SPEEDWAY – With a little more help, Drew Matelic may have led Speedway to a victory over Shelbyville.

The Speedway sophomore scored a game-high 26 points, 22 in the first half, but the Golden Bears’ balance was too much for the Sparkplugs to overcome Friday during the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Morris Pollard Gymnasium.

Caden Claxton tallied a team-high 20 points to lead Shelbyville and eight more Golden Bears scored in a 67-50 victory in what is believed to be the first meeting between the two programs.

“”We got some guys that came off the bench for us tonight and really helped us,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “(Luke) Brinkman’s 3 in the first quarter really sparked us. And guys like Gavin Reed coming off the bench and getting a big tip back. Ethan Lambert came out and played strong for us.”

Shelbyville (11-6) got off to a fast start before Matelic caught fire for a Speedway team playing without leading scorer Camren Reich. Matelic missed his first shot then made six straight, including three 3-pointers, and he kept the Sparkplugs close in the first half.

“As soon as we found out Reich wasn’t playing, we told them they have one dude (Matelic) that is going to try and come out and go after it,” said Hartnett. “And he came out and had 22 in the first half. … He shoots it well from outside. He got to the (free throw) line well with that long, athletic frame. He was hard to stop.”

For the second night in a row Shelbyville put together a strong third quarter to build a double-digit lead as Matelic finally cooled off.

Kohen Myers (photo), getting his third straight start, scored six of his 11 points in the third quarter as the Golden Bears extended their lead to 53-38.

Matelic did not score in the fourth quarter while his team tried to rally. The Sparkplugs got within nine points early in the quarter but Shelbyville closed it out from there with a 10-0 run.

Mar Nicholson (main photo) finished with 16 points and five rebounds for Shelbyville. Cole Schene (photo) had eight points and nine rebounds. Luke Brinkman added five points, five rebounds and four assists.

Landon Short had nine points and four rebounds for Speedway (6-8).

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 12-5 this season with a 43-34 win at Speedway. Kenny Owens led the Golden Bears with 11 points. Grantland Fitzgerald finished with nine points.

Shelbyville is off until Feb. 9 when it travels to New Palestine (12-4).

Steve Bush photos.

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