SEYMOUR – An 11-0 run to start the third quarter was enough to get Seymour its fourth win in its last five outings.
Jaylan Johnson scored 11 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter to stake the Owls to a 22-20 lead at halftime against Shelbyville Tuesday at Lloyd Scott Gymnasium.
Johnson scored the first four points of the third quarter and Landon Fritsch hit Seymour’s first three-pointer of the game that was part of an 11-0 run to start the quarter and a 22-9 overall run that led to a 57-44 victory.
Seymour improved to 9-12 after starting the season 0-6.
The Golden Bears lost their third straight to fall to 9-12.
Ollie Sandman (photo) hit five 3s to lead Shelbyville with 24 points but stopping Johnson proved difficult in the first half and the Golden Bears shot 20% in the fourth quarter during a stalled comeback attempt.
“Overall, what I was most disappointed in was our defensive effort,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. Jr. “I thought there were too many times where they had too many easy straight-line drives to the basket and some guys taking some plays off defensively. I am just disappointed with some of the defensive effort tonight.”
Seymour used a 6-0 run to take an 8-5 lead after one quarter.
Sandman sank a pair of 3s early in the second quarter – the second a long-range bomb that put the Golden Bears up 13-11.
Johnson, a six-foot, two-inch sophomore, went to the free-throw line eight times in the second quarter and forced Hartnett to go deep down the bench to find someone to contain him in the low post.
“At halftime, we talked about how we were going to try and adjust and stop Johnson down low,” said Hartnett. “That guy is a load. He is a hard worker down low. All the time we had to prepare for him we’ve known that you have to work early on Johnson to make sure he doesn’t get position in the post. He ate us up the whole entire game down low.”
Once Shelbyville got down double digits in the third quarter, the physical Seymour defense only allowed two field goals inside the 3-point arc in the second half.
“It doesn’t help having Caden (Claxton) out who is a contributor on our scoring end,” said Hartnett of his injured point guard who has missed the last three games with an injury. “We are trying to figure out different ways to score some shots.”
Johnson also had a game-high eight rebounds.
Eli Meyer finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Fritsch had 13.
Aidan Asher went 3-for-3 from the arc and added a free throw for 10 points for Shelbyville. Jackson Parker finished with four points, five rebounds and two assists.
With 24 points, Sandman pushed his career scoring total to 990 points. He would be the 10th Golden Bear to eclipse 1,000 career points.
Shelbyville won the junior varsity game, 40-37.
The Golden Bears close out the regular-season schedule Thursday at Batesville (15-6).
Steve Bush photos
Seymour 57, Shelbyville 44
SH – Sandman 8-12 3-3 24, Badgley 1-6 1-2 3, Brinkman 0-2 1-2 1, Parker 0-3 4-6 4, Lambert 1-4 0-2 2, Asher 3-3 1-1 10, Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Fortune 0-0 0-0 0, West 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-30 10-16 44.
SE – Fritsch 5-12 1-2 13, Longmeier 2-6 1-2 5, Johnson 7-10 7-12 21, Perry 2-5 0-1 4, Meyer 5-7 4-4 14, Rennekamp 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Harp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-41 13-21 57.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
SH (9-12) 5 15 11 13 -- 44
SE (9-12) 8 14 18 17 -- 57
Three-point field goals: SH 8-16 (Sandman 5-9, Badgley 0-3, Brinkman 0-1, Asher 3-3), SE 2-12 (Fritsch 2-5, Longmeier 0-3, Perry 0-2, Meyer 0-1, Brooks 0-1). Rebounds: SH 14 (Sandman 1, Brinkman 1, Parker 5, Lambert 3, Asher 3, West 1), SE 24 (Fritsch 5, Longmeier 3, Johnson 8, Perry 1, Meyer 7). Assists: SH 5 (Brinkman 1, Parker 3, West 1), SE 9 (Longmeier 5, Perry 2, Meyer 1, Smith 1). Steals: SE 4 (Fritsch 1, Longmeier 2, Johnson 1). Blocks: SE 2 (Johnson 2). Total fouls: SH 15, SE 16. Turnovers: SH 11, SE 3.
JV
Shelbyville 40, Seymour 37
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