That allowed Shelbyville to cruise to a 61-20 victory to secure its 10th win of the season and give the program its third-consecutive season of double-digit wins – the first time that has happened since 2005-07.
“We are past the rebuilding stage. That’s what I want to say,” said fifth-year Shelbyville head coach Becca Hoefler (48-62), who took over the program in 2019. “I would say we are past the rebuilding stage and we never want to go back to where we were at. So now it’s just being consistent and let that consistency grow the program to be a great program. That’s the goal.”
Shelbyville finished 4-20 in Hoefler’s first season and allowed 59 points per game. In year two, the program went 8-15 and allowed 56 ppg. The Golden Bears finished one win short of a .500 season in 2022, going 11-12 (allowing 48 ppg).
Shelbyville’s first winning season since 2016 came last year, with a 15-9 mark and a 43 ppg defensive average. Now 10-6 after Wednesday night’s win at Garrett Gymnasium, the Golden Bears are allowing just 38 ppg.
There were doubts a double-digit win season could be produced after the graduation of the program’s career scoring leader in Kylee Edwards. But with tremendous leadership from five seniors and a talented sophomore class, the Golden Bears are already at 10 wins with six regular-season games left on the schedule – and five of the opponents are at .500 or below.
Prior to the start of Wednesday’s game, Shelbyville honored senior Ava Wilson (photo) for eclipsing 1,000 career points Friday while leading the Golden Bears to the North Decatur Invitational championship. It is the first time in program history there are back-to-back 1,000-point scorers.
Wilson was part of that slow start Wednesday for Shelbyville. She missed her first five shots but defensive turnovers allowed her to get to the rim and score. She had four points in the opening quarter which was part of an 11-0 run and added 15 in the second quarter when Shelbyville opened up a 33-9 lead at halftime.
“Having Ava and these five seniors has really helped out,” said Hoefler of the team’s success this season. “Now it’s moving into next year and I know we are not there yet, we will lose five seniors and a 1,000-point scorer again and that will be a big transition for us. We will have no seniors so it will be all juniors and sophomores and probably a freshman playing. And it will be about being consistent and getting another 10 wins next year.”
Wilson finished with a game-high 24 points Wednesday. She also had four rebounds and four steals. She now has 1,072 career points and needs 38 points to pass Misty (Smith) Albrecht for fourth on the program’s career scoring list. The top three are Edwards (1,563), Gretchen Haehl (1,418) and Brenda Kelsey (1,374).
Two sophomores that have continued to grow within the program followed Wilson Wednesday in the scoring column. Ellie Keller (photo) had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists and Hannah Baker finished with nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.
“The sophomores have been picking it up and that’s why I am trying to give them more and more minutes,” said Hoefler. “And then hopefully some of these junior varsity girls after playing the summer up on varsity, will be ready for that varsity experience moving forward.”
Shelbyville’s JV program improved to 15-1 Wednesday with a 42-16 win over Southport. Maddy Jones, a sophomore, led the Golden Bears with 13 points. Three more sophomores that have been starters for the JV this season – Sophia Asher, Savannah Collins and Reese Fortune – earned varsity minutes against Southport and produced four points, four rebounds and a steal.
“I did not see that coming,” admitted Hoefler of the JV record under the direction of Ben Sprinkle. “I thought our JV was going to struggle a little bit but they have grown by leaps and bounds. We have a couple of repeat JV players from freshman year to sophomore year which is good because it gives them that experience so moving forward next year as juniors they will play at that varsity level for us.”
The JV program has not lost a game to a Hoosier Heritage Conference opponent since the 2020-21 season, according to Hoefler.
Through the development of the middle school program and the creation of a Shelbyville club basketball program, Hoefler sees more “basketball” players in the pipeline for the program.
“We have some up and coming basketball players, which is nice, but really a lot of work to still do with them as well,” she said. “I am hoping for more numbers moving forward. We have our feeder system that we have rebranded the Shelbyville Storm, which is through our school and we have a second- through eighth-grade program now.”
And wins at the varsity level adds to the desire to be a Golden Bear.
“That’s been a big thing. Last season what really helped us out was winning a lot and having people coming to our games so it gets those younger kids interested when they see us winning,” said Hoefler.
Southport has produced double-digit win seasons in three of the last four years but the program was gutted by graduation and is struggling at 1-15 now.
TeAsia Bibbs, a freshman, hit a pair of 3s to lead the Cardinals with eight points. Shelbyville forced Southport into 31 turnovers – one more than total shots attempted.
The meeting of the two programs was the first since Shelbyville traveled to Southport on Jan. 14, 2003, and won 67-63. The head coach of the Golden Bears then was John Fair.
One person familiar with Garrett Gymnasium sat on the Southport bench Wednesday night. Annie (Thomas) Burris (photo, center) is a 2014 Southwestern graduate now working at Southport High School and serving as an assistant coach with the girls basketball program. Burris led her Spartans to a 52-50 win at Shelbyville on Nov. 22, 2013, during her senior season.
She and her husband, Tyler, are expecting their first child, a son, in June.
Steve Bush photos
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