The St. Joseph Lions jumped out to an early lead and coasted to a 27-11 victory over Hendricks Green in the “A” division championship game of the 2024 Shelbyville Central Schools boys’ elementary schools basketball tournament Thursday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.
St. Joe came out fast in avenging an earlier season loss to the Hurricanes. Harrison Fischer scored seven first-quarter points pacing the Lions to a 9-0 lead at the end of the first period. Fischer added five more points in the second quarter and St. Joe held a commanding 23-4 halftime advantage.
Hendricks Green battled back to win the second half by a 7-4 margin, however the St. Joe lead was too much to overcome.
“We just did not hit shots tonight,” said Hendricks Green coach Josh Greene. “We had a very good year but the shots did not fall tonight.”
St. Joe coach Nathan Gwinnup praised his team’s ball movement as the key to the win.
“I thought we passed extremely well in the game,” said Gwinnup. “We were able to move the ball and get good looks and were fortunate enough to shoot well tonight.”
Fischer led all scorers with 12 points including two three-point baskets. Teammate Sam Johnson contributed seven with fellow Lions Beckam Lee and Franklin Foltz each finishing with four.
Tate Greene led the Hurricanes with four points. Wyatt Wampler tallied three points and Landon Coy and Javier Rosales scored two points apiece.
Loper Blue’s Eli Walton poured in 11 third-quarter points to break open a tight game and lead his team to a 26-12 win over Hendricks Grey in the “B” division championship. The Bulldogs outscored the Hurricanes 17-3 in that decisive period.
Walton claimed high-scoring honors with 16 points. Loper teammates Arie Galloway and Rylin Lee finished with six and four points, respectively.
Cameron Flynn led Hendricks Grey with five points followed by Kolton Fricke with three. Jackson Hawkins and Carter Rowe scored two each.
Shelbyville Golden Bear basketball players Ethan Lambert, Cole Schene and Tyler Gwinnup were on hand to distribute championship and runner-up ribbons.
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