: NP 11 (Bl. Nunnally 5, Roudebush 1, Slagley 5), SH 7 (Badgley 1, Brinkman 1, Parker 1, Lambert 2, Myers 2). Steals: NP 7 (Br. Nunnally 1, Bl. Nunnally 2, Slagley 2, Haynes 2). Blocks: NP 5 (Slagley 2, Gizzi 1, Haynes 2), SH 4 (Parker 3, Myers 1). Total fouls: NP 13, SH 24. Fouled out: Brinkman (SH). Turnovers: NP 9, SH 17.
JV
Shelbyville 42, New Palestine 41
SCORE BY QUARTERS
NP 10 15 5 11 -- 41
SH 16 7 10 9 -- 42
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