ST. LEON -- Carson Pieczonka hit East Central’s first three-pointer of the game with 90 seconds left in the third quarter. That started a 16-0 explosion for the Trojans that Shelbyville never overcame.
Trailing 31-29 at the end of three quarters Saturday, East Central’s first four scoring possessions of the fourth quarter resulted in three points apiece. Eli Ertel hit a 3 and Eli Sehlhorst followed. Ertel then scored off an offensive rebound and was fouled. He converted the free throw for another three-point possession and Sehlhorst sank another 3 to make it 40-31.
Shelbyville frantically but unsuccessfully tried to recover the lead and lost 58-51 to a potential Sectional 14 opponent.
“This one definitely stings,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “Our guys kind of folded tonight and weren’t mentally tough enough to finish off the job. We had opportunities to put the game away early and didn’t extend the leads we had. … In the third quarter, we got up seven and they started getting easy buckets and threw in a couple of 3s and we kind of folded after they hit those 3s. We have to be able to respond when things go wrong and not panic and give up games like this.”
Dylan Maxwell led East Central (11-12) with 22 points. The senior guard scored eight points and had three assists in the fourth quarter when the Trojans protected their lead.
Pieczonka finished with 15 points and Ertel had seven points and seven rebounds.
Mar Nicholson (photo) topped the Golden Bears (11-8) with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Caden Claxton finished with 12 points.
Shelbyville never trailed in the first three quarters in the gym where Sectional 14 will be contested beginning Feb. 27.
Kohen Myers hit a pair of first quarter 3s to help stake Shelbyville to a 13-4 lead. But the lead never reached double digits.
The Golden Bears shot just 23% from the field in the second quarter and, if not for a pair of long 3s by Claxton, could have been trailing by halftime. Instead, the lead was 23-18.
Back-to-back scores from Claxton and Myers (photo) pushed the lead to 29-22 midway through the third quarter and a Nicholson score around the rim set the score at 31-24 with 1:52 remaining on the clock.
East Central took over from there with a Pieczonka 3 and a Maxwell score off an offensive rebound that cut the lead to 31-29 and gave the Trojans confidence.
“I think what sparked them was their offensive rebounding. They are big, physical and strong,” said Hartnett. “They just kind of pushed some of our guys out of the way and went after those rebounds. … They got some nice easy shots late in the game and that’s something we can’t give up.”
East Central entered the game shooting 59% from the free-throw line but hit 10-of-19 attempts in the fourth quarter to extend the lead as large as 12 points.
Shelbyville scored nine of the final 12 points in the game but it was not enough to stave off a key loss that could cost the program its first winning record since 2019.
The Golden Bears have three games to play in the final week of the regular season. They host Seymour (16-4) Tuesday and Batesville (15-5) Thursday. Friday’s postponed road trip to Class 3A, No. 8 Delta (16-6) also must be rescheduled, likely Wednesday.
Shelbyville is an underdog in two of those three games based on the Sagarin Ratings.
Shelbyville’s junior varsity dropped to 13-6 this season with a 49-37 loss at East Central. Brody Runnebohm led the Golden Bears with 15 points. Gavin Reed finished with eight points.
Steve Bush photos
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