GREENSBURG -- Ava Wilson became the seventh Golden Bear to join the 1,000 career points club with a record-setting performance Friday at the North Decatur Invitational.
Needing just 10 points entering the semifinal contest against Madison, Wilson poured in a career-high 34 points to get Shelbyville a 54-41 victory and a date with Edgewood in the championship game.
The senior scored 24 points in the finale and the Golden Bears coasted to a 66-28 victory to improve to 9-6 this season.
Wilson scored seven first-quarter points against Madison but her team trailed 13-12 after taking a 9-0 lead. She reached the milestone with a long three-pointer with 6:20 to go in the second quarter.
“This means a lot to me knowing everyone supported me,” said Wilson after the win. “My freshman year, I knew I could do this since I was playing with the varsity. Ever since my freshman year, I have wanted to hit this goal because not many at the school have hit this goal.”
Then she went to work to get her team into the championship game.
Wilson scored seven straight points late in the first half to get the Golden Bears within two points, 27-25, at the break. She scored her team’s first 10 points of the third quarter while the defense turned up the intensity and Madison wilted.
The Cubs committed eight turnovers in the quarter and limited Madison’s Juliana Davis to two shot attempts after she scored 11 in the second quarter. The Golden Bears led 43-35 going into the fourth quarter.
Wilson finished the quarter with 14 points to give her 31 in the game. She added another long 3 at the 5-minute mark of the final quarter that put her time up by 19. For the game, she hit 6 of 10 3s with five coming from on or near the volleyball lines on the court.
“The defense created a lot. We were hype on defense using our 1-3-1 which we all love,” said Wilson. “That helped a lot and having that momentum on offense and we were all hitting shots.”
Wilson finished the game with 34 points, four rebounds and three steals and moved into fifth place on the Shelbyville career scoring list, passing Sharon Knecht (1,002 points) and Valerie Pilk (1,008) on the way.
In the first semifinal game Friday, Edgewood defeated the host Chargers, 49-43.
North Decatur rebounded to defeat Madison in the consolation game 52-33. The Chargers are 10-6 this season. Madison has lost five straight to fall to 7-7.
In the championship, Wilson had 10 first-quarter points to jump start Shelbyville. Sophomore Hannah Baker added eight points in the second half and the Golden Bears raced out to a 33-13 advantage.
Wilson scored six more points in the third quarter which closed out her scoring for the tournament. She now needs 62 points to surpass Misty (Smith) Albrecht for fourth on the Golden Bears’ career scoring list.
Baker hit a pair of 3s in the fourth quarter on the way to a career-high 23 points.
“She has been working really hard this season and she crushed it scoring,” said Shelbyville head coach Becca Hoefler.
Macey Crider led Edgewood (9-6) with 14 points.
After starting the season 5-1, Shelbyville lost five of its next seven leading into the Christmas break. The 13-day layoff proved fruitful after bringing a championship trophy back to Shelbyville.
“We are trying to get more wins than losses at the end of the year. We have seven games left and then we go into our sectional, and we really want to do well in our sectional,” said Hoefler of the team’s January stretch of games. “We are trying to repeat and go back to the sectional championship game.”
Shelbyville’s junior varsity (photo) improved to 14-1 this season Thursday with wins over Edgewood and North Decatur. Madison did not have a junior varsity squad to compete in the invitational.
Shelbyville plays five of its final seven games of the regular season at home at William L. Garrett Gymnasium. That stretch starts Wednesday when Southport (1-14) comes to town.
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