Local Sports

Morristown puts together pair of strong performances to win Cambridge City Classic

Morristown won the Cambridge City Classic with a pair of dominant performances.

Four Yellow Jackets scored in double digits in a 64-32 championship game win over Milan Thursday night.

Morristown (8-6) raced out to a 22-6 lead after one quarter and extended the advantage to 46-10 by halftime.

Reagan Kleine led the Yellow Jackets with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Danika Rutledge collected a team-high 15 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Gracie Laster finished with 10 points and five steals.

 

 

Laster, Rutledge and Kleine (photo) were named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the tournament.

Delaney Cornn scored 12 points in a game where 10 different Yellow Jackets scored against Milan (4-11).

Morristown reached the championship game with a 66-48 win over Randolph Southern in the semifinal round.

Kleine again stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, five rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

Nevaeh Sanders finished with a team-high 17 points.

Laster had 15 while Rutledge had five points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

Morristown led the Rebels (7-8) 38-27 at halftime then won the third quarter, 21-11, to take firm control.

In the other semifinal, Milan defeated Cambridge City Lincoln, 45-34.

Randolph Southern won the consolation game over the Golden Eagles (0-12), 72-25.

Morristown will face Triton Central Thursday at Waldron in the semifinal round of the Shelby County Tournament.

Prep Report: SHS wrestling qualified four for day two of Spartan Classic

Shelbyville wrestling advanced four into the second day of competition at the 32-team Spartan Classic this week, hosted by Connersville.

That put the Golden Bears in sixth place in the team standings after day one Tuesday.

Carson Linville, Tarik Runnebohm, Bohdan Rollo and Elias Jones represented Shelbyville on day two.

Linville, competing at 170 pounds, won his first two matches Tuesday but went 0-2 Wednesday in the second day of competition.

 

 

Runnebohm (138 pounds), Rollo (152) and Jones (285) each finished 3-1 Tuesday to earn a return trip.

Runnebohm and Jones lost their first match Wednesday, giving them two losses and eliminating them from the tournament.

Rollo did not make the weight limit in his class, and was unable to compete Wednesday, according to Shelbyville head coach Adam Miller.

Triton Central did not have a wrestler advance past the first day of the competition, according to head coach Trey Miller.

The Golden Bears and Tigers will renew their annual rivalry on Jan. 6 with a duel match at Triton Central.

In other prep events:

Boys basketball

Heritage Christian 64, Triton Central 42

At Triton Central, the host Tigers struggled to put points up on the scoreboard in the middle two quarters Thursday and dropped their fourth straight.

Heritage Christian (3-4) led 11-10 after one quarter then outscored Triton Central 18-5 and 11-6 over the next two quarters to build a 40-21 lead.

 

 

The Eagles started the season 0-4 but have now won three straight. Triton Central opened its season with four consecutive wins but have now lost four straight and six of seven.

Triton Central will face Morristown on Jan. 7 in the second semifinal game of the Shelby County Tournament. The Tigers are the defending champions.

Girls basketball

Waldron 56, Oldenburg Academy 15

At Waldron, the host Mohawks (14-1) held the Twisters to two first-half points and cruised to its final win of the 2021 calendar year.

Josee Larrison led Waldron with 12 points. Megan Bogemann finished with nine.

 

 

Waldron won the junior varsity game, 41-25. Alivia Fischer led the Mohawks with nine points.

Waldron will host the Shelby County Tournament beginning Jan. 6. The Mohawks will face Southwestern (7-6) in one semifinal game. Triton Central (14-2) battles Morristown (8-6) in the other semifinal. The championship game is Jan. 8.


Waldron drops pair of games in Batesville tournament

Waldron was held under its offensive scoring average twice Thursday and finished 0-2 in the Batesville Tournament.

In the semifinal round, the host Bulldogs opened up an 18-12 lead after one quarter and never trailed from there. The lead grew to 29-18 at halftime and 44-30 after three quarters before securing a 54-40 victory.

Bryce Yarling and Lucas Mitchell each scored 14 points in the loss. Mitchell also had six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

Lucas Shaw added eight points and four rebounds.

In the other semifinal game, Jennings County defeated North Harrison, 41-40.

In the consolation game, North Harrison improved to 5-2 this season with a 74-46 win over Waldron (5-4).

Mitchell led the Mohawks with 18 points. Bryant Becker and Yarling each had 10 points.

Jennings County captured the tournament title with a 76-53 win in the championship game over Batesville. The Panthers improved to 7-2 this season while the Bulldogs fell to 3-6.

Waldron is the host site for the 2022 Shelby County Tournament. The girls semifinal games are Jan. 6 with the boys semifinal games on Jan. 7. Championship night is Jan. 8.

In the boys bracket, the Mohawks host Southwestern (3-6) in the opener. Triton Central (5-6) takes on Morristown (1-7) in the second semifinal.

Golden Bears snap 7-game losing streak with 58-49 win over Franklin

Shelbyville was desperately in need of a win while head coach John Hartnett Jr. was in need of a quick finish to the 2021 portion of the regular season schedule.

The third-year Shelbyville coach expects to become a first-time father before 2021 closes. John and his wife, Alexis, departed immediately after the game for Indianapolis for the scheduled birth of their son.

Hartnett Jr. left William L. Garrett Gymnasium with a good feeling after his Golden Bears ended a seven-game losing streak with its most complete performance of the season.

Ollie Sandman scored 26 points and Jakob Heaton had 14 in Shelbyville’s 58-49 win over Franklin.

“We really played more consistent and that’s the mark that the guys have learned something during the week,” said John Hartnett Sr., an assistant coach with the Shelbyville basketball program. “We had three good practices this week (following a disappointing 51-44 overtime loss at Yorktown on Dec. 18) and these guys have learned how to win.”

The Golden Bears (2-7) fell behind early 9-2 before closing out the first quarter with a 14-2 run and never trailed again.

Following an early timeout, Shelbyville cut the Grizzly Cubs’ lead to 11-7 before scoring the final nine points of the opening quarter for a 16-11 advantage.

Sandman opened the second-quarter scoring with a drive to the basket that included an and-1 free throw for a three-point play that resulted in a 19-11 lead.

Franklin, under first-year head coach Adrian Moss, put together an 8-0 run that culminated with a Jayden Razor score in the lane to tie the game at 19-all.

Nolyn Smothers answered with a fast-break layin and Sandman drained a 12-foot jumper to give the Golden Bears the lead for good.

Shelbyville pushed the lead to nine midway through the third quarter but Franklin got within three, 34-31, after three quarters.

The lead quickly grew to eight points in the fourth quarter and Shelbyville was in complete control against a team that struggles from the 3-point arc and already put Shelbyville in the free-throw bonus.

The Golden Bears hit 16 of 17 free throws in the final eight minutes and finished 20 of 22 for the game to secure the win.

“We don’t have a huge window when we play. We have to do everything right because of our size and experience,” said Hartnett Sr. “We only have two guys with any varsity experience and we hit that window tonight.”

Sandman sank all eight of his free-throw attempts in the final quarter while Heaton was 5 for 5.

Franklin finished 21 of 50 from the field (42%) but was 4 of 18 from the arc (22%) and just 3 of 6 from the charity stripe.

Shelbyville shot 41% from the field and just 25% from the arc but made up for it with a 91% performance from the free-throw line.

Sandman also had three rebounds and three assists. Heaton added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Smothers finished with nine points and four rebounds. Luke Brinkman had five points while Jackson Parker added four points and three rebounds.

Carson Hunter had a team-high 16 points for Franklin. Tristan Coleman, a six-foot, six-inch senior, finished with a double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds). Eight of Coleman’s 12 rebounds came on the offensive end with six in the final quarter.

Franklin has lost four straight.

Shelbyville ended a four-game losing streak to the Grizzly Cubs and collected its first win this season in three attempts over a potential Sectional 13 foe.

 

 

Alexis Hartnett (photo) was induced into labor early Thursday according to Hartnett Sr. who told the Shelby County Post he expects his grandson to be born tonight or early Friday.

Hartnett Jr. will have ample time to return to the Golden Bears who are off until Jan. 8 when Greensburg (8-2) and head coach Stacy Meyer visit Garrett Gymnasium.

 

Shelbyville 58, Franklin 49

FR: Auger 0-4 0-0 0, Hunter 7-11 0-0 16, Phillips 1-4 0-0 3, Coleman 6-9 1-4 13, Beverly 2-9 2-2 6, Nickleson 1-5 0-0 3, McCorkle 1-2 0-2 2, Stanger 0-0 0-0 0, Crow 2-2 0-0 4, Razor 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 21-50 3-6 49.

SH: Sandman 7-13 9-9 26, Brinkman 2-5 0-0 5, Parker 2-4 0-0 4, Heaton 4-8 6-7 14, Smothers 2-7 5-6 9, Macaluso 0-2 0-0 0, Asher 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 17-41 20-22 58.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FR (2-6)  11  10  10  18  --  49

SH (2-7)  16    7  11  24  --  58

3-point field goals: FR 4-18 (Auger 0-3, Hunter 2-3, Phillips 1-4, Beverly 0-2, Nickleson 1-4, Razor 0-2), SH 4-16 (Sandman 3-8, Brinkman 1-2, Parker 0-1, Heaton 0-1, Smothers 0-2, Asher 0-2). Rebounds: FR 27 (Hunter 3, Phillips 1, Coleman 12, Beverly 3, Nickleson 2, McCorkle 5, Stanger 1), SH 21 (Sandman 3, Brinkman 3, Parker 3, Heaton 4, Smothers 4, Macaluso 4). Assists: FR 8 (Hunter 2, Coleman 2, Beverly 3, Nickleson 1), SH 8 (Sandman 3, Brinkman 1, Heaton 2, Smothers 2). Steals: FR 1 (Hunter 1), SH 5 (Brinkman 1, Parker 1, Heaton 2, Smothers 1). Blocks: SH 1 (Parker 1). Total fouls: FR 18, SH 10. Turnovers: FR 14, SH 11

JV

Franklin 67, Shelbyville 46


Danville tops Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central in double overtime to win holiday tourney

After a wild fourth quarter that saw both teams combine for 38 points, Danville and Triton Central needed two overtime periods to crown a champion.

Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central built a double-digit lead early Wednesday night in its holiday tournament championship game in Fairland, but a third quarter in which the Tigers scored just four points left them with a precarious 32-28 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Five different Warriors scored in a 21-point fourth quarter to force extra sessions.

Only two Tigers scored in the overtime periods and Danville prevailed in two overtimes, 67-59.

Haley Ancelet scored nine of her team-high 20 points in overtime while Isabelle Wooten finished with 19 points – 13 in the third and fourth quarters when Danville was trailing.

Kooper Stone added 12 as Danville improved to 12-3 this season.

Lizzie Graham led Triton Central (14-2) with 21 points. Brooklyn Bailey finished with 11. Olivia Faust had nine.

In the seventh-place game Wednesday, Elkhart defeated Franklin County, 49-27. De’Mour Watson scored 21 points to lead the victorious Lions (7-8). Kiersten Schell finished with nine points to lead Franklin County (8-9).

Class A, No. 5 Jac-Cen-Del improved to 12-3 with a 51-35 win over Northeastern in the fifth-place game. Reagan Hughes scored a game-high 23 points to lead the victorious Eagles. Ava Mikesell and Anna Drake topped Northeastern (5-10) with eight points apiece.

Heritage Christian won the third-place game, 55-25, over Southport. Joslyn Marshall led the victorious Eagles (8-8) with 13 points. Koryn Marshall had 12.

Taleah Nool, Lela Scott and Breanna Reed each had five points for Southport (8-8).

Morristown gets first win of season in holiday tournament

Morristown opened its holiday tournament with a 43-39 win over New Washington to provide head coach Collin McCartt with his first win with the Yellow Jackets.

Nick Stidham scored 17 points and Nolan Laster had 14 to lead the Yellow Jackets Wednesday at the Bee Hive in Morristown.

New Washington held a 9-7 lead after one quarter but Stidham had eight points in the second quarter to match the Mustangs’ output and put Morristown up 27-17 by halftime.

The Mustangs cut the lead in half by the end of the third quarter but Chase Theobald had a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to stave off the comeback attempt.

Matthew Arthur led New Washington with 20 points. Mason Thompson finished with nine.

Morristown did not have enough firepower to get a second win Wednesday.

South Dearborn limited the Yellow Jackets to two total field goals in the second and third quarters to pull away for a 63-38 victory.

Stidham again led the Yellow Jackets (1-7) with 15 points but he managed just one free throw in the middle two quarters. Laster finished with 12 points.

Eli Hoffman led South Dearborn with 16 points. Ryan Willoughby and Corbin McHenry each had 10.

In other games Wednesday, South Dearborn opened the 7-team tournament with a 66-38 win over New Washington.

Covenant Christian defeated Randolph Southern 61-48.

Clinton Prairie followed with a 54-49 win over South Ripley.

South Ripley bounced back with a 64-51 win over Randolph Southern.

And Covenant Christian set up a championship game appearance against South Dearborn with a 48-32 victory over Clinton Prairie.

Six teams return to Morristown today for day two of the tournament.

New Washington (2-6) will face South Ripley (4-4) and Randolph Southern (2-4) faces Clinton Prairie (9-1) ahead of the championship game between Covenant Christian (6-2) and South Dearborn (6-2).

Morristown will not play today. The tournament was originally scheduled for eight teams but a late cancellation left little time to add an eighth team.

To honor the three-game guarantee for all the visiting teams, Morristown opted to play just two games Wednesday with no second-day game on the schedule.


Southwestern finishes fourth at Bulldog Holiday Classic in Monrovia

Southwestern struggled to score in the second quarter of the third-place game of the Bulldog Holiday Classic Wednesday night at Monrovia High School.

That allowed Tipton to build a double-digit lead that more than doubled after the Blue Devils produced a 27-point third quarter to secure a 61-47 victory over the Spartans.

After an even first quarter, the Spartans managed one Jordan Jones field goal in the second quarter to fall behind 25-13 at the half.

Nolan Swan hit three of his game-high five three-pointers in the third quarter when the Blue Devils (8-3) outscored Southwestern 27-12. Swan had 11 of his game-high 23 points in that third quarter.

Aiden Hartsell scored 11 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter for Southwestern (3-6).

Jordan Jones added 15 but no other Spartan scored more than three points in the loss.

Tipton’s starting five scored all 61 points.

Nate Powell finished with 14 while Jackson Money, Samuel Ridgeway and Grady Carpenter each tallied eight points.

Southwestern now turns its attention to the Shelby County Tournament at Waldron where it will face the host Mohawks in one semifinal game on Jan. 7.

In their first meeting on Dec. 18 at Southwestern, Waldron prevailed 61-56 in three overtimes.

In the other Wednesday games at the Bulldog Holiday Classic, Mitchell kept Milan winless this season with a 68-65 overtime victory in the seventh-place game.

Mitchell is 5-6 this season while Milan is 0-8.

Greenwood Christian routed Monrovia in the fifth-place game, 63-25. Greenwood Christian improved to 4-6 while Monrovia dropped to 4-5.

And in the championship, Tri-West defeated Danville, 58-45. Tri-West is 6-2 this season while Danville dropped to 8-2.

Triton Central to host Danville for holiday tournament championship

Triton Central’s offense has been in sleepwalk mode through two games of the Tigers holiday tournament.  And it's on the team’s own home floor. 

 

Triton Central scored 14 points in the first half of the tournament’s first game, a 43-34 come-from-behind win over Franklin County.  Later that night, the Lady Tigers scored just 16 points in the first half while hanging on to a four-point lead at the midway point in what became a 49-37 semifinal win over Southport.

 

A quicker start may be needed for the Tigers to win the tournament championship.  #4 (2A) Triton Central (14-1) hosts 3A Danville (11-3) at 7:30 pm Wednesday.

 

In Tuesday’s semifinal, Southport held a one-point lead in the closing seconds of the third period but turned the ball over in the backcourt.  TC’s Maddy Brown contributed in the steal and then followed a Maia Harris missed shot with a putback as time expired to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish going into the final quarter, 30-29.

 

The Tigers defense didn’t allow a Southport point until a three-pointer from junior forward Marianna Martinez with 1:29 to play.

 

Tigers head coach Bryan Graham talked about trying to get adjusted to the loss of point guard Jenna Cox to a season-ending injury.

 

 

Brown led Triton Central with 15 points.  Also in double figures, Olivia Faust scored 14 and Brooklyn Bailey came off the bench to add 11.

 

Southport (8-7) was led by 13 points apiece from Lela Scott and CeCe Mitchell.

 

Danville reached the title game with wins over Elkhart, 35-31, and Heritage Christian, 56-39.

 


Tri-West pins first loss on Class A, No. 1 Waldron in championship game of holiday tournament

For the first time this season Waldron could not come up with the winning formula.

In the championship game of the American Family Insurance Holiday Tournament at Waldron, Tri-West staved off previously-unbeaten and top-ranked Waldron, 46-41.

Kenna Kirby steadied the Bruins midway through the first quarter Tuesday night when the Mohawks raced out to an 11-2 lead and then finished off Class A’s No. 1 team with a strong fourth-quarter performance to earn the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.

Kirby, a Marian University commit, finished with 16 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Adrie Thompson matched her with 16 points and added six rebounds and three blocked shots to push the Bruins’ record to 10-5 this season.

The loss dropped the Mohawks to 13-1 and will cost them their No. 1 ranking.

“We either win or we learn and we learned a lot there,” said Waldron head coach Anthony Thomas. “We had our chances there, some 50-50 balls we didn’t get on, Bella (Larrison) was in foul trouble most of the first half, and we lost (Kirby) in a couple of rotations and she hit a couple of 3s early which she was not supposed to do, so you start breaking it down, those little things against a good team means you are going to get beat.”

Larrison scored five points early in the first quarter and Megan Bogemann hit a 3-pointer to get Waldron up 11-2. But Larrison’s second foul before the mid-point of the first quarter sent her to the bench until late in the second quarter.

 

Kenna Kirby was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

 

Kirby splashed her first of two first-quarter 3s with 3:24 left to cut the lead to 11-5 and her second 3 from the top of the key made it 11-10.

Waldron scored the final four points of the first quarter to hold on to a 15-10 lead and used a 6-2 run over the final 2:39 of the second quarter to take a 21-17 lead into halftime.

The Mohawks were in trouble, though.

Tri-West focused on tracking Bogemann around the 3-point arc and the sharpshooter took just one first-half three-point shot. She entered the tournament averaging seven attempts per game.

Fighting an illness, Nichole Garner was held scoreless in the first half and took just four shots.

Then Larrison quickly collected her third and fourth fouls midway through the third quarter.

The Bruins (10-5) turned a 25-19 deficit into a 29-25 lead with a 10-0 run sparked by Kirby.

Waldron never recovered.

“We just didn’t make enough plays when we needed to but I felt like opportunities were there,” said Thomas. “I think this (loss) will help us out tremendously.”

Tri-West led 31-28 after three quarters and extended it to 34-28 with a Thompson 3 from the corner to start the fourth.

Larrison hit a pair of free throws with 5:38 left to cut the lead to 35-34 before Kirby took over.

The senior guard, who tore her ACL in May, scored in the lane to push the lead back to three, spun into the lane and scored again with 1:29 left for a 4-point lead and hit two free throws 28 seconds later to make it 42-36.

Larrison led Waldron with 11 points and four assists.

Bogemann finished with eight points – five coming in the game’s final 26 seconds. She attempted an uncharacteristic three 3-pointers in the loss.

Garner only attempted one shot in the final three quarters and finished scoreless.

 

The All-Tournament Team included (from left): Tri-West's Becca VanSlyke and Adrie Thompson, Waldron's Megan Bogemann and Mackenzie Shaw, and Tri-West's Kenna Kirby and Isabelle Saylor.

 

Thomas had discussed in recent weeks the burden of being unbeaten past the midway point of the regular season and carrying the state’s No. 1 ranking. A loss, he pondered, would not necessarily hurt the Mohawks.

Ironically, Tri-West, a 2021 Class 3A semistate qualifier, was not in the original field for the tournament. Union County bowed out in the days leading up to the tournament and Tri-West stepped in to face Blackford in the semifinals.

“I think there are a lot of positives that will come out of this loss,” said Thomas. “I’m sure the pollsters will penalize us a little bit and we will drop and that’s fine. We don’t have to carry the No. 1 burden anymore. We don’t have to carry the undefeated burden anymore. Even though the kids are very humble and level-headed, they know it’s there.”

Notes: Garner entered the game averaging 11.5 ppg … Hadlie Ross finished the championship game with nine points, 10 rebounds and two assists. … Bogemann and Mackenzie Shaw were Waldron’s selections to the All-Tournament Team along with Tri-West’s Isabelle Saylor, Adrie Thompson and Becca VanSlyke … Tri-West entered the tournament 8-5 with three of its losses to state-ranked teams in Westfield (4A No. 8), Noblesville (4A No. 3) and Lafayette Central Catholic (A No. 3) … Waldron hosts Oldenburg Academy (3-8) Thursday.

 

Tri-West 46, Waldron 41

TW: Saylor 3-9 1-2 8, Thompson 5-6 4-5 16, VanSlyke 1-4 0-2 2, Cotteleer 1-5 0-0 2, Kirby 6-15 2-3 16, Canada 0-1 2-3 2, Sullivan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-41 9-15 46.

WA: Had. Ross 4-8 1-2 9, Shaw 1-6 2-2 5, Bogemann 3-5 0-0 8, Garner 0-4 0-0 0, B. Larrison 4-10 3-6 11, J. Larrison 3-5 0-0 6, Fewell 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 16-40 6-10 41.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TW (10-5)  10  7  14  15  --  46

WA (13-1)  15  6    7  13  --  41

3-point field goals: TW 5-16 (Saylor 1-3, Thompson 2-3, Cotteleer 0-1, Kirby 2-8), WA 3-10 (Shaw 1-2, Bogemann 2-3, Garner 0-2, B. Larrison 0-3). Rebounds: TW 22 (Saylor 3, Thompson 6, VanSlyke 8, Cotteleer 1, Kirby 3, Sullivan 1), WA 25 (Had. Ross 10, Shaw 6, Bogemann 2, B. Larrison 1, J. Larrison 5, Fewell 1). Assists: TW 10 (Saylor 2, VanSlyke 4, Kirby 3, Canada 1), WA 12 (Had. Ross 2, Shaw 1, Bogemann 1, Garner 3, B. Larrison 4, Fewell 1). Steals: TW 7 (VanSlyke 1, Cotteleer 2, Kirby 4), WA 5 (Shaw 1, Garner 2, B. Larrison 1, Fewell 1). Blocks: TW 4 (Thompson 3, VanSlyke 1), WA 1 (Bogemann 1). Total fouls: TW 12, WA 11. Turnovers: TW 12, WA 15.

Edwards reaches 1,000 career points in Shelbyville's loss to Franklin Central

Shelbyville celebrated a significant milestone accomplishment but was not able to cap off the night with a team celebration.

Junior guard Kylee Edwards scored career point 1,000 in the first half Tuesday night but the Flashes were too strong in the second half and secured a 62-52 win at Garrett Gymnasium in Shelbyville.

Lily Graves scored 22 points to lead Franklin Central, 3-9 after ending an 8-game losing streak. Carys Wilson scored nine of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and Emma McVey finished with 11.

The Flashes trailed 24-23 at halftime but outscored the Golden Bears (7-9), who have dropped four straight, 39-28 over the final 16 minutes.

Edwards entered the game with 990 career points and put up eight more in the first quarter. Her only field goal of the second quarter moved her into Shelbyville’s 1,000-point club.

Edwards scored 11 of her team’s 15 points in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 24 points.

Madison Phares hit four first-half three-pointers but managed just three points in the second half and finished with 17.

Ava Wilson had nine points.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 11-2 this season with a 33-31 win Tuesday.

The Golden Bears are off until Jan. 8 when Yorktown (3-10, 1-3 Hoosier Heritage Conference) travels to town for a conference contest.


Spartans open Monrovia tournament with win over Mitchell, fall in semis to Tri-West

Southwestern needed a strong fourth quarter to secure a first-round victory Tuesday morning at the Bulldog Holiday Classic hosted by Monrovia.

The Spartans got it with a 13-of-15 performance from the free-throw line over the final eight minutes to complete a 60-54 come-from-behind victory over Mitchell.

The Blue Jackets led 32-26 at halftime and 42-38 after three quarters before the Spartans scored 22 fourth-quarter points – 13 from the charity stripe.

Aiden Hartsell was a perfect 4-for-4 in the fourth from the free-throw line and finished with a game-high 24 points.

Jordan Jones was 5-for-5 in the final period when he scored nine of his 20 points.

Matthew Clements and Jonny Joy each had six to push the Spartans into a semifinal round game against Tri-West.

Southwestern went 18 of 22 from the free-throw line in the win.

Kade Wigley connected on a trio of three-pointers and led Mitchell with 17 points. Andrew Shepherd and Nick Mundy each scored 11 in the Blue Jackets’ fourth-straight loss.

Tri-West opened the first day of the tournament Tuesday with a 79-55 win over Monrovia.

Danville defeated Greenwood Christian, 83-61, in game three.

And Tipton closed out the first-round action with a 76-39 win over Milan.

In Southwestern’s semifinal game against Tri-West, the Spartans managed just a pair of 3s in the third quarter which allowed the Bruins to extend a 26-22 halftime lead to 42-28.

The Spartans failed to get enough stops in the fourth quarter and were defeated, 60-46.

Jones hit three 3s to lead Southwestern with 17 points. Clements also made three 3s on the way to 11 points and Hartsell finished with 10.

The Spartans were 3 for 3 from the free-throw line in the loss.

Dylan Bear led Tri-West with 22 points – 15 in the second half. Alex Covey finished with 13 and Ethan Depinet had 10.

Greenwood Christian followed with a 53-34 win over Milan.

And Danville secured a spot in tonight’s championship game with an 80-74 win over Tipton.

Day two games begin at 3 p.m. today with Mitchell (4-6) taking on Milan (0-7) in the seventh-place game.

Greenwood Christian (3-6) faces the host Bulldogs (4-4) in the fifth-place game.

Southwestern (3-5) will tip off at approximately 6 p.m. against Tipton (7-3).

And in the championship game, Tri-West (5-2) will face Danville (8-1).

Yarling's fast start propels Waldron to third-straight victory

Bryce Yarling got Waldron off to a strong start Tuesday and the Mohawks secured their third-straight win, 47-38, at Oldenburg Academy.

Yarling scored 10 of Waldron’s first 12 points then added nine more in the second quarter when the Mohawks (5-2) extended their lead to 29-19 at halftime.

Lucas Shaw scored all five of his points in the fourth quarter to help Waldron secure the win.

Yarling finished with a game-high 24 points. Lucas Mitchell added 11 points and Shaw and Bryant Becker each had five.

Dyllon Stewart led the Twisters (2-6) with 10 points. C.J. Grote finished with nine.

Waldron returns to action Thursday morning for a holiday tournament semifinal game at Batesville (2-5). The four-team tournament is scheduled to tipoff at 10 a.m.

In the second semifinal, Jennings County (5-2) battles North Harrison (4-1).

The consolation game is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the championship is at 6 p.m.

Triton Central advances to holiday tournament championship game

A strong fourth quarter propelled Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central into the championship game of its holiday tournament.

The Tigers’ balanced scoring effort pushed them past Southport, 49-37 Tuesday.

Brooklyn Bailey scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter when Triton Central outscored the Cardinals, 19-8.

Maddy Brown led the Tigers with 15 points. Olivia Faust had 14 and Lizzie Graham finished with nine to round out TC’s scoring.

Triton Central led at the first three breaks, including 30-29 after three quarters.

Southport managed just three field goals, two 3s, over the final eight minutes.

Cece Mitchell and Lela Scott each scored 13 points to lead Southport. Miranda Deane added seven.

In a full day of action Tuesday in Fairland, the host Tigers opened the two-day tournament with a 43-34 win over Franklin County.

Southport advanced to the afternoon session to face Triton Central with a 49-45 victory over Northeastern.

Scott led Southport with 19 points. Deane added 17. The duo combined for 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Ava Mikesell scored a team-high 17 points for Northeastern. Addisen Mastriano had 13.

In game three, Danville defeated Elkhart, 35-31. Isabelle Wooten led Danville with 11 points. Jaya Johnson scored a team-high nine points for Elkhart.

And in the final game of the opening round, Heritage Christian defeated Class A, No. 5 Jac-Cen-Del, 59-56.

Heritage Christian had four players score in double digits, led by Grace Marshall’s 13. Audrey Booher finished with 11 and Jaeda Wilson and Kya Crouse each had 10.

Annabelle Williams and Desiree Sparks led Jac-Cen-Del with 10 points apiece.

Northeastern advanced to today’s fifth-place game with a 45-39 overtime win over Franklin County.

Mastriano led the victorious Knights with 12 points.

Nicole Mears scored 12 points to lead Franklin County.

Jac-Cen-Del rebounded with a 62-59 win over Elkhart. Reagan Hughes scored a team-high 17 points for Jac-Cen-Del. Jalee Rider finished with 10 points.

De’mour Watson scored a game-high 19 points for Elkhart. Shaniyah Hughes finished with 15.

And in the final game of day one, Danville secured a spot in the tournament championship game with a 56-39 win over Heritage Christian.

Haley Ancelet hit four 3s to lead Danville with 16 points. Wooten added 10.

Booher had a team-high 13 points for Heritage Christian.

Today’s schedule begins with a quartet of junior varsity games at 1 p.m.

Triton Central hosts Danville in the main gym while Elkhart vs. Heritage Christian, Southport vs. Franklin County, and Scecina vs. Jac-Cen-Del take place in the fieldhouse.

The seventh-place game between Franklin County (8-8) and Elkhart (6-8) is scheduled to tipoff at 3 p.m.

The fifth-place game follows between Northeastern (5-9) and Jac-Cen-Del (11-3).

Southport (8-7) battles Heritage Christian (7-8) in the third-place game at 6 p.m.

And in the championship, Triton Central (14-1) hosts Danville (11-3).

Waldron opens holiday tournament with romp over Batesville

Batesville didn't make a shot from the field until the 2:38 mark of the first quarter.  At that point, Waldron led 11-0.

 

The Bulldogs (3-12) didn't score from the field again until there was less than a minute remaining in the third period.  By then, a running clock was in play as Waldron dominated in the opening game of the Waldron Tournament, 52-8.

 

Waldron led 18-4 after one quarter and by 35 at the half, 39-4.  Those two made field goals by Batesville were the only shots the Bulldogs made in the game (2-of-22, 9%).

 

Meanwhile, Waldron also struggled with lay-ups and shots in the paint.  However, the Mohawks shot 9-of-17 from beyond the three-point arc led by Megan Bogemann's five from long range for a game-high 15 points.

 

Overall, Waldron was 21-of-49 from the field (43%).

 

Waldron (13-0) also controlled the glass with a 30-10 rebound advantage. 

 

Head coach Anthony Thomas was pleased with his team's outing in the 9:00 am semifinal.

 

 

Mackenzie Shaw scored 12 for the Mohawks in advancing to tonight's championship game against 3A Tri-West.  The Bruins (9-5) defeated Blackford, 72-59.

 

Tri-West lost to Silver Creek in the 3A South Semistate last season.

 

Championship tip between Waldron and Tri-West is scheduled for 6:00 pm tonight at Waldron High School.

 

 

 

 

Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central recovers to defeat Franklin County

Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central needed a strong second-half performance to win the first game of its own holiday tournament.

Franklin County outscored the Tigers 15-5 in the second quarter Tuesday morning to take a 24-14 halftime lead.

Olivia Faust and Maddy Brown produced 11 points in the third quarter when Triton Central recovered to take a 30-28 lead.

The Tigers’ defense limited the Wildcats to six fourth-quarter points and pinned a 43-34 loss on them.

Faust finished with a game-high 17 points. Brown scored 11 points and Brooklyn Bailey had eight.

Josie Rolfes led Franklin County (8-7) with 13 points. Jenna Bruns finished with seven.

The win advances Triton Central (13-1) to the 4:30 p.m. game against the winner of Southport (7-6) and Northeastern (4-8).

Franklin County returns to the court at 3 p.m. to face the loser of Southport and Northeastern.

The other first-round games today in Fairland include Elkhart (6-6) against Danville (9-3) at approximately noon and Class A, No. 5 Jac-Cen-Del (10-2) against Heritage Christian (6-7) to follow.

The tournament concludes Wednesday with the championship game slated for 7:30 p.m.

Golden Bears suffer pair of losses in Valparaiso Tournament

A poor second quarter against one of the state’s last unbeaten teams put Shelbyville in a deficit it never recovered from Thursday in Valparaiso.

The Golden Bears’ 4-point second quarter erased a 14-13 lead over Class 2A, No. 2 South Central (Union Mills) in the second semifinal of the Valparaiso Tournament.

The Satellites built a 29-18 halftime lead and extended it to 49-26 after three quarters before closing out with a 58-43 win to improve to 14-0 this season.

Delanie Gale led South Central with 17 points. Olivia Marks had 14 and Abbie Tomblin finished with 11.

Tomblin hit the Satellites’ only three-pointer and the team finished 17 of 20 from the free-throw line.

Kylee Edwards led Shelbyville with 18 points. Madison Phares had nine and Ava Wilson finished with seven.

In the other semifinal game, Class 4A, No. 14 Valparaiso defeated Knox, 47-33.

Emma Gerdt led Valparaiso with 16 points. Bolanle Ayangade had 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

In the consolation game, Shelbyville fell behind early to Knox and never recovered in a 67-38 loss.

Three different Redskins hit 3s in the first quarter to create a 17-7 lead that grew to 34-17 by halftime.

Four different Knox players reached double figures in the scoring category led by Addi Eskridge’s 17. Riley Messer and Morgan Downs each had 13 and Megan Bolen finished with 10.

Eskridge, Messer and Downs each had three 3s in the win.

Knox improved to 7-6 this season.

Edwards led Shelbyville (7-8) again with 13 points. Phares finished with seven.

In the championship game, South Central stayed unbeaten this season with a 49-40 win over Valparaiso (12-2).

South Central is one of five unbeaten girls basketball teams left in Indiana and will ascend to the top spot in the 2A poll after 2A, No. 1 Winchester was upset by Madison, 72-61, Thursday in the semifinal round of the Connersville Invitational.

Winchester rebounded to defeat Cowan in the consolation game to improve to 14-1.

Waldron (12-0), Benton Central (12-0), Franklin (16-0) and Columbia City (14-0) join South Central (Union Mills) as teams without a loss this season.

Triton Central volleyball's stability creating winning seasons, college-bound athletes

Triton Central girls basketball has long established itself as a top 10 program in Class 2A.

The “Lady Tigers Basketball” brand has consistently churned out winning campaigns, including five straight 20-win seasons, and has won eight sectional titles since 2012.

Quietly following behind head coach Brian Graham’s “LTB” success is Ray Basile’s volleyball program that is coming off its first non-20 win season since 2014. The rebuilding Tigers finished 15-11 this fall but is squarely in position to start a new streak in 2022.

While Basile’s Tigers fell short of the traditional goals of claiming county tourney, conference and sectional titles, the program churned out another senior headed to the next level.

Defensive specialist Julia Sanders recently signed her National Letter of Intent to play at Indiana University Kokomo, becoming the eighth TC volleyball player to commit during Basile’s decade-long tenure that followed an abysmal stretch that included two winless seasons.

Basile rebuilt the culture from within the program and started girls playing volleyball at a younger age so they would be better prepared when they arrived at the varsity level.

“We’ve been really lucky the last couple of years to have some players that have really focused in and made this their passion,” said Basile. “And what it’s done now is, I have a whole new group of girls that are coming through that have watched them, and not only watched the success but have watched how they’ve succeeded. What have they done at practices? How many times have they stayed after practice or come in early before practice to get their own extra work in? And when they see that, now I have freshmen and sophomores that I can’t get out of here. It just sorts of feeds itself.

“Just look at our basketball program. The kids in the second, third and fourth grade see all the success the high school program has, and they see and hear what it takes to do that and for the players to go play in college. It just feeds on itself and that’s what we are starting to see.”

Basile is 178-121 in 10 seasons as Triton Central’s volleyball head coach. After 8-18 and 4-24 seasons, his Tigers ran off seasons of 19-16, 22-10, 24-8, 20-10, 20-10, 20-10 and 26-4.

There were five Triton Central graduates on college volleyball rosters this past season. With Bailey Chandler closing out her career at Eastern Illinois, Sanders steps into what will be five again in 2022.

By comparison, Triton Central’s basketball program is 202-37 over the same time span, including its 12-1 start this season, and has seven graduates currently on college basketball rosters.

“It’s a credit to the girls’ willingness to give their time to it and their parents investing their time behind it,” said Basile of his program’s growth. “Without that it doesn’t happen.

“We get the same amount of time as everyone else, two hours twice a week during the winter and spring time and over the summer. Everyone gets the same amount of time. A lot of it is what they do in the offseason. Julia is a perfect example of that. She never stops. The day after the (high school) season she is out working with the club teams and goes into that and isn’t done until the end of June then picks right back up at everything else. If you want to be great at something you have to put the time in, and there is not much of a substitute for that. And she has to put the time in. That’s what we hope continues with the girls.”

 

 

Sanders (photo) grew up around the program as older sister Colleen played for Basile. She credits the development of younger players, including her, for raising the standard at the high school level.

“Our younger programs have been skyrocketing,” said Sanders, who graduated from Triton Central with career records for digs and service aces. “I started in fourth grade and did a program here and now they are even better.

“Now we have freshmen coming in here that have been playing for five years and they have all this experience. They are playing club (volleyball) and they are playing here.”

A lawyer by day, Basile is soft spoken and focused. He never envisioned himself as a head coach for such an extended time. Sanders credits him with building a strong family dynamic off the court that has brought success on the court.

“Ray focuses on team bonding and that helps us,” she said. “My past four years here have been incredible because every girl on the team is like a sister to me because we are so close and we have so much fun when we play which is the most important thing.”

Jordan Ingle graduated from Triton Central in 2013 and played two seasons at Carthage College in Wisconsin.

Ally Williams followed three years later and played collegiately at Hanover College in southern Indiana.

Bailey Chandler and Rynisha Holly graduated in 2018. Chandler just completed her college career while Holly started at Indiana Tech and transferred to St. Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and still has eligibility.

Maddy Beaver, Maggie Schweitzer and Brooklyn Schiffli graduated two years later and all contributed as freshmen at the collegiate level in 2021.

Beaver attends Goshen College, Schweitzer is at Hanover and Schiffli headed south to Alabama to attend Jacksonville State.

Sanders realizes the impact those players had on her and how she is the role model now for future Tigers.

“I hope I can be a role model for them,” she said. “With Colleen in Bailey’s and Rynisha’s grade, I would always be at their games. I grew up watching them and it’s crazy to think I can be a role model for someone. That’s how I felt with the freshman this year. They were like my babies because, hopefully, I taught them things. And they were teaching me things too.”

Basile has seen firsthand the shift in mentality that Triton Central can produce college volleyball players.

“A lot of that is just more of a focus by the players playing club volleyball and treating this as their primary sport,” said Basile. “For a long time, it was a secondary sport for some of the players here. It’s not primary for everybody but if you really want to play at that level, play at college, you have to put the time in, and it’s not just the time here.

“I hope they keep seeing that – I can succeed here as a volleyball player. I can play on a winning team. I can play in college if that is what I really want to do. And that inspires them and encourages them.”

Another couple 20-win seasons and Triton Central volleyball may be creating its own brand to go along with “LTB.”

Hunting, fishing, trapping license fees increase starting in 2022

For the first time since 2006, Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) has increased fees for hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses. Commercial license fees also increase, some for the first time since the 1980s.

The increases will be applied to personal licenses starting with the 2022-2023 license year (April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023) that will go on sale in January. The fee increase does not affect licenses for the remainder of the 2021-2022 license year (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022), even if those licenses are purchased after Jan. 1.

The new fees allow DFW to maintain core programs including habitat restoration, maintenance of public lands, scientific research and education, and expansion of other services to manage Indiana’s fish and wildlife for everyone to enjoy.

Funds will also go to the DNR Division of Law Enforcement to ensure it is equipped to provide public safety and enforce the laws governing natural resources.

The new license prices were determined by comparing license fees among other Midwestern states and balancing the rising costs of resource management.

More information on these changes, including a full list of the new fees, can be found here: dnr.IN.gov/fish-and-wildlife/licenses-and-permits/fee-changes

Triton Central struggles to close out games at Franklin County Tournament

Triton Central was unable to put together a strong fourth quarter Wednesday and finished 0-2 at the Franklin County Tournament.

Hamilton Heights outscored the Tigers, 17-10, in the fourth quarter of their semifinal game and prevailed 53-42.

Luke Carroll finished with a game-high 23 points for the Huskies (3-5). Isaac Tuma scored seven of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Hamilton Heights led 18-13 after one quarter and 25-22 at halftime. Carroll had nine points in the third quarter to give the Huskies a 36-32 lead going into the fourth.

Josh Kemper had a game-high 15 points for Triton Central. Luke Faust scored eight points off the bench and Josiah Blair finished with six.

In the other semifinal game, Franklin County defeated Seton Catholic, 66-50.

Seton Catholic scored 22 points in the fourth quarter of the consolation game to defeat Triton Central, 51-50.

Mason Harvey led Seton Catholic (8-3) with 22 points. Braiden Hogg finished with 19. Dorian Hill had six points on a pair of fourth-quarter 3s.

Triton Central (5-5) led at the end of the first and third quarters but were outscored 22-15 over the final eight minutes.

Blair had a team-high 14 points in the loss. Caleb Miller had 10, Isaac Morgan finished with eight and Kemper added six.

Kemper was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

In the championship game, Franklin County improved to 6-2 this season with a 68-52 win over Hamilton Heights.

Triton Central will host Heritage Christian (2-4) on Dec. 30 before preparing for the Shelby County Tournament that starts on Jan. 7.

Southwestern shuts down Edinburgh in championship game of Edinburgh Holiday Classic

Southwestern found its defensive identity and it resulted in a tournament trophy just three days before Christmas.

The Spartans held Edinburgh to three fourth-quarter points Wednesday afternoon to secure a 40-33 victory in the championship game of the Edinburgh Holiday Classic.

In three tournament games, Southwestern allowed 31.7 points per game.

Lily Kerber and Kennedy Pile each had 11 points to lead Southwestern, now 7-6 entering the holiday break. The Spartans’ six losses have come to teams with a combined 60-14 record. Four are currently ranked in the top 10 in Class A and Class 2A.

Lilly Rooks finished with nine points and Faith Kelley had six.

Kelley and Pile combined for three first-quarter three-pointers to get the Spartans a 13-12 lead at the first break. The duo each hit a 3 in the second quarter but the Lancers outscored the Spartans, 14-9, to take a 26-22 lead into halftime.

Both teams struggled to score in the third quarter and the Lancers led 30-26 going into the fourth.

The Spartans hit 6 of 9 free throws over the final eight minutes, all from Kerber and Rooks, while the Lancers finished with a seven-point second half.

Callie Hancock led Edinburgh (8-5) with 11 points. Gracie Crawhorn finished with eight.

Hagerstown won the seventh-place game over Columbus Christian Wednesday, 56-19.

In the fifth-place game, South Ripley prevailed over Knightstown, 50-13.

And South Dearborn won the third-place game, 44-31, over Lutheran.

Southwestern is off until Jan. 6 when it travels to Waldron for the Shelby County Tournament. The Spartans drew Class A, No. 1 Waldron (12-0) in the semifinal round.

The Mohawks won their first meeting with the Spartans on Nov. 12, 59-39.

Collegiate Update: Chandler, Loyola defeat previously unbeaten Cleveland State

The Loyola Ramblers took down one of the last unbeatens in Division I.

Loyola ended its non-conference schedule Tuesday with a 66-52 win at Cleveland State (9-1), one of seven remaining undefeated women’s basketball teams prior to the game.

Maya Chandler (photo), a Triton Central graduate, finished with three points, two rebounds, one block and one steal for Loyola (8-3).

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

 

 

Hayden Langkabel

The Morristown graduate had 12 points, one rebound and two assists in 15 minutes of playing time Monday for Marian University in a 96-45 win over Penn State – Greater Allegheny in a neutral site game at Florida National University.

The 51-point margin of victory was the largest this season for Marian (10-2).

 

 

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for Hanover in an 82-74 win Saturday at Anderson.

Hanover improved to 5-4 this season and 2-2 against Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponents.

 

 

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate had two points Thursday in York College’s 75-60 loss at Oklahoma Christian in Edmond, Oklahoma.

York is 4-13 this season.

 

 

Kenzie Ryle

The Triton Central graduate had two assists and two steals for Earlham College in a 69-57 loss at Spalding Saturday.

Earlham is 0-9 this season.

Southwestern locks down two opponents to reach Edinburgh Holiday Classic championship game

With a pair of strong defensive performances, Southwestern finished 2-0 in day one of the Edinburgh Holiday Classic.

In the final game of the quarterfinal bracket Tuesday afternoon, Southwestern outscored South Ripley 18-3 in the second quarter to build a 25-10 halftime lead.

The Raiders rebounded in the second half but never got the game tied and Southwestern prevailed 31-28.

“We got on a roll and hit a couple of 3s and we did a great job of defending and making them shoot 3s,” said Southwestern coach Jason West on his team’s second-quarter performance. “We struggled in the second half and missed seven open lay-ups in the third quarter when we had an opportunity to blow that game wide open. We had opportunities and didn’t convert and at the end every possession mattered.”

Lily Kerber led Southwestern with 13 points. Faith Kelley hit a pair of three-pointers during the Spartans’ second-quarter run and finished with eight points. Alison Muck had five.

Rachel Meyer topped South Ripley with 11 points – all in the second half. Gracie Gunter had seven points.

With the win, Southwestern advanced to Tuesday night’s semifinal round against South Dearborn.

The Spartans outscored the Knights in each quarter to pull away for a 45-34 win.

“We have some bumps and bruises and some illness going on that we had to battle through,” said West of finishing just before 6 p.m. and then returning to the court for an 8 p.m. game. “The girls were tough as nails.”

Kerber and Muck each scored 11 points in the win. Kennedy Pile had seven.

Southwestern outscored South Dearborn 13-7 over the final eight minutes.

Emily Elliott led the Knights with 12 points. Natalie Rupp had seven and Gracie Messmore finished with six.

In other games Tuesday, Edinburgh defeated Lutheran, 52-38, to advance to the championship game to face Southwestern.

In the loser’s bracket, Knightstown dominated Columbus Christian, 37-15 and South Ripley rebounded to beat Hagerstown, 48-32.

There are four games scheduled today.

The seventh-place game pits Columbus Christian against Hagerstown (4-6). The fifth-place game follows with Knightstown (2-14) taking on South Ripley (8-8).

In the third-place game, Lutheran (3-8) faces South Dearborn (3-12).

And in the championship game scheduled for 4 p.m., the host Lancers (8-4) take on Southwestern (6-6) – 3-3 in its last six games with all three losses coming to top-10 ranked opponents.

“We will try to continue to do what we do best … control the tempo and play great defense,” said West.

Edinburgh rises to No. 4 in AP boys basketball poll

Three of the top five teams in the Associated Press Class A boys basketball state poll are still unbeaten.

North Daviess (9-0) sits atop the Class A poll followed by Loogootee (8-2), Barr-Reeve (6-2), Edinburgh (7-0), Bloomfield (6-0), Gary 21st Century (4-1), Lutheran (4-0), Triton (5-1), Jac-Cen-Del (5-2) and Orleans (6-1).

Edinburgh’s 7-0 start is the best in school history.

The top three teams in Class 2A are undefeated.

Central Noble (7-0) is No. 1 ahead of Linton-Stockton (7-0), Fort Wayne Blackhawk (6-0), South Spencer (6-1), Carroll (Flora) (6-0), Eastside (8-0), Parke Heritage (4-2), Park Tudor (3-1), Westview (4-1) and Covenant Christian (4-2).

Eastern Hancock (5-1) is No. 12 in this week’s poll.

At 8-0, Connersville is the No. 1 team in Class 3A.

Mishawaka Marian (7-1) is No. 2 with Brebeuf (5-1), Leo (6-1), NorthWood (7-0), Brownstown Central (6-0), John Glenn (7-0), Sullivan (6-0), North Harrison (4-1) and Beech Grove (6-1) rounding out the top 10.

Zionsville leads the Class 4A poll with an 8-0 record.

Valparaiso (7-0) is No. 2 ahead of Carmel (6-2), Fishers (8-1), Homestead (7-3), Penn (7-0), Chesterton (5-0), Lawrence North (5-1), Cathedral (5-2) and Terre Haute North (7-0).

Valparaiso is at Carmel today.

Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central tightens grip on ICC lead

Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central wasted little time securing no worse than a share of the Indiana Crossroads Conference title Tuesday night at Indianapolis Scecina with a 57-20 victory.

Olivia Faust scored seven first-quarter points to help her Tigers build an 18-5 lead headed into the second quarter. Triton Central’s defense locked down the Crusaders over the second eight minutes to extend the lead to 30-7 at halftime.

Faust added six more points in the third quarter to finish with a game-high 13 points. Brooklyn Bailey also had 13 points to push Triton Central’s record to 12-1 overall and 6-0 in the ICC.

The Tigers can secure the title outright with a win at Beech Grove (3-12, 1-2 ICC) on Jan. 27.

Maddy Brown had nine points for the Tigers and Hallie Schweitzer and Lizzie Graham each finished with eight in a balanced offensive effort.

Scecina (6-6, 1-3 ICC) was led by Ava Smith, Mayana Navara and Anna Welborn each scoring six points.

Triton Central won the junior varsity game, 42-15.

Kennedy Brown scored a game-high 12 points to lead TC. Jocelyn Firebaugh finished with seven and Elaina Maurice and Olivia Williams each had six.

Triton Central returns to action when it hosts a two-day, eight-team tournament in Fairland beginning Dec. 28.

The Tigers open the tournament at 9 a.m. Tuesday against Franklin County (8-6).

Three more quarterfinal games follow with Southport (7-6) taking on Northeastern (4-8); Elkhart (6-6) battling Danville (8-3); and Class A, No. 5 Jac-Cen-Del (10-2) facing Heritage Christian (6-7).

Shelbyville senior overcomes two serious knee injuries to realize dream of playing college softball

No one would have blamed Brooke Lipperd for giving up on her dream of playing college softball.

Through her own determination and the support of her father and coach, Lipped overcame two serious knee injuries to make her dream a reality.

Lipperd recently signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her softball career at Franklin College. The Shelbyville senior will study Psychology.

“I wanted to go to a small school … close to home,” said Lipperd. “I like the people there. I’ve met with the Psychology (department) professors and they seem really nice.

“And coach (Angie) Bain is amazing. I like how she coaches. It just seems like a cool place to go. And my dad will be able to come to all my games.”

Lipperd and her father, Butch (photo, seated with Brooke), have grown together on the softball diamonds. She started out playing T-ball with the boys at Shelby County Babe Ruth Baseball.

Butch Lipperd formed the Waldron Wild softball team that Brooke transitioned to before fully embracing the travel softball world. She has been with the Midwest Astros organization for eight years now.

As a young girl taking hitting lessons, she became fascinated with those players that stayed and took pitching lessons too.

“It looked cool so I wanted to try it,” she said.

Soon Lipperd was a lefty slapper, utility player that could pitch. She was a true versatile athlete on the softball diamond.

One fateful day in May of 2018 changed Brooke Lipperd’s life forever. While playing in a travel ball tournament, she tried to avoid a tag while going into third base and felt her knee snap. She tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the meniscus in her right knee.

Lipperd had surgery June 18, 2018.

“It was horrible because I had surgery on both my knees because they had to take my patellar tendon out (of my left knee) and use it as my ACL in my right knee,” she explained.

An intense recovery and rehabilitation process had her back on the field before the calendar year ended. However, in her first tournament since the injury, she tore the ACL again while running hard to first base.

Lipped had surgery Dec. 5, 2018.

“Even after the first (injury), I was like I don’t know if I will ever be able to come back,” she said. “My dream was always to play Division I softball and then I tore (my ACL) a second time and I thought I was completely done with softball. I didn’t think there was any way I could play travel softball again.

“Now that I am playing (Division III), which is amazing, the fact that I am playing in college is insane to me.”

To keep her dream alive, Lipperd made the tough decision to retire as a pitcher.

“It was too hard on my knees,” she said. “Getting back, I wanted to focus on getting back into everything and not pitching.”

With the knee injury and the COVID-19 pandemic, Lipperd lost her first two years of high school softball. As a junior, she was 4-1 for the Golden Bears with a 2.83 earned run average over 34 innings of work.

Shelbyville has two quality pitchers returning from a 24-5 squad and another freshman pitcher that could see innings in the circle. That made the decision to stop pitching even easier.

Lipperd will fight for her playing time as a Golden Bear just as she did to keep her college dream alive.

“Wherever (coach Mark) Hensley needs me,” she said with a smile. “I like the outfield but I don’t know if he will put me there or at second base or third base.”

Lipperd will compete for a similar role at Franklin College, who finished 21-15 last season under first-year coach Angela Bain, who played collegiately at Valparaiso University and was an assistant coach at Butler for two years before being hired at Franklin College.

“I can just focus on hitting and fielding way more now than I ever have,” said Lipperd of her routine change this offseason. “I do miss pitching but it was just really hard on my knees. I could either pitch one day then not do anything the next day or I can just do hitting and fielding one day and go back-to-back-to-back. There are no restraints now.”

With just over two months from the official start of her senior softball season, Lipperd appreciates the time spent working on her skills more than anyone. And she never has to look very far to see her father, who is an assistant coach with the Golden Bears program.

“He is really excited,” she said. “He knew that I could always play college softball even after I tore it a second time. He was always right by my side pushing me to do better.

“He is my biggest supporter. He is so happy for me. I am so thankful for him and he is so excited about it. It’s all he talks about.”

Lipperd is the 13th Golden Bear to sign her letter of intent to play college softball since 2015 – and the third Class of 2022 graduate.

Kay Brokering started the run in 2015 when she signed with King University in Tennessee. She was followed by 2016 graduate Abey Bass (DePauw), 2017 graduates Hannah File (James Madison, now playing at Louisville), Natalie Weber (Franklin College) and Jaclyn Tackett (Franklin College), 2018 graduate TeAnn Bringle (Indiana State), 2020 graduates Morgan Stieneker (Olney Central College) and Erica Henry (Olney Central College) and 2021 graduates Addisenn Weaver (Valparaiso) and Katie Mathies (DePauw).

Lipperd joins classmates Cati Richardson (Manchester) and Karissa Hamilton (Kentucky) as headed to the next level.

And 2023 graduate Kylee Edwards has verbally committed to play at Mississippi State University.

Waldron remains top-ranked team in Class A

For the third consecutive week, the Waldron Mohawks are the top-ranked team in Class A girls basketball.

With wins over North Decatur and Knightstown, Waldron improved to 12-0 this season – the best start in program history – and is the only unbeaten team left in Class A.

There are six undefeated girls basketball programs left in the state of Indiana.

Previously unbeaten Vincennes Rivet suffered its first loss Dec. 18 at Gibson Southern and dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in this week’s Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association poll.

Lanesville (13-1), ranked No. 1 earlier this season, rises to No. 2 behind Waldron with Lafayette Central Catholic (9-2) moving up to No. 3 this week ahead of Vincennes Rivet (9-1).

Jac-Cen-Del (10-2) is No. 5 with North White (11-1), Tecumseh (7-4), Trinity Lutheran (7-2), Fort Wayne Blackhawk (10-3) and Kouts (10-4) rounding out the top 10.

In a battle of top 10 teams today, Trinity Lutheran is at Vincennes Rivet.

There are two unbeaten teams left in Class 2A and they sit atop the coaches poll.

Winchester (12-0) remains No. 1 ahead of South Central (Union Mills) (13-0).

Fairfield (12-1) is No. 3 ahead of Triton Central (11-1), who can clinch no worse than a share of the Indiana Crossroads Conference championship tonight with a win over Scecina (6-5).

Tipton (8-1) is tied with Triton Central at the No. 4 spot this week. Eastbrook (9-1) is No. 6 with Eastern Hancock (11-1) – the Royals’ only loss is to Triton Central, Forest Park (11-2), Frankton (11-2) and Cascade (11-2) completing the top 10.

The undefeated mark of South Central (Union Mills) will be challenged Thursday. The Satellites face Shelbyville (7-6) in the semifinal round of the Valparaiso Tournament. The other semifinal pits Knox (6-5) against Class 4A, No. 14 Valparaiso (11-1).

The only unbeaten left in Class 3A is Benton Central (12-0). The Bison are ranked No. 5 in this week’s poll.

South Bend Washington (13-2) is No. 1 ahead of Garrett (10-1), Silver Creek (13-1), Mishawaka Marian (10-2), Benton Central, Hamilton Heights (9-3), Washington (12-1), Norwell (10-3), Twin Lakes (9-3) and Corydon Central (11-1).

Crown Point (12-1) is the top-ranked team in Class 4A with Franklin (14-0), Noblesville (11-2), Bedford North Lawrence (12-1), Fishers (10-2), North Central (12-3), Westfield (11-2), Columbia City (13-0), Lake Central (10-2), Fort Wayne Snider (10-2) and Columbus East (11-2) rounding out the top 10.

Richardson opts to continue softball career at Manchester University

Cati Richardson has bided her time as an outfielder in the Shelbyville High School softball program.

As a junior in 2021, playing time was sporadic, but when offered opportunities she delivered for a team that finished 24-5. In 12 games, Richardson hit .385 which should put her at the front of the line to replace a pair of graduated outfielders and a third outfielder that will take on more catching responsibilities.

Despite limited playing time in a Golden Bear uniform, Richardson is an accomplished travel softball player, first in the Midwest Astros organization and now in the Shockwaves system.

The senior just recently signed her National Letter of Intent to play college softball at Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana.

“It was crazy,” said Richardson of her signing day. “It was pretty anticlimactic but it was fun because I never really thought I would play in college. I don’t think I could not play softball for the next four years. I’ve been playing since I was four years old so it would have been sad to end it when I had the chance to keep playing.”

Richardson met with Manchester coach Sara Emerich, who was 6-26 in her first season as head coach of the Spartans. This is her second stint with the program after she served as an assistant coach from 2013-2017 when Manchester won 60 games and produced eight All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference selections.

Richardson was impressed with Emerich, visited the north central Indiana campus and found the educational major she was seeking.

“I like how small it is and they have Environmental Sciences and that is what I want to major in,” she said. “I met the coach over the summer, she is really nice and it all just clicked.”

Richardson’s goal is to be a park ranger. Her passion for the outdoors was sparked by her parents’ signing her up for a hiking program.

“My sophomore year my parents dropped me off in North Carolina in the middle of nowhere and I went on a backpacking trip with a bunch of random people I didn’t know,” explained Richardson. “I got my junior park ranger badge.

“It was fun and now looking back on it, it was really cool.”

Richardson will minor in Criminology. After graduation, she will register for a 6-month program that will directly admit her into a seasonal park ranger pool that can lead to a full-time position.

After the holiday break, Richardson will start vying for a starting role with another talented Golden Bears squad during preseason workouts. By March, her senior season will kick off and go by quickly.

Then the next challenge presents itself at Manchester where she starts all over as a freshman.

“I’m pretty sure my freshman year of high school was the worst year of my life,” she laughed. “I would do anything to erase that.

“Hopefully, my college freshman year goes better.”

Photo: Cati Richardson celebrated signing her letter of intent to play college softball at Manchester University with Shelbyville High School softball head coach Mark Hensley and assistant coach Megan Cory.

Shelbyville swimmers collect three conference titles

Three Shelbyville swimmers captured Hoosier Heritage Conference titles at New Palestine – and one set a new school record.

Juan Gonzalez-Gallego (main photo) won the 100-yard butterfly in 53.79 seconds to break Dylan Harker’s 2016 record of 54.05. Gonzalez-Gallego, a junior exchange student, won the race Saturday by 2.75 seconds over Pendleton Heights’ Jacob Simpson.

Gonzalez-Gallego’s teammate, Will Rife, finished fourth in 58.84.

 

 

Shelbyville senior Tyler Harker (photo) took the lead and never relinquished it while winning the 200 freestyle in 1:48.9. Harker also finished runner-up in the 500 freestyle in 5:01.41. Yorktown’s Henry Ko won the race in 4:57.79.

Gonzalez-Gallego had a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley (2:05.51). Mt. Vernon’s Matthew Garey touched first in 2:02.14 with Delta’s Zachary Baty second in 2:05.29.

Rife also had a sixth-place finish in the 50 freestyle (24.29).

 

 

In the girls meet Friday night at New Palestine, Shelbyville senior Karissa Hamilton (photo) led from start-to-finish in the 50 freestyle, besting the field with a time of 24.82 – just .31 seconds from her school record time of 24.51.

Hamilton also finished fifth in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.87.

Other top-15 finishers in the HHC meet for Shelbyville were Marlee Rice (7th in 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle), Michael Fox (15th in 200 freestyle, 14th in 100 backstroke), Tristin Maloney (13th in 100 butterfly) and Lance File (15th in 100 freestyle).

Prep Report: Waldron's Mitchell nets 37 points in triple-overtime win at Southwestern

Four players totaled 100 points Saturday night in Waldron’s 61-56 triple-overtime victory at Southwestern.

Lucas Mitchell scored a season-high 37 points for Waldron (4-2) and Bryce Yarling had 20 to carry the Mohawks to the non-conference win. Lucas Shaw finished with four points to complete Waldron’s scoring.

Waldron led 12-11, 22-19 and 37-33 at each of the quarter breaks before the game was tied at the end of regulation and the first two overtime periods.

 

 

Jordan Jones hit five three-pointers to lead Southwestern (2-4) with 23 points. Aiden Hartsell finished with 20 and Grant Emerick had nine.

Waldron was 8 of 16 from the free-throw line while Southwestern converted just 3 of 6.

Waldron is at Oldenburg Academy (2-5) on Dec. 27.

Southwestern is part of the tournament field at Monrovia on Dec. 28.

North Decatur 54, Triton Central 50, OT

At North Decatur, the host Chargers connected on 7 of 10 free throws in the overtime period to secure the victory over Triton Central (5-3).

Lance Nobbe led North Decatur with 15 points. Kaden Muckerheide and Carson Parmer each had 12.

North Decatur led 20-16 at halftime but the game was tied 33-all at the end of the third quarter and 43-all at the end of regulation.

 

 

Josiah Blair topped Triton Central with 17 points. No other Tiger reached double digits in the loss.

Caleb Miller had eight points and Alex Crouse finished with seven.

Triton Central coach Kyle Ballard has confirmed that senior forward Aiden Lindsey is out for the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee that will require surgery.

Lindsey suffered the injury on Dec. 8 in a loss at Greenfield-Central. He averaged 15 points and four rebounds in his team’s first four games this season.

Triton Central will face Hamilton Heights (2-4) in the second semifinal game Wednesday of the Franklin County Tournament. The host Wildcats (4-2) battle Seton Catholic (7-1) in the first semifinal.

Here is a look at other boys basketball games Friday:

South Decatur 72, Morristown 40

At South Decatur, the visiting Yellow Jackets fell behind 26-5 after one quarter and never recovered.

Nick Stidham scored eight of his team-high 15 points in the second quarter when Morristown (0-6, 0-4 MHC) stabilized itself on the road.

 

 

Nolan Laster added 14 points.

Hunter Johnson and Jalen Scruggs combined for 46 points to lead the Cougars (4-3, 1-0 MHC).

Johnson finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Scruggs had 22 points, seven rebounds and eight steals.

Following the holiday break, Morristown will host a seven-team holiday tournament Dec. 29 at the Bee Hive.

Lutheran 71, Southwestern 61

At Southwestern, the Saints’ depth produced a pair of 20-point quarters in the second half to secure the road win.

Cayden Loescher, Mitchell Lee and Micah Mackay combined for 16 third-quarter points while K.J. Patterson, Ethan Cutshaw, Kam Patterson and Montasi Clay combined for 18 points in the fourth.

Loescher finished with a team-high 15 points for Lutheran (4-0). Mackay had 12 and K.J. Patterson had 11 while Clay and Lee finished with eight apiece.

 

 

Aiden Hartsell was held scoreless in the first quarter when the Saints built a 14-6 lead but scored 22 points over the final three quarters to lead Southwestern.

Jordan Jones finished with 14 and Conner Jewell had nine.

Triton Central 65, Cascade 55

At Triton Central, Josiah Blair scored 20 points to lead Triton Central to the Indiana Crossroads Conference victory.

Josh Kemper had 15 points and Isaac Morgan had nine.

 

 

Six different Tigers scored in the opening quarter that ended with TC leading 19-16. Blair had eight in the second quarter as the Tigers extended the lead to 35-26.

Morgan had seven of his nine points in the third as the Cadets (3-4, 1-2 ICC) gave chase but still trailed 51-41 going into the final quarter.

Gage Alexander led Cascade with a game-high 22 points. Devon Weigle added 11 and Cayden Watson finished with 10.

Golden Bears drop pair of weekend HHC road games

There was no early Christmas present for the Golden Bears boys basketball team over the weekend.  A Friday – Saturday that featured two Hoosier Heritage Conference contests on the road ended with a pair of losses, 81-50 at Mt. Vernon on Friday and a 51-44 overtime decision at Yorktown Saturday.

 

In Saturday’s back-and-forth conference tilt, Shelbyville turned a six point halftime deficit, 19-13, into a brief third quarter lead.  But the Golden Bears were again down six entering the fourth quarter, 31-25.

 

A fourth quarter rally by SHS put the Bears up by three, 39-36.  But Shelbyville’s lack of rebounding cost the Bears in the closing minute.  Outrebounded 27-15 for the game, Shelbyville was unable to secure a defensive rebound and gave up four three-point attempts on the same trip up the floor.  The fourth attempt by backup guard Jason Williams from the left corner tied the game at 39.

 

In the extra session, Yorktown (3-2, 2-1 HHC) outscored Shelbyville 12-5 powered by 7-of-8 free throws.

 

A.J. Dunn led Yorktown with 19 points.  Starting Tigers’ point guard Jacob Grim added 13.

 

Shelbyville’s Ollie Sandman led all scorers with 22 points including five three-pointers.

 

Friday’s trip to Fortville started quickly for the heavily favored Marauders.  Mt. Vernon (4-1, 2-0 HHC) jumped out to a 35-7 first quarter lead powered by the highlight reel dunks of 6’4” IUPUI-bound senior forward Amhad Jarrard.  Jarrard threw down three first quarter dunks including a windmill in transition that brought the Marauder fans to their feet.

 

Jarrard finished with eight points, all on dunks.

 

Jarrard’s brother, 6’3” Armon, led the nine Marauders in the scoring columns with 13.  That included an alley-oop second half dunk off a feed from his brother. 

Armon is also going to play college basketball at IUPUI.

 

Ollie Sandman was the only Golden Bear in double figures for the second consecutive game. Sandman scored 24 on 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-8 from behind the 3-pt arc.

 

Shelbyville (1-7, 0-3 HHC) has lost seven in a row.  The Golden Bears will host Franklin on December 29. 

Prep Report: Waldron runs record to 12-0 with two impressive victories

With a pair of convincing victories, Waldron should hold on to the top ranking in Class A for a third consecutive week.

On Friday, the Class A, No. 1 Mohawks used a 22-point third quarter to pull away for a 59-35 win at North Decatur.

Hadlie Ross, Nichole Garner and Bella Larrison combined for 19 of those points in the decisive quarter. Larrison finished with a game-high 19 points to keep the Mohawks unbeaten and a perfect 4-0 against Mid-Hoosier Conference schools.

Ross scored 12 points while Garner finished with seven. Mackenzie Shaw and Megan Bogemann each added six.

Waldron led 15-7 after one quarter and 25-20 at halftime before outscoring the Chargers (10-5, 0-1 MHC) 22-5 in the third quarter.

Kelsey Haley hit four three-pointers to lead North Decatur with 12 points. Ella Kunz had seven points.

On Saturday, Waldron improved to 12-0 this season with a 57-7 win over Knightstown (1-13).

Garner led the Mohawks with 12 points. Bogemann finished with 10. Eight different Waldron players scored.

Waldron scored the first 28 points of the game and led 45-5 at halftime.

Waldron entered the weekend as one of just nine girls basketball teams still unbeaten this season. The Mohawks start this week as one of six after Fairfield, Vincennes Rivet – the No. 2 team in Class A, and Edgewood suffered losses.

Waldron will host a four-team tournament on Dec. 28.

The Mohawks face Batesville in the first semifinal with Union County and Blackford in the second semifinal.

In other girls basketball games Saturday:

Franklin 68, Shelbyville 28

At Franklin, the visiting Golden Bears (7-6) did not have enough offensive firepower to keep up with the Class 4A, No. 2 Grizzly Cubs (14-0).

Kylee Edwards scored 21 of Shelbyville’s 28 points.

 

 

Ashlyn Traylor led Franklin with 21 points. Adelyn Walker followed with 13 points and Lauren Klem had nine.

Franklin led 18-11 after one quarter then put together a 23-point second quarter for a 41-15 lead at halftime.

The Golden Bears travel to Valparaiso Thursday to compete in the Viking Holiday Tournament.

In the first semifinal, Valparaiso takes on Knox. Shelbyville follows against unbeaten South Central (Union Mills) in the second semifinal.

Morristown 50, Rising Sun 26

At Morristown, the host Yellow Jackets ended a three-game losing streak with a strong performance against the Shiners (4-8).

Raegan Kleine topped Morristown (6-6) with 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

 

 

Gracie Laster had 12 points and six steals. Nevaeh Sanders followed with eight points and six steals.

Danika Rutledge had six points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Morristown led 12-3 after one quarter and 26-9 at halftime.

The Yellow Jackets next compete in the Cambridge City Classic on Dec. 30.

Cambridge City Lincoln hosts Milan in the first tournament semifinal game. Morristown follows against Randolph Southern.

Area basketball teams headed to holiday tournaments around the state

Nine of the 10 Shelby County high school basketball teams will chase holiday tournament titles through the end of 2021.

Only Shelbyville’s boys basketball program is not participating in a holiday tournament this season.

Here is a look at upcoming holiday tournament featuring Shelby County basketball programs.

Boys basketball

Franklin County Tournament

The four-team tournament takes place Wednesday.

In the opening game at 10:30 a.m., Seton Catholic (7-1) faces the host Wildcats (3-2).

 

 

The second semifinal features Hamilton Heights (2-3) and Triton Central (4-2).

The consolation game tips off at 4 p.m. The championship game is at 8 p.m.

Morristown Tournament

Morristown is hosting a 7-team tournament at the Bee Hive on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30.

The athletic department is still configuring the tournament with the hope of adding an eighth team to complete the field.

 

 

Currently scheduled to compete are South Dearborn (4-1), New Washington (1-2), Randolph Southern (2-2), South Ripley (2-2), Class 2A, No. 5 Covenant Christian (4-1), 2A No. 16 Clinton Prairie (5-0) and Morristown (0-5).

Bulldog Holiday Classic

At Monrovia, eight teams will take part in the two-day tournament starting Dec. 28.

The opening game pits Tri-West (2-1) against the host Bulldogs (2-2).

 

 

Southwestern (2-2) takes the court at approximately 10:30 a.m. against Mitchell (4-1). If Southwestern wins, it will face the winner of the Tri-West/Monrovia game. If Southwestern loses, it will face the loser of the Tri-West/Monrovia game.

Danville (3-1) follows against Greenwood Christian (2-4).

Milan (0-5) closes out the opening round against 2A No. 22 Tipton (3-2).

Batesville Tournament

In a one-day tournament Dec. 30, Waldron (3-2) kicks off the action at 10 a.m. against Batesville (1-4).

 

 

The other semifinal matchup pits Jennings County (4-1) against 3A No. 5 North Harrison (4-0).

The consolation game tips at 4 p.m. with the championship game following at 6 p.m.

Girls basketball

Valparaiso Tournament

Shelbyville will travel north for a second-straight season to compete in Valparaiso.

The four-team tournament tips off at 11 a.m. Thursday with Knox (6-5) taking on 4A No. 13 Valparaiso (9-1).

 

 

Shelbyville (7-5) follows at approximately 1 p.m. against 2A No. 3 South Central (Union Mills) (12-0) – one of nine girls basketball teams still unbeaten this season.

The consolation game is at 6 p.m. with the championship game to follow.

Triton Central Tournament

Triton Central is hosting an 8-team tournament on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29.

On Dec. 28 at 9 a.m., 2A No. 4 Triton Central (11-1) hosts Franklin County (7-6).

Southport (7-5) follows against Northeastern (4-8).

 

 

Triton Central would face either the winner or loser of Southport/Northeastern based on its outcome against Franklin County.

At approximately noon, Elkhart (6-5) battles Danville (6-3).

The final pairing pits Class A, No. 4 Jac-Cen-Del (10-2) against Heritage Christian (6-5).

Triton Central will host junior varsity games as well with seven of the eight games played in its fieldhouse.

Triton Central’s junior varsity will play at noon in the fieldhouse on Dec. 28 against Franklin County. The Tigers return Dec. 29 for a 1 p.m. game in the main gym against Danville.

Cambridge City Classic

Morristown travels east on Dec. 30 for the four-team tournament in Cambridge City.

The opening game Dec. 30 pits Milan (3-9) at Cambridge City Lincoln (0-8).

 

 

The second semifinal features Randolph Southern (5-6) and Morristown (5-6).

The consolation game is set for 6 p.m. with the championship game to follow.

Edinburgh Holiday Classic

The 8-team tournament opens Tuesday in Edinburgh and concludes Wednesday.

The opening game Tuesday has the host Lancers (7-4) taking on Believe Circle City.

Knightstown (1-11) follows against Lutheran (2-7).

 

 

The bottom half of the bracket has Hagerstown (3-4) facing South Dearborn (1-11) and South Ripley (7-6) against Southwestern (4-6).

A Southwestern win would advance the Spartans into the semifinal round at 8 p.m. against the winner of the Hagerstown/South Dearborn game.

A Southwestern loss would set up an 8 p.m. loser’s bracket game in the auxiliary gym against the loser of the Hagerstown/South Dearborn game.

The tournament championship game is slated for 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Waldron Tournament

Waldron (10-0), the top team in Class A, will open its tournament on Dec. 28 at 9 a.m. against Batesville (2-9).

 

 

The other semifinal pits Union County (5-3) against Blackford (5-2).

The consolation game is set for 2:30 p.m.

The championship game tips off at 6 p.m.

Triton Central tops Speedway to close in on ICC title

Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central took one step closer to securing the Indiana Crossroads Conference title Thursday with a 51-33 win over Speedway.

Olivia Faust scored a game-high 18 points. Lizzie Graham followed with 15 and Maddy Brown had 12 to push the Tigers to 11-1 this season and 5-0 in the ICC.

Graham scored 10 first-quarter points to push Triton Central to a 16-10 lead.

Faust had six in the second quarter as the lead grew to 26-17 at the half.

Brown and Faust combined for 12 points in the third quarter when the lead expanded to 40-22.

Five different Speedway players scored in the fourth but TC’s lead remained in double digits.

Camiell Perry and Audrey Wendel each scored nine points to lead Speedway (7-4, 3-1 ICC). Alex Delisle finished with six points.

Triton Central is the lone unbeaten team in the ICC standings.

Cascade (4-1 ICC) and Speedway each have one loss – both from Triton Central.

Ritter (3-3), Scecina (1-2), Beech Grove (1-2), Monrovia (0-4) and Lutheran (0-4) round out the conference standings.

Triton Central held Speedway scoreless in the first and third quarters of the junior varsity game in a 31-16 victory Thursday.

Hailey Harris led the Tigers with 12 points. Jocelyn Firebaugh finished with nine points.

Triton Central can clinch no worse than a share of the ICC title with a win Tuesday at Scecina (6-4, 1-2).

Record-setting TC volleyball player signs with IU Kokomo

Julia Sanders tells a familiar tale.

Driven to continue her volleyball career at the collegiate level, the Triton Central senior found the recruiting process daunting.

Then a coach from a volleyball program she knew nothing about showed interest. Suddenly, Sanders found her future home, one quite similar to the one she has at Triton Central.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sanders signed her national letter of intent to play college volleyball at Indiana University Kokomo.

“It’s crazy. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” said Sanders. “The whole recruiting process made me really nervous. I was scared the whole time because it’s not an easy process, but now that it’s over, I feel relieved and am happy with my decision.”

A member of Team Indiana Volleyball Club out of Indianapolis, Sanders, the daughter of Vince and Jill Sanders, was looking for the right fit. She just didn’t expect that opportunity to come knocking on her door.

“I was contacted by coach (Heather Hayes) and I didn’t know IU Kokomo was a good volleyball program,” said Sanders. “She came to a practice and she was so nice. She is definitely the first reason I was interested in there.

“Then I went on a visit and met the girls and saw the campus and fell in love. I wanted a small campus and that is exactly what IU Kokomo is. They definitely feel like a family, which is what Triton Central feels like. I felt like I was seen there because it’s smaller and I didn’t just feel like a number. I felt like I would have a role there on that team.”

IU Kokomo won the River States Conference Championship tournament for the fourth straight season and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament with a 28-8 record.

The 2021 season ended with a 3-0 loss to Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. The NAIA tournament appearance was the seventh straight for the Cougars.

“They have good coaches and people that I think will push (Julia) to keep getting better,” said Triton Central volleyball coach Ray Basile. “It’s a local program and as you can see here she has a lot of friends and family here (for the signing).

“Selfishly, I can go watch her play and they can go watch her play. It’s close enough we can all get to see her.”

Sanders, a defensive specialist, leaves Triton Central with program records for single season digs and career records for digs and service aces.

“The stats don’t show everything you lose when someone like that goes away,” said Basile. “People don’t think of the libero as an offensive player but if you listen to the stuff I hear her talking about on the floor, the mental stuff and telling players where to go and where to hit the ball, it was like having a floor general out there helping the offense too.

“It’s a big loss for us and a huge gain for them.”

Sanders will major in Health Science with the goal of becoming a physician’s assistant.

Staying close to home, finding an opportunity to compete right away in a successful program, and the right educational track made IU Kokomo an attractive destination.

“(Location) was definitely a big factor because I had some opportunities to go further away,” she said. “In the end, it came back to I wanted anyone that wants to watch me can come watch me. My family likes to support me and they can easily now. And I can come home when I need to.”

With a strong senior class graduating, Sanders believes she has an opportunity to earn playing time as a freshman.

“From what the coach has told me and what I’ve seen, I feel like I have a very equal opportunity to play,” said Sanders. “They have a couple of DS (defensive specialists) graduating this year, they have a big senior class so that means a lot of freshmen coming in but I am the only DS coming in that I know of that is signed.

“There are a lot of good DS in front of me but I don’t think it’s out of my reach to be on the floor next year.”

 

Prep Report: Edwards leads Shelbyville to HHC win at Greenfield-Central

Kylee Edwards scored 12 of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to lead Shelbyville to a 54-50 Hoosier Heritage Conference road victory Tuesday at Greenfield-Central.

Edwards (photo) opened the game with 11 points in the first quarter to stake Shelbyville (7-5, 2-2 HHC) to an early 19-10 lead.

The Cougars (1-9, 0-3 HHC) picked up the pace in the second quarter to get within 26-24 by halftime.

A 14-point third quarter propelled Greenfield-Central to a 38-36 victory before Edwards caught fire again in the fourth quarter and got key three-pointers from Madison Bassett and Madison Phares to seal the win.

Edwards was a perfect 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.

Phares finished with nine points and Bassett added eight.

Chaney Brown scored 24 points to lead Greenfield-Central. Taylor Smith finished with 13.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 10-1 with a 32-23 victory.

The Golden Bears travel to Class 4A, No. 2 Franklin (12-0) Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Boys basketball

Greenwood 52, Shelbyville 30

At Shelbyville, a slow start by the Golden Bears led to the program’s fifth-straight loss.

Ollie Sandman finished with a game-high 20 points for Shelbyville (1-5), but no other Golden Bear scored more than two points.

 

 

Greenwood (4-2) built a 20-9 lead after one quarter behind three 3s from Jake Mosemann.

The Woodmen’s lead grew to 31-18 at the half and 39-22 after three quarters.

Mosemann led a balanced offensive attack with 14 points. Adam Ellinghausen finished with 12 points. Noah Apgar had 10 and Cade Kelly added nine.

Greenwood won the junior varsity game, 35-29, and the freshman game, 47-41.

Shelbyville travels to Mt. Vernon (1-1, 1-1 HHC) Friday and Yorktown (2-1, 1-0 HHC) Saturday.

Girls basketball

Triton Central 62, Indianapolis Ritter 29

At Triton Central, the Class 2A, No. 4 Tigers remained atop the Indiana Crossroads Conference standings and improved to 10-1.

The Tigers (4-0 ICC) held the Raiders scoreless in the second quarter to take a 25-9 lead into halftime.

Lizzie Graham hit four 3s in the third quarter to extend the lead to 45-19. Graham led the Tigers with 21 points.

 

 

Olivia Faust had 13 points and Brooklyn Bailey added 10.

Kelsey Waggoner led Ritter (5-8, 3-3 ICC) with 16 points. Olivia Webb had 11.

Speedway (7-3, 3-0 ICC) is the only other ICC team unbeaten in the conference standings. The Sparkplugs are at Triton Central Thursday.

Triton Central won the junior varsity game, 55-22.

Hailey Harris had a game-high 18 points. Olivia Williams finished with 11 points and Kennedy Brown had nine.

Boys swimming

East Central 123, Shelbyville 57

At East Central, three Shelbyville swimmers won four individual events.

Tyler Harker collected first-place points after winning the 200-yard freestyle in 1:52.51 and the 500 freestyle in 5:15.25.

Will Rife won the 50 freestyle in 24.84.

Juan Gonzalez-Gallego touched the wall first in 57.59 -- .06 ahead of East Central’s Ayden Ketchem.

 

 

Harker, Rife and Gonzalez-Gallego teamed with Trey Carrell to finish second in the 200 medley relay (1:50.93) and 200 freestyle relay (1:38.01).

Gonzalez-Gallego was runner-up in the 200 individual medley (2:15.19).

Carrell was runner-up in the 100 freestyle (54.18).

Shelbyville will travel to New Palestine Saturday for the Hoosier Heritage Conference Meet.

Girls swimming

East Central 112, Shelbyville 58

At East Central, Shelbyville’s Miriam Garringer and Karissa Hamilton each won two races and Marlee Rice added a fifth win for the Golden Bears.

Garringer won the 200 freestyle in 2:14.4 and the 500 freestyle in 6:13.2.

Hamilton took first in the 50 freestyle (25.57) and 100 backstroke (1:06.82).

Rice won the 100 freestyle in 59.25.

 

 

Jordan Tobler was runner-up in the 100 butterfly (1:25.21).

Garringer, Hamilton, Rice and Tobler combined for a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay.

Garringer and Rice teamed with Kylie Stader and Bella Matney for a runner-up finish in the 400 freestyle relay.

Shelbyville will compete Saturday in the Hoosier Heritage Conference Meet at New Palestine.

Collegiate Update: Langkabel, 24th-ranked Knights improve to 9-2

Hayden Langkabel had seven points, five rebounds, one assist and two blocked shots Sunday in Marian’s 76-55 win over Saint Ambrose University.

The 24th-ranked Knights improved to 9-2 this season.

On Saturday, Marian defeated Miami-Middletown 101-41. Langkabel had seven points, two rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

 

 

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had nine points, one rebound and one assist Saturday for Loyola in a 69-48 win at Central Michigan.

The Ramblers improved to 7-3 this season.

On Wednesday, Loyola defeated Eastern Illinois 58-48. Chandler had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals as the Ramblers improved to 5-0 at home this season.

 

 

Rylie Stephens

The Triton Central graduate had one steal and one rebound Saturday in Evansville’s 79-49 win over Morehead State.

The Purple Aces are 6-3 this year.

 

 

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals Saturday for Hanover in a 71-67 loss at Defiance College.

The Panthers are 4-3 this season and 1-1 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contests.

 

 

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate had five points, two rebounds and one assist Saturday in York College’s 100-78 loss at Ottawa (Kansas).

York is 4-11 this season.

 

 

Kenzie Ryle

The Triton Central graduate had one rebound and two assists Wednesday in Earlham College’s 75-42 loss against Rose-Hulman.

The Quakers are 0-8 this season and 0-3 in HCAC games.

Laster nets 21 points in Morristown's loss to Oldenburg Academy

Nolan Laster scored a game-high 21 points but it was not enough to get the Yellow Jackets their first win of the season.

C.J. Grote connected on five three-pointers and scored 20 points while a trio of Twisters combined for 16 more to lead Oldenburg Academy to a 44-27 road victory Monday night in Morristown.

The Twisters led 9-5 after one quarter then outscored the Yellow Jackets 13-4 in the second quarter to take a 22-9 lead at halftime.

Morristown won the third quarter, 10-9, but the Twisters (2-3) kept their distance over the final eight minutes.

Dyllon Stewart finished with six points for Oldenburg and Frank Moorman and Nick Folop each had five.

Nick Stidham scored four points for Morristown, off to an 0-5 start for the first time since the 2008 season.

Morristown travels to South Decatur (2-3) Friday for a Mid-Hoosier Conference game.

Waldron on top of Class A girls basketball state rankings

For the second consecutive week, the Waldron Mohawks are the No. 1 team in Class A.

Now 10-0, the Mohawks are ranked No. 1 ahead of Vincennes Rivet (8-0), Lanesville (11-1), Jac-Cen-Del (9-1), Lafayette Central Catholic (7-2), Trinity Lutheran (6-2), Tecumseh (5-4), Kouts (9-3), North White (9-1) and Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian (8-2).

Waldron and Vincennes Rivet are two of 10 girls basketball teams in the state still unbeaten.

 

 

Triton Central slipped to No. 4 in the latest Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association’s Class 2A poll. All three teams ahead of the Tigers are undefeated.

Winchester (10-0) is No. 1 followed by Fairfield (10-0), South Central (Union Mills) (10-0), Triton Central (9-1), Forest Park (10-1), Tipton (6-1), Eastbrook (7-1), Eastern Hancock (9-1), Frankton (8-2), Cascade (9-2) and Rensselaer Central (10-3).

Two of the top 10, Cascade and Eastern Hancock, have been beaten by Triton Central.

The Class 3A top 10 includes South Bend Washington (12-2), Silver Creek (11-0), Garrett (9-1), Benton Central (10-0), Mishawaka Marian (9-2), Washington (9-1), Hamilton Heights (7-3), Norwell (8-3), Evansville Memorial (6-1) and Edgewood (11-0).

Crown Point (11-1) is No. 1 in Class 4A with Franklin (11-0) sitting at No. 2 ahead of Noblesville (9-1), Fishers (9-1), Bedford North Lawrence (10-1), Homestead (9-1), North Central (11-3), Columbia City (10-0), Columbus East (10-1) and Lake Central (10-1).

Shelbyville swimming sets two Shelby Relays meet records

Shelbyville High School’s girls swim team did not have the depth to compete for the team title Saturday in the Shelby Relays, but did have the talent to win three events and set two meet records.

Columbus East edged out Pendleton Heights, 118-112, to capture the Shelby Relays’ girls team title. Yorktown was third at 100 points. Mt. Vernon (88) was fourth ahead of Shelbyville (78), Chatard (64) and Batesville (62).

The Golden Bears’ speed was on full display in the 100-yard freestyle relay. Karissa Hamilton, Miriam Garringer, Jordan Tobler and Marlee Rice (photo) won the event in a Shelby Relays record 49.14 seconds – nearly four seconds faster than runner-up Columbus East (53.13).

 

 

Rice, Garringer and Hamilton (photo) also set a Shelby Relays record in winning the 150 backstroke relay. The trio’s time of 1:27.94 was nearly a full six seconds faster than Columbus East’s time of 1:33.93.

Shelbyville also took first place in the 375 freestyle relay, or crescendo relay (25-50-100-200). Tobler, Rice, Hamilton and Garringer touched the wall first in 3:45.8. Pendleton Heights was runner-up (4:06.3).

The same Golden Bears quartet also was runner-up in the 400 freestyle relay (3:59.04).

Mt. Vernon collected the Shelby Relays’ boys team title with a two-point victory over Yorktown, 122-120.

Columbus East (94) was third ahead of Chatard (80), Shelbyville (76), Batesville (70) and Pendleton Heights (70).

The Golden Bears’ best finish came in the 150 butterfly. Will Rife, Tyler Harker and Juan Gonzalez-Gallego stopped the clock in 1:17.07 -- .68 behind the winning time of 1:16.39 set by Mt. Vernon.

Shelbyville also had four third-place finishes.

Harker, Gonzalez-Gallego and Rife teamed with Trey Carrell to finish third in the 400 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

Gonzalez-Gallego and Harker placed third in the 1,000 freestyle relay.

Tristin Maloney, Lance File, Michael Fox and Rife finished third in the 200 freestyle relay.

Shelbyville returns to the pool Tuesday at East Central.

The Hoosier Heritage Conference Meet is Saturday at New Palestine.

Prep Report: Triton Central improves to 9-1 with win over Southwestern

Class 2A, No. 4 Triton Central used a 23-point second quarter to roll past Southwestern, 66-28.

The Tigers (9-1) led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter Saturday night then hit four three-pointers over the second eight minutes to pull away from the Spartans (4-6).

Lizzie Graham scored nine of her game-high 16 points in that second quarter. Maddy Brown made a pair of 3s in the quarter on the way to 15 points. Olivia Faust added 14.

Lilly Rooks topped Southwestern with 12 points. Lily Kerber and Faith Kelley each had six.

Triton Central won the junior varsity game, 56-7.

Hailey Harris finished with a game-high 17 points for the Tigers. Jocelyn Firebaugh had 12 and Lauren Grant had 10.

Amber Benson scored all seven points for Southwestern.

Triton Central hosts Indianapolis Ritter (5-7, 3-2 Indiana Crossroads Conference) Tuesday. The Tigers lead the ICC standings with a 3-0 mark.

Southwestern (2-1 Mid-Hoosier Conference) hosts Morristown (5-6, 1-1 MHC) Tuesday.

In other prep events Saturday:

Girls basketball

Jac-Cen-Del 58, Morristown 28

At Morristown, Class A, No. 4 Jac-Cen-Del improved to 9-1 with a strong second-half performance at the Bee Hive.

The Eagles led 21-11 at halftime then outscored the Yellow Jackets (5-6) 37-17 over the final two quarters.

Desiree Sparks led Jac-Cen-Del with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Olivia Neal and Jalee Rider each had nine and Annabelle Williams finished with eight points, seven rebounds, seven steals and four assists.

 

 

Danika Rutledge and Raegan Kleine each scored seven points to lead a Morristown squad missing three varsity players. Rutledge also had five rebounds. Kleine had three assists and three steals.

Alexia Rogers finished with six points.

Morristown has lost three straight games against opponents ranked in the top five in their respective classes.

The Yellow Jackets are at Southwestern Tuesday.

Boys basketball

Whiteland 85, Shelbyville 65

At Whiteland, the host Warriors jumped out to a 23-10 lead after one quarter and never trailed again.

Max Sullivan and Drew Higdon combined for 19 first-quarter points to propel Whiteland (4-1) to the lead.

Sullivan scored 13 more in the third quarter on the way to a team-high 24 points. Higdon finished with 23 and Wiatt McLaughlin added 18.

The Warriors led 38-25 at halftime and scored 29 points in the third quarter to build a 29-point lead.

 

 

Ollie Sandman hit four second-half 3s to lead Shelbyville (1-4) with 24 points.

Jakob Heaton and Aidan Asher each had 14.

The Golden Bears have lost four straight and are allowing 68.2 points per game this season.

Shelbyville hosts Greenwood (3-2) Tuesday at Garrett Gymnasium.

Wrestling

Plainfield Invitational

Triton Central finished sixth in the 8-team field.

Hamilton Southeastern, ranked No. 20 in the state poll, won the team title with 257.5 points. Terre Haute South was runner-up (220). Plainfield (188), Martinsville (182), South Dearborn (130), Triton Central (113), Danville (94) and Brebeuf (52) rounded out the field.

 

 

Triton Central’s Ethan Booth defeated Danville’s Everett Wallace in the third-place match at 113 pounds, 15-9. Booth went 3-1 in the invitational.

At 126, Triton Central’s Landen Gaddy pinned Hamilton Southeastern’s Nick Burris in 47 seconds in the third-place match. Gaddy finished with a 3-1 record.

Caden Alfrey (120), Lucas Lee (132) and Zach Stewart (138) each finished 2-2 and in fourth place in their respective brackets.

Ethan McGivern also finished 2-2 at 285 to take fifth place.

Triton Central is at Greenwood Tuesday for a dual match.

Prep Report: Southwestern wins defensive battle at Trinity Lutheran

Southwestern overcame a slow start with a strong finish to defeat Trinity Lutheran, 31-28.

The Cougars took a 9-2 lead Friday after one quarter and still led Southwestern 25-19 after three quarters, but the Spartans connected on 7 of 10 free-throw attempts over the final eight minutes to pull out the victory and even their record at 2-2.

Aiden Hartsell led the Spartans with 15 points. Jordan Jones scored eight and Matthew Clements and Grant Emerick each had four.

Southwestern outscored Trinity Lutheran (1-2) 12-3 in the final quarter.

The 31 points is the lowest winning point total for Southwestern in head coach Brady Days 16 seasons at the southern Shelby County school.

Mitchell Hackman scored nine of his team-high 11 points in the first half for Trinity Lutheran. Sage Broughton finished with five points.

Southwestern’s next two games are at home, hosting Lutheran (1-0) on Friday and Waldron (3-2) Saturday.

In another boys basketball game Friday:

Greensburg 61, Triton Central 43

At Greensburg, the host Pirates used a 10-0 run in the second quarter to build a 32-20 lead at the half that they never relinquished.

 

 

Triton Central (4-2) got as close as five points in the fourth quarter but could not pull off the comeback.

Ki Dyer topped Greensburg (3-0) with 14 points. Jeter Edwards had 13 and Colin Comer added 12 for the Pirates.

Josh Kemper led TC with 16 points. Alex Crouse finished with seven.

The Tigers open their Indiana Crossroads Conference schedule Friday when Cascade (2-2, 1-1 ICC) visits Fairland.

Third-quarter blitz propels Waldron over Morristown

Five straight three-pointers over a three-minute stretch in the third quarter Friday night were enough for Waldron to pull away from Morristown for a 53-40 win.

Trailing 24-22 early in the third quarter, Waldron went on a 17-0 run that included three 3s from Bryce Yarling and trifectas from Lucas Shaw and Caden Sheaffer that put the Yellow Jackets down 39-24.

Morristown (0-4, 0-3 Mid-Hoosier Conference) failed to get the lead back under double digits from there and lost to Waldron for the first time since Dec. 9, 2016.

Yarling hit five 3s on the way to a game-high 30 points for Waldron (3-2, 1-1 MHC). The junior guard also had eight rebounds and three assists.

Lucas Mitchell finished with 12 points and four rebounds. Sheaffer had four points, five rebounds and two steals.

“We started hitting shots and I think we worked a little harder to get decent looks,” said Waldron coach Beau Scott of the third-quarter run. “In the first half, we were impatient and not really working the ball. It was good to see the confidence from those guys.”

Morristown raced out to a 10-3 lead on 3s from Nolan Laster and Mathew Carlton and baskets from Carson Conrad and Cade Mahin.

Waldron struggled to find its offensive rhythm and trailed 16-12 at the end of the quarter.

Both teams had a hard time scoring in the second quarter. Yarling had all eight of Waldron’s points.

 

 

Morristown’s Nick Stidham scored in the lane just ahead of the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 20-all.

The Yellow Jackets opened up a 24-22 lead before Shaw scored off a Mitchell assist that started the 17-0 run.

Yarling followed with a 3 from the wing. Shaw splashed another 3 from the corner. Sheaffer nailed one from the top of the key and Yarling hit back-to-back corner 3s.

“It comes back to some of the stuff we are struggling with like turnovers,” said Morristown coach Collin McCartt. “And they got loose … our guys have a little bit of trouble still, and we are young, letting things snowball a little bit.”

Mitchell and Yarling each scored six points in the final quarter to keep Morristown at bay.

Laster finished with 19 points and three steals to lead Morristown.

The Yellow Jackets shot 30% from the field and committed 19 turnovers.

“Right now with the turnovers, so many are unforced,” said McCartt. “So many are we are just throwing the ball away. The good news is that is correctable. We have to stop giving away possessions.”

Only four Mohawks scored in the win but with Yarling and Mitchell that is not a huge problem. For Waldron to have sustained success, though, the roster has to produce points to compliment the high-scoring duo.

“It’s just trying to make easy decisions,” explained Scott. “That is probably the phrase I say the most, just make easy plays, make a read and have your head up. I trust everybody out there to do a lot of different things. We are pretty interchangeable.”

Morristown has a rescheduled game Monday against Oldenburg Academy (1-2).

Waldron is at Southwestern (2-2) on Dec. 18.

 

Waldron 53, Morristown 40

MT: Stidham 2-10 0-1 4, Laster 6-15 4-6 19, Theobald 2-4 3-5 7, Carlton 1-4 0-0 3, Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Conrad 1-7 0-0 2, Mahin 2-7 1-2 5. Totals: 14-46 8-14 40.

WA: Mitchell 6-11 0-1 12, Yarling 10-20 5-7 30, Sheaffer 1-4 1-2 4, Becker 0-1 0-0 0, Shaw 3-6 0-0 7, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Lindsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-43 6-10 53.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT (0-4)  16   4   5   15  --  40

WA (3-2)  12  8  21  12  --  53

Three-pt. field goals: MT 4-13 (Stidham 0-3, Laster 3-5, Theobald 0-1, Carlton 1-2, Conrad 0-2), WA 7-19 (Mitchell 0-1, Yarling 5-12, Sheaffer 1-2, Becker 0-1, Shaw 1-3). Rebounds: MT 29 (Stidham 3, Theobald 8, Carlton 2, Conrad 4, Mahin 12), WA 25 (Mitchell 4, Yarling 8, Sheaffer 5, Becker 7, Lindsey 1). Assists: MT 5 (Stidham 3, Carlton 1, Mahin 1), WA 10 (Mitchell 2, Yarling 3, Sheaffer 1, Becker 1, Shaw 2), WA 10 (Mitchell 2, Yarling 3, Sheaffer 1, Becker 2, Shaw 2). Steals: MT 5 (Laster 3, Theobald 1, Conrad 1), WA 5 (Yarling 1, Sheaffer 2, Becker 1, Lindsey 1). Blocks: WA 2 (Mitchell 1, Jones 1). Total fouls: MT 13, WA 13. Turnovers: MT 19, WA 16.

Top-ranked Waldron overpowers Morristown to retain Victory Bell

In its first defense of the Victory Bell in many years, Class A, No. 1 Waldron got stuck in first gear Friday against a shorthanded Morristown squad.

The Mohawks found their higher gear in the middle quarters, outscoring the Yellow Jackets  38-9 to cruise to a 62-30 victory.

Waldron not only retained the Victory Bell, the traveling trophy amongst the four county high schools, it retained the series’ traveling trophy for the fourth straight year (photo), and also set a program record for consecutive victories to start the season (10) and most consecutive victories in a season.

“I thought we moved the ball better tonight than we have in awhile,” said Waldron coach Anthony Thomas. “We started out real slow. We are trying some different things defensively that you can do in practice but it’s different live in a game and I thought we executed pretty well.”

Ten different Mohawks scored against a Morristown squad that hadn’t played a game since Nov. 24 and was without three varsity players – two seniors and a junior in Gracie Laster, Delaney Cornn and Emma Spahr.

Waldron, now 10-0 (3-0 Mid-Hoosier Conference) to retain the top ranking in Class A for a second consecutive week, shot 44% from the field in the opening quarter but missed several shots from within the lane.

Megan Bogemann hit a pair of three-pointers and Hadlie Ross scored off an offensive rebound to close out the first quarter with a 16-11 advantage.

Waldron put together scoring runs of 7-0, 8-0, 7-0 and 12-0 in the middle two quarters to pull away.

Nichole Garner finished with a game-high 15 points for Waldron and also had three assists and three steals. Bogemann added 11 points and Bella Larrison had 10 points.

Mackenzie Shaw and Hallie Ross each had five rebounds.

 

 

Freshmen Danika Rutledge and Nevaeh Sanders led the way for Morristown. Rutledge finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Sanders had a team-high 12 points and four rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets (5-5, 0-2 MHC) managed just 26 shot attempts and committed 32 turnovers.

“We just didn’t get enough shots,” said Morristown coach Rachel Kleine. “We liked the way we finished. We are missing some ball handlers with varsity experience that would have made a difference. And to see that kind of pressure (from Waldron), we have to take care of the basketball or good teams will make you pay.

“Credit to Waldron, that is a good team. We don’t see that type of competition in our everyday practices. That was a good experience for some of our younger players.”

Morristown returns home tonight to face another top-ranked team in Jac-Cen-Del (8-1), the No. 3 team in Class A.

Entering the weekend, Waldron was one of a dozen girls basketball teams across the state without a loss. That list has dropped to 10.

“I am a little surprised (at being 10-0). Our schedule by all intensive purposes has been pretty brutal,” said Thomas. “When you get in that stretch where you play (Triton Central) and Jac-Cen-Del in five days, but on the other hand I am not (surprised). We are getting back to the way we were playing this summer and these kids are pretty resilient. They absorb a lot of stuff.

“Did I think we’d be 10-0 right now? No. But I am not at all shocked. It has not been an easy road.”

The target Waldron is carrying around will only grow larger as long as it remains unbeaten and the schedule does not lighten any through the holiday season.

The Mohawks are at Class 2A, No. 14 North Decatur (10-3) on Friday. The Chargers’ three losses have come to teams with a combined 24-7 record.

Following a home game with Knightstown (1-10) on Dec. 18, Waldron hosts Batesville (2-8) in the semifinal game of its holiday tournament. The other semifinal features Union County (4-2) and Blackford (5-2).

A rematch with Class 2A, No. 2 Triton Central (8-1) in the Shelby County Tournament is possible and the Mohawks travel to Class 2A, No. 8 Eastern Hancock (9-1) on Jan. 15 in what could be the toughest test left to completing an undefeated season.

“It’s never happened for girls basketball here,” said Thomas of being ranked No. 1 in the state. “It’s something they can tell their kids someday. I’m very proud of them. They haven’t backed their way into it. These kids have earned everything they have gotten to this point.

“Every night (now), they are the hunted. I think they have embraced that like we did tonight. It doesn’t faze them. They are pretty even keeled, almost to the point it’s a detriment sometimes. It’s OK to show some emotion. You have to enjoy this. This isn’t normal. There are a lot of teams that would trade positions with you. I don’t know if we are the No. 1 team or not, but I know if we can stay healthy and keep improving, we are pretty good.”

 

Waldron 62, Morristown 30

MT: Rogers 0-0 0-0 0, Kleine 1-7 4-6 6, Sanders 4-9 4-5 12, Rutledge 5-7 0-0 10, Lutes 1-1 0-0 2, Rude 0-0 0-0 0, Essex 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 11-26 8-11 30.

WA: Had. Ross 1-4 0-0 2, Shaw 2-7 0-0 4, Bogemann 4-11 0-0 11, Garner 7-12 0-0 15, B. Larrison 5-12 0-0 10, J. Larrison 2-5 0-1 4, Fewell 3-5 0-0 8, Hal. Ross 1-4 2-2 5, Benson 0-1 0-1 0, Hogg 1-1 0-0 2, Fischer 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 26-62 3-6 62.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT (5-5)    11    6    3  10  --  30

WA (10-0)  16  19  19   8  --  62

3-point field goals: MT 0-4 (Kleine 0-1, Sanders 0-2, Essex 0-1), WA 7-19 (Shaw 0-1, Bogemann 3-7, Garner 1-3, B. Larrison 0-2, Fewell 2-3, Hal. Ross 1-2, Benson 0-1). Rebounds: MT 21 (Kleine 3, Sanders 4, Rutledge 8, Lutes 6), WA 23 (Had. Ross 2, Shaw 5, Bogemann 2, Garner 1, B. Larrison 1, J. Larrison 1, Fewell 2, Hal. Ross 5, Benson 1, Hogg 2, Fischer 1). Assists: MT 3 (Kleine 2, Lutes 1), WA 11 (Had. Ross 1, Shaw 1, Bogemann 2, Garner 3, B. Larrison 2, Fewell 2). Steals: MT 4 (Rutledge 1, Lutes 1, Rude 2), WA 12 (Had. Ross 2, Shaw 2, Bogemann 3, Garner 3, B. Larrison 1, Fewell 1). Blocks: MT 1 (Sanders 1), WA 1 (Hogg 1). Total fouls: MT 10, WA 10. Turnovers: MT 32, WA 6.

New Castle gets the sweep of HHC doubleheader at Shelbyville Friday

Shelbyville played from behind in both the girls and boys basketball games as New Castle swept a Hoosier Heritage Conference doubleheader at Garrett Gym Friday.  

 

New Castle's girls varsity jumped out to a 20-6 first quarter lead and extended it to 27-11 before Shelbyville rallied.  The Lady Golden Bears scored the final eight points of the second period to trail at halftime, 27-19.

 

Shelbyville closed to within one possession several times and trailed by just three, 45-42, at the end of the third period.  New Castle was able to hold off the Bears with 7-of-8 free throw shooting in the final period for the conference win, 58-53.

 

5'2" sophomore guard Emma Hart topped all scorers with 20 points. Mandy Meek scored 18 for New Castle (6-6, 3-1 HHC).  

 

Abby Brenner scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the second half for Shelbyville (6-5, 1-2 HHC).

 

In the boys nightcap, Shelbyville also played from behind the entire game in dropping a 77-64 decision in the Hoosier Heritage Conference opener. 

 

New Castle senior center Dawson Scott was too powerful for the Golden Bears.  The 6'5" Scott scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the first half as the Trojans built a double digit lead going into the locker room.  The Trojans' Gavin Welch rattled in a three-point field goal at the buzzer to provide the halftime margin.

 

Welch was one of four Trojans in double figures with 18 points.  Sam Maddy contributed 15 off the bench.  Caleb Grow added 10 for New Castle (4-1, 1-0 HHC).

 

The 77 points was New Castle's highest scoring output of the season.

 

Ollie Sandman was the game's leading scorer.  Sandman, averaging 17.7 ppg, scored 25 points.  Jakob Heaton added  20, including four three-pointers.

 

New Castle snapped a two-game losing streak in both the girls and boys series with Shelbyville .

 

Shelbyville (1-3, 0-1 HHC) travels to Whiteland Saturday.  The game can be heard on GIANT fm Sports (96.5, 106.3 giant.fm).  Coverage begins approx 7:00 pm.

 

Shelbyville (1-3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warren Central tags Shelbyville with pair of swim losses

Warren Central scored a pair of victories Thursday over Shelbyville High School’s swim program.

The Warriors won the girls meet, 126-50, and pulled out the win in a much closer boys meet, 94-79.

Karissa Hamilton collected two wins Thursday and Juan Gonzalez-Gallego, Will Rife and Trey Carrell added wins in the boys meet.

Hamilton won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.76 seconds. She also won the 100 freestyle in 56.98.

In the boys meet, Gonzalez-Gallego touched the wall first in the 200 individual medley in 2:15.76.

Rife won the 100 freestyle in 55.16.

Carrell won the 100 backstroke in 1:07.84.

Shelbyville opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. Carrell, Tyler Harker, Tristin Maloney and Michael Fox secured the win easily in 2:02.06. Warren Central finished runner-up, nearly 25 seconds behind the Golden Bears.

Harker also had runner-up finishes in the 200 freestyle (1:54.07) and 100 butterfly (1:02.85).

Carrell finished second in the 500 freestyle (5:55.87).

Rife scored runner-up points in the 50 freestyle (25.62).

Gonzalez-Gallego was second in the 100 breaststroke (1:15.15).

Rife, Gonzalez-Gallego, Maloney and Lance File combined for a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:45.39).

Gonzalez-Gallego, Rife, Carrell and Harker finished second in the 400 freestyle relay (3:37.35).

Miriam Garringer finished second in the 200 freestyle (2:14.38) and 100 backstroke (1:11.54).

Shelbyville placed second in the final two relay races.

Hamilton and Garringer teamed with Jordan Tobler and Marlee Rice to clock 1:51.16 in the 200 freestyle relay.

The same quartet finished second in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:17.09.

On Monday, Shelbyville faced Heritage Christian and Beech Grove in a three-team meet.

Shelbyville got individual wins from Garringer (200 freestyle, 2:12.03; 500 freestyle, 6:10.53), Harker (200 freestyle, 1:54.33; 500 freestyle, 5:18.43), Carrell (200 individual medley, 2:23.17; 100 breaststroke, 1:13.23), Hamilton (50 free, 24.71; 100 backstroke, 1:04.98), Rife (50 free, 24.55; 100 butterfly, 1:03.72), Madison Monroe (100 butterfly, 1:32.99), Michael Fox (100 freestyle, 58.54).

Shelbyville hosts the Shelby Relays Saturday afternoon.

Prep Report: Triton Central suffers first loss of season at Greenfield-Central

Triton Central suffered its first loss of the season Wednesday at Greenfield-Central, 57-29.

With four varsity players already not available, the task of beating the fast-paced Cougars became nearly impossible when leading scorer Aiden Lindsey went down with an injury early in the first quarter.

Greenfield-Central (2-1) took full advantage, racing out to a 14-5 lead after one quarter and extending it to 32-9 at halftime.

Dylan Moles led the Cougars with 14 points. Adam Lester added 11 and Rune Carpenter-Jones had 10.

Josiah Blair, Levi Dewey, Caleb Miller and Isaac Morgan were out Wednesday – Blair and Miller are starters.

Luke Faust stepped into the starting lineup and led the Tigers (4-1) with eight points. Josh Kemper and Jameson Palmer each had seven.

The extent of Lindsey’s injury is unknown, according to TC head coach Kyle Ballard. There is no timetable yet for his return.

Greenfield-Central won the junior varsity game, 54-23.

In another prep game Wednesday:

Girls basketball

Triton Central JV 42, Tipton JV 8

Played at the historic Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, the Tigers got 17 points from Hailey Harris.

Triton Central was asked to fill in as a replacement for Elwood’s program which did not have a JV team to face Tipton. Elwood lost the varsity game to Tipton, 70-8.

In the JV game, Triton Central built a 12-2 lead after one quarter. Harris connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter on the way to five in the game.

Elwood was held scoreless in the second quarter and the Tigers’ lead grew to 20-2.

Jocelyn Firebaugh hit a pair of 3s in the fourth quarter and scored all eight of her points to help TC secure the win.

Rylea Wetz led Elwood with six points.

Indiana Grand racing dates set for 2022

The Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) met Monday, December 6 at Indiana Grand and approved racing dates for the 2022 racing season. Indiana Grand will host a total of 127 racing days with 12 Saturdays set aside for live action.

 

Racing is set to get underway Tuesday, April 19 and conclude Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022.

 

"We have established a great spot for our racing cards during the week and wanted to keep those intact, but we also wanted to accommodate our local racing fans with some Saturday racing cards,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “We feel our racing schedule offers a great balance that will appeal to a wide range of racing fans in 2022. We want to thank both the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing organizations for their input and assistance with finalizing the request for dates.”

 

The bulk of the schedule will fall on Monday through Thursday. First post Monday through Wednesday will be at 2:30 p.m. with racing beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays. A total of six days are dedicated to Quarter Horse racing beginning at 10 a.m. with an additional day set aside for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships coming to Indiana Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. Five Saturdays will include Thoroughbred racing with the first set for Saturday, May 7 on Kentucky Derby, historically a large day of activity for Indiana Grand.

 

The final Saturday of racing is set for Saturday, Oct. 29 featuring Indiana Champions Day. The event will play host to 10 stakes races with purses exceeding $1 million. The afternoon card, which begins at noon, showcases the top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse athletes in the state surrounded by numerous giveaways, contests, and promotions.

 

Indiana Grand will also offer holiday racing programs for Memorial Day Monday, May 30 and Monday, July 4 beginning at 12 p.m.

 

The racing season will conclude Wednesday, Nov. 23 with a special racing program the day before Thanksgiving. Dates for stakes races next season, including the Indiana Derby, will be announced at a later date.

 

The 20th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is set to resume Tuesday, April 19 and run through Wednesday, Nov. 23. Racing will be held Monday through Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. with Thursday racing beginning at 3:30 p.m. A total of 12 Saturday racing programs will be held in 2022. For more information on events and racing, go to www.indianagrand.com.

Collegiate Update: Langkabel helps No. 24 Marian improve to 7-2 this season

The No. 24 ranked Marian University men’s basketball team improved to 7-2 this season and 2-2 against Crossroads League opponents Saturday with a 67-52 victory at Taylor University.

Hayden Langkabel (photo), a Morristown graduate, scored seven points, pulled down three rebounds and had two assists for Marian.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

 

 

Maya Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists Sunday for Loyola in a 72-67 loss at Vermont.

The loss in Burlington, Vermont, dropped the Ramblers to 5-3 this season.

On Friday, Loyola defeated Dartmouth, 73-37, in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Chandler scored 20 points and had three rebounds and two assists.

 

 

Riley Stephens

The Triton Central graduate had one rebound and one blocked shot Saturday in Evansville’s 81-73 loss at Miami (Ohio).

The Purple Aces are 5-3 this season.

 

 

Brooklyn Langkabel

The Morristown graduate grabbed one rebound and had one steal for No. 9 Marian’s 92-47 win over Bethel.

The Knights are 9-2 this season.

 

 

Cameron Baker

The Shelbyville graduate placed third in the one-meter dive competition for Franklin College Friday in a dual meet at Manchester.

Baker tallied 217.7 points.

On Saturday against Anderson, Baker finished runner-up in both 1-meter dive events.

Franklin College defeated Manchester, 189-15, and Anderson, 224-40.

 

 

Nolan Davis

The Shelbyville graduate won two individual events and a relay race for Franklin College in wins over Manchester and Anderson.

Davis helped FC win the 200 medley relay in 1:41.29 at Manchester. He also won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:03.53.

On Saturday, Davis won the 1,650 freestyle in 17:45 and finished third in the 100 butterfly (57.78).

Waldron tops Jac-Cen-Del in battle of unbeaten state-ranked programs

Waldron solidified its grip as the No. 1 girls basketball team in Class A with a 51-48 win Tuesday night over Class A, No. 3 Jac-Cen-Del.

In a Sectional 60 preview, Waldron proved tougher in the clutch to improve to 9-0 this season – the best start in program history.

“Waldron is the real deal. They are No. 1 and they should be No. 1,” said Jac-Cen-Del coach Scott Smith, who entered the game with 374 career wins in 21 seasons.

Nichole Garner hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final quarter and finished with a team-high 12 points in another balanced scoring effort by the Mohawks, who now have wins over a pair of top-three ranked teams in the state in the last five days. Waldron defeated then No. 1 in 2A Triton Central Friday, 46-39.

Bella Larrison had 11 points and four rebounds Tuesday night. Mackenzie Shaw added 10 points and five rebounds.

Josee Larrison scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds and Hadlie Ross finished with seven points.

“We made enough plays in the end but we didn’t do a very good job overall,” said Waldron coach Anthony Thomas. “We were fortunate enough to beat them tonight but we also learned a lot.”

Annabelle Williams led Jac-Cen-Del with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Aundrea Cullen finished with nine points. Desiree Sparks added seven points and eight rebounds and Jalee Rider had seven points.

The visiting Eagles (8-1) took an early 7-4 lead but a Josee Larrison offensive rebound and score left the game tied at 9-all at the end of the first quarter.

The Mohawks continued to struggle from beyond the 3-point line in the second quarter and committed seven turnovers but still managed to take the lead four times.

Three different Jac-Cen-Del players made 3s in the second quarter and the Eagles took a 26-23 lead to halftime.

A 5-0 run early in the third quarter extended Jac-Cen-Del’s lead to 31-25 – the biggest lead of the game for either team.

Waldron answered back with a 6-0 run that tied the game with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

After missing her first four 3-point attempts, Megan Bogemann finally connected from the top of the key just over a minute later and the Mohawks led 34-33.

The Eagles regained the lead and held it until midway through the fourth quarter.

A 5-0 run, all from Garner, tied the game at 44s with 3:45 to go in regulation.

Reagan Hughes converted 1-of-2 free throw attempts to put the Eagles up 45-44 but Bella Larrison made two free throws at the 2:52 mark to give Waldron the lead for good.

Larrison added another free throw 90 seconds later and Shaw converted at the rim to give Waldron a 49-45 lead – its biggest of the game.

A costly turnover – Waldron’s only one in the fourth quarter – ended with Cullen scoring to cut the lead to 49-48 with 26 seconds on the clock.

The Eagles tried to force another turnover but were left with fouling Garner, who hit both free throws to make it 51-48.

Cullen’s last ditch 3-point shot to tie the game was deflected by Bogemann and fell short of the rim.

Waldron made 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, 13 of 16 in the second half and 15 of 19 in the game.

“I have been on the opposite side of those free throws so it’s nice to hit some,” said Thomas. “You can prepare and you can talk and do different things but to prepare for something and actually going out and doing it are two different things. It’s a big learning experience for our kids.”

Jac-Cen-Del, who entered halftime 5 of 9 from the arc, went 0 of 3 in the second half and converted just 4 of 13 free throws.

“I thought we had a great game plan,” said Smith. “We didn’t do a very good job of hitting free throws. When we got in the bonus and had the lead I thought if we could hit free throws we would have a chance.”

Waldron won the junior varsity game, 44-40.

Alivia Fischer led the Mohawks with 15 points. Alyssa Benson and Audrey Hogg each had 10 points.

Sophia Sullivan led Jac-Cen-Del with 18 points.

Waldron returns to action Friday at home for a Mid-Hoosier Conference game against Morristown (5-4). The Yellow Jackets have not played since a 42-21 loss to Triton Central on Nov. 24.

 

Waldron 51, Jac-Cen-Del 48

JCD: Obendorf 1-2 0-0 2, Rider 2-9 2-3 7, Cullen 4-10 0-2 9, Williams 4-6 2-4 12, Neal 0-0 0-0 0, Newhart 1-1 1-2 3, Hughes 2-6 1-4 6, Meyer 1-2 0-0 2, Sparks 2-3 3-4 7, Totals: 17-39 9-19 48.

WA: Had. Ross 3-4 1-1 7, Shaw 4-8 2-2 10, Bogemann 1-7 0-0 3, Garner 3-8 5-6 12, B. Larrison 4-12 3-4 11, J. Larrison 2-6 4-6 8, Fewell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-45 15-19 51.
SCORE BY QUARTERS

JCD (8-1)  9  17  14    8  --  48

WA (9-0)  9  14  15  13  --  51

3-pt. field goals: JCD 5-12 (Obendorf 0-1, Rider 1-3, Cullen 1-4, Williams 2-2, Hughes 1-2), WA 2-11 (Bogemann 1-5, Garner 1-3, B. Larrison 0-3). Rebounds: JCD 26 (Rider 1, Cullen 2, Williams 6, Neal 1, Newhart 2, Hughes 5, Meyer 1, Sparks 8), WA 24 (Had. Ross 3, Shaw 5, Bogemann 2, Garner 2, B. Larrison 4, J. Larrison 8). Assists: JCD 12 (Obendorf 2, Rider 2, Williams 6, Newhart 1, Meyer 1), WA 8 (Had. Ross 1, Shaw 1, Garner 1, B. Larrison 2, J. Larrison 3). Steals: JCD 6 (Rider 1, Williams 2, Neal 1, Meyer 1, Sparks 1), WA 5 (Had. Ross 1, Garner 2, B. Larrison 2). Blocks: WA 3 (Bogemann 2, Garner 1). Total fouls: JCD 16, WA 13. Turnovers: JCD 19, WA 15.

JV

Waldron 44, Jac-Cen-Del 40

JCD: Sullivan 18, Borgman 7, Hughes 6, Meyer 4, Groth 4, Rohls 1.
WA: Fischer 15, Hogg 10, Benson 10, Lozier 3, Ross 2, Ping 2, Sheaffer 2.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

JCD   5  9  12  14  --  40

WA   8  2  14  20  --  44

2022 racing dates approved for Indiana Grand Racing & Casino

The Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) met Monday at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino in Shelbyville and approved racing dates for the 2022 racing season.

Indiana Grand will host a total of 127 racing days with 12 Saturdays set aside for live action. Racing is set to get underway April 19 and conclude Nov. 23, 2022.

“We have established a great spot for our racing cards during the week and wanted to keep those intact, but we also wanted to accommodate our local racing fans with some Saturday racing cards,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “We feel our racing schedule offers a great balance that will appeal to a wide range of racing fans in 2022. We want to thank both the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing organizations for their input and assistance with finalizing the request for dates.”

The bulk of the schedule will fall on Monday through Thursday. First post Monday through Wednesday will be at 2:30 p.m., with racing beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

A total of six days are dedicated to Quarter Horse racing beginning at 10 a.m. with an additional day set aside for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships coming to Indiana on Oct. 22, 2022.

Five Saturdays will include Thoroughbred racing with the first set for May 7, the same day as the Kentucky Derby, historically a large day of activity for Indiana Grand.

The final Saturday of racing is set for Oct. 29 featuring Indiana Champions Day. The event will play host to 10 stakes races with purses exceeding $1 million. The afternoon card, which begins at noon, showcases the top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse athletes in the state surrounded by numerous giveaways, contests and promotions.

Indiana Grand also will offer holiday racing programs for Memorial Day (May 30) and July 4, beginning at noon.

The racing season will conclude Nov. 23 with a special racing program the day before Thanksgiving.

Dates for stakes races next season, including the Indiana Derby, will be announced at a later date.

Prep Report: Shelbyville shuts down New Palestine for conference victory

With a balanced scoring effort and a strong defensive performance, Shelbyville’s girls basketball program earned its first Hoosier Heritage Conference win of the season Tuesday at New Palestine.

Madison Bassett had a team-high 11 points for Shelbyville (6-4, 1-1 HHC) and Kylee Edwards, Ava Wilson and Madison Phares each had seven.

The Golden Bears led after each of the first three quarters and outscored the Dragons (6-4, 1-2 HHC) 13-4 over the final eight minutes to seal the victory.

Rachel Kelley led New Palestine with 12 points.

Alaina Miller finished with eight and Isabella Gizzi had seven – 17 points below her season average.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 8-1 this season with a 35-33 victory.

Shelbyville continues its HHC schedule Friday against New Castle (5-6, 2-1 HHC). Varsity tipoff is 6 p.m. for the girls-boys doubleheader at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls basketball

Triton Central 35, Greenwood 33

At Greenwood, the Class 2A, No. 2 Tigers pulled out a tough road win in a low-scoring game.

Olivia Faust topped Triton Central (8-1) with nine points. Lizzie Graham and Brooklyn Bailey each had eight.

Kelly Quinn scored seven of her game-high 13 points in the fourth quarter for Greenwood (3-6). Josie Ochsner finished with seven points.

 

 

Triton Central’s junior varsity won an even lower-scoring game at Greenwood, 18-16.

Hailey Harris led the Tigers with six points. Kennedy Brown had four. Half of TC’s points came from the free-throw line.

Gabby Wegesin, Breanna Pierce and Emma Gardner each had four points for the Woodmen.

Triton Central hosts Southwestern Saturday night.

Southwestern 57, Knightstown 24

At Southwestern, Lilly Rooks scored a season-high 20 points to lead the Spartans (4-5) to the home victory.

Rooks scored 18 of her points in the middle two quarters as Southwestern extended a 12-3 advantage to 48-18.

Alison Muck finished with 12 points and Lily Kerber added nine.

Destiny McGlothin led Knightstown (1-9) with eight points. Paige Personette had seven.

 

 

Southwestern’s JV squad won its first game of the season, 17-16.

Katelynn Coffman led the Spartans with eight points. Emma Fritz had five and Amber Benson tallied four.

Southwestern is at Class 2A, No. 2 Triton Central Saturday night.

Wrestling

Triton Central 52, Eastern Hancock 27

At Triton Central, the host Tigers won their season debut over the Royals.

Triton Central won six head-to-head matches and accepted three forfeits.

Hadyn Ball (182 pounds), Austin Myers (220) and Aden Sosbe (285) were victorious by forfeit.

Ayden Nufio defeated Eastern Hancock’s Logan Gilman at 106 pounds, 14-3.

At 120, Dayne Bailey pinned Kolton Gilbreth in the third period.

Lucas Kleeman scored a pinfall victory at 145 late in the third period against Kevin Beaver.

 

 

Trevor Ashman pinned Logan Adams in less than one minute at 152.

At 160, Tristan Gibbons collected a first-period pinfall win over Phoenix Bewsey.

And Andrew Bailey won in 13 seconds at 195 over Ethan Carter.

Triton Central forfeited matches at 113, 126, 132 and 138.

Triton Central’s Isaak Booth lost 7-3 to Brayden Tincher at 170.

Jaden Ferris and Peyton Burris won JV matches for Triton Central.

Triton Central travels to Union County for a dual match Thursday.

Whiteland 45, Shelbyville 15

At Whiteland, the Golden Bears dropped to 7-5 in dual matches this season.

Shelbyville’s only head-to-head win came at 152 pounds.

 

 

The Golden Bears travel Dec. 18 to the Franklin County Invitational.

Triton Central sophomore kicker earns All-State selection

A nearly perfect kicking season earned Triton Central sophomore Levi Dewey election to the Indiana Football Coaches Association’s Class 2A Junior All-State Team.

Dewey (photo) converted 36 of 37 extra-point attempts this past season and made 7 of 8 field goal attempts to tally 57 points for a sectional-champion Tigers squad.

Dewey was one of 27 players selected for the Junior All-State Team in Class 2A.

Dewey was joined on the Offensive team by linemen Eli Buckley (Eastern), Joe Jendreas (Whiting), Adam Bedock (LaVille), Aiden Schaefer (Lafayette Central Catholic) and Dane Sebert (Eastside), tight end Carmell Perry (Speedway), wide receivers Patrick Clacks III (Andrean) and Evan Dienhart (Lafayette Central Catholic), quarterback Mason Wunderlich (Evansville Mater Dei), running backs Tyler Dollar (Lapel) and Eli Carter (Tipton) and athlete Joey Pierre (Evansville Mater Dei).

The 2A Defensive team includes linemen Jordan Cree (Rensselaer Central), Wrigley Franklin (Linton-Stockton), Tamir Woods (Scecina) and Hunter Wright (Eastbrook), linebackers Wyatt Woodall (Southmont), Noah Richhart (LaVille), Collin Thompson (Heritage Christian) and Devan Kent (North Knox), defensive backs Hunter Gennicks (Linton-Stockton), Mason Beriault (Scecina), Austin Goodrich (Wheeler) and Nick Thompson (Fort Wayne Bishop Luers), punter Lucas Plummer (LaVille) and athlete DeeJay McFerson (Speedway).

Other notable Junior All-State selections include wide receiver Micah McKay, defensive lineman Jacob Roberts and athlete Kam Patterson (Class A Lutheran), defensive lineman Jackson New and defensive back Kolton Nanko (Class 3A Yorktown), punter Sam West (Class 3A Greensburg), offensive lineman Sam Mossoney (Class 4A Pendleton Heights), running back Andrew Zellers and defensive lineman Brad Allen (Class 4A Greenfield-Central), defensive lineman Hunter Wallace (Class 4A Delta), defensive back George Burhenn (Class 4A Mt. Vernon), and defensive back Isaiah Thacker (Class 4A New Palestine).

Notables selected to the IFCA Senior All-State teams include offensive lineman Christian Pulliam (Class A Lutheran), quarterback Riley Palmeter (Class A Edinburgh), offensive lineman Nicholas Boots, wide receiver Eli McDurmon, defensive lineman James Ralph and athlete Bryce Humphrey (Class 2A Evansville Mater Dei), running back Dequan Stennis and Luke Soultz (Class 2A Scecina), defensive back Reis Walker (Class 2A Speedway), offensive lineman Ray Wells, wide receiver Ashden Gentry, and quarterback Gehrig Slunaker (Class 4A Mt. Vernon), defensive back Rashawn Street (Class 4A Greenfield-Central) and defensive back Madix Johnson (Class 4A New Palestine).

Prep Report: Waldron comes up short against No. 5 Edinburgh

For three quarters Saturday night, Waldron pushed Class A, No. 5 Edinburgh to the brink.

The Lancers took control in the fourth quarter and pulled away to secure a 75-61 victory and improve to 4-0 this season.

Caleb Dewey scored eight of his team-high 21 points over the final eight minutes when Edinburgh outscored Waldron 16-9.

Travis Jones scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half while Landen Burton had 15 of his 19 in the first half.

Edinburgh led 24-17 after one quarter, 45-40 at halftime and 59-52 after three quarters.

Waldron (2-2, 0-1 Mid-Hoosier Conference) got 21 points from Bryce Yarling and 18 points from Lucas Mitchell but no other Mohawk reached double digits and the high-scoring duo totaled just four points in the fourth quarter.

Mitchell also had 14 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Yarling had three assists and four steals.

Bryant Becker finished with nine points, four rebounds, three assists, five steals and two blocked shots.

Caden Sheaffer added eight points and four assists.

Edinburgh won the junior varsity game, 59-35.

Matthew Thomas led Waldron (0-4) with eight points.

Waldron will host Morristown Friday in a girls/boys varsity-only doubleheader.

In other prep events Saturday:

Boys basketball

Hauser 61, Morristown 36

At Morristown, the Jets (2-2, 1-0 MHC) raced out to a 19-5 lead after one quarter and controlled the game from there for their first conference win of the season.

 

 

The host Yellow Jackets (0-3, 0-2 MHC) played an even second quarter but were outscored 15-8 in the third quarter to trail 46-25 going into the fourth quarter.

Morristown will host Union County (0-1) Tuesday at the Bee Hive.

Girls basketball

Batesville 41, Shelbyville 32

At Batesville, the Golden Bears’ offense struggled to get in gear.

Kylee Edwards finished with a game-high 16 points and Ava Wilson had nine but only two other Golden Bears scored in the loss.

Shelbyville dropped to 5-4 this season.

 

 

Six different Batesville players scored at least five points.

Emma Weiler led the Bulldogs (2-7) with 10 points. Carley Pride had eight.

Sophie Gesell finished with six and Sarah Ripperger, Bre Wells and Alyson Peters each scored five.

After suffering its first loss of the season Friday night at Franklin County, Shelbyville’s junior varsity rebounded with a win at Batesville to improve to 7-1 this season.

Shelbyville travels to New Palestine (6-3, 1-1 HHC) Tuesday night.

Wrestling

New Castle Invitational

Shelbyville finished 2-3 at New Castle to set its 2021 dual match record at 7-4.

At 113 pounds, Isaiah Havens went 4-1 to lead the Golden Bears.

Cael Lux (132), Dylan Garvin (182), Ryan Bradley (195) and Jacob Harker (220) each finished 3-2.

 

 

Angel Kreider (120), Bodan Rollo (160) and Elias Jones (285) went 2-3.

Benny Cazarez (138), Andrew Burton 152) and Brayden Schultz (170) finished 1-4.

Shelbyville is at Whiteland Tuesday.

Waldron ranked No. 1 in girls basketball state poll

There is a new No. 1 in the Class A girls basketball state poll.

The Waldron Mohawks ascended to the top spot in the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association poll after a 46-39 win Friday at Class 2A, No. 1 Triton Central.

Waldron (8-0) will have little time to celebrate the accomplishment with Class A, No. 3 Jac-Cen-Del (8-0) coming to town Tuesday night.

Vincennes Rivet (6-0) jumped to No. 2 this week after a 59-14 rout at Bloomfield Thursday.

Lanesville (9-1), the previous No. 1 in Class A, dropped to No. 4 ahead of Trinity Lutheran, Lafayette Central Catholic, Tecumseh, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, Kouts and Morgan Township.

With Triton Central’s loss, Winchester (7-0) takes over the top spot in Class 2A with Triton Central (7-1) and Fairfield (9-0) tied at No. 2. The rest of the top 10 includes Tipton, South Central (Union Mills), Forest Park, Frankton, Eastern Hancock, Rensselaer Central and Andrean.

North Decatur is ranked No. 13.

South Bend Washington sits atop the Class 3A poll with Silver Creek, Benton Central, Garrett, Mishawaka Marian, Norwell, Washington, Salem, Hamilton Heights and Evansville Memorial in pursuit.

Noblesville leads the Class 4A poll. Crown Point is No. 2 with Franklin, Bedford North Lawrence, Homestead, North Central, Fishers, Columbus East, Zionsville, Franklin Central and Lake Central completing the top 10.

Crown Point is No. 1 in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Top 20 poll that does not rank teams by class affiliation.

Noblesville is No. 2 with South Bend Washington, Franklin, Bedford North Lawrence, Homestead, Fishers, North Central, Silver Creek and Zionsville completing the top 10.

The second 10 are Lake Central, Columbus East, Mishawaka Marian, Penn, Westfield, East Central, Benton Central, Carmel, Valparaiso and Columbia City.

Eighteen more teams received votes in the poll including Waldron and Triton Central. Jac-Cen-Del, Vincennes Rivet and Winchester also received votes.

Triton Central stays unbeaten with win over Southwestern, sweeps Shelby County

Triton Central completed a season opening sweep of Shelby County opponents with a Saturday win over Southwestern, 72-53.

 

The Tigers (4-0) jumped out to a 24-12 lead in the opening eight minutes and upped the lead to  42-26 by halftime.

 

Aiden Lindsey led all scorers with 29 points.  Alex Crouse was in double figures with 13.  Isaac Morgan added ten off the bench.

 

Aiden Hartsell was Southwestern's leading scorer.  He connected on all 10 of his free throws and finished with 27 points.  Jordan Jones scored 15.

 

Southwestern (1-2) was a perfect 16-of-16 at the free throw line.

 

Up next

Southwestern will play at Tri (0-1) on December 9.  It will be Tri's second game of the boys basketball season after the Titans football team advanced to the 1A semistate.

 

Triton Central will play at Greenfield-Central (1-1) on December 8.

 

 

 

 

Connersville opens big lead early, cruises past Shelbyville at the Spartan Bowl

Shelbyville lost at fifth-ranked (3A) Connersville Saturday night by 28 points. 

 

Nineteen of the points in that deficit were established in the opening eight minutes of the game.  Connersville (4-0) jumped out to a 21-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and stayed unbeaten, 65-37.

 

Shelbyville didn't make a shot from the field until an Ollie Sandman baseline jumper with 4:37 remaining in the second quarter.  The Golden Bears were able to stabilize the scoring from there but still trailed at halftime, 33-13.

 

Ten Connersville Spartans scored in the game led by 6'4" junior forward Lucas Barron's 17.  Of Barron's eight points in the third period, six came on slam dunks. 

 

Starting point guard Tobey Billups scored 13 points to go with 7 assists.

 

Billups will play collegiately at IU - East.

 

Nolyn Smothers connected on three shots behind the 3- point arc and led the Golden Bear scoring effort with 10.  Ollie Sandman had eight, Jakob Heaton chipped in six.

 

The upcoming schedule doesn't offer much relief for Shelbyville.  The Golden Bears (1-2) will host New Castle (3-1) to open Hoosier Heritage Conference play on Friday, December 10.  The Trojans opened the season with three straight wins before losing Saturday to visiting Anderson, 77-62.

 

On Saturday, December 11, Shelbyville will play at a potential sectional foe, Whiteland.  The Warriors are 3-0 and averaging over 70 ppg.

 

Golden Bears head coach John Hartnett spoke to GIANT fm Sports and The Shelby County Post after Saturday's loss at Connersville.

 

 

 

 

Phares leads Shelbyville to road win at Franklin County

A strong second quarter propelled Shelbyville into the lead and the Golden Bears hung on for a 36-32 victory Friday at Franklin County.

Shelbyville has won three of its last four to improve to 5-3 this season.

The Golden Bears outscored the Wildcats, 12-5, in the second quarter to build a 21-14 halftime advantage.

Madison Phares scored a game-high 15 points for Shelbyville. Madison Bassett had six points and Kylee Edwards finished with five.

Franklin County, now 4-6, did not have a player score in double digits Friday.

Nicole Mears led the way with nine points. Jenna Bruns, Josie Rolfes and Kassidy Schnell each finished with five.

Shelbyville is back on the road Saturday afternoon at Batesville (1-7).

Waldron ends decade-long losing streak to Triton Central, takes possession of Victory Bell

There may be a new No. 1 team in Class A next week.

There will be a new No. 1 team in Class 2A.

On Friday in Fairland, Class A, No. 2 Waldron defeated top-ranked Triton Central, 46-39, to remain unbeaten this season.

The win was the first for the Mohawks (8-0) over the Tigers since Jan. 9, 2010, and the Victory Bell, the county's traveling trophy, officially takes up residence in Waldron.

The loss ended a 35-game winning streak for Triton Central over county schools Morristown, Southwestern and Waldron.

A late rally put the visitors up to end the third quarter, 28-27, and the Mohawks stayed strong in the final quarter putting up 18 points to seal the win.

Nichole Garner hit 7-of-8 free throw attempts in the fourth and finished with a game-high 18 points for Waldron.

Mackenzie Shaw finished with 11 and Megan Bogemann and Hadlie Ross each had six.

Waldron, now 8-0, finished the game 13 of 20 from the charity stripe and splashed seven 3-pointers.

 

The Cagney's Pizza King Postgame on GIANT fm Sports with Johnny McCrory and Jason Parker and comments from Waldron's Anthony Thomas.

 

 

 

Lizzie Graham scored eight of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter for TC.

Maddy Brown had 12 points while no other Tiger scored more than five in the loss.

Triton Central won the junior varsity game, 44-38.

Lucy Spall and Lauren Grant each had 10 for Triton Central.

Alyssa Benson led Waldron with 18 points. Audrey Hogg had eight.

Triton Central will look to rebound with a win Tuesday at Greenwood (2-5).

Waldron hosts Class A, No. 4 Jac-Cen-Del (7-0) Tuesday in a showdown of potential sectional opponents.  The game can be heard on GIANT fm Sports (7:00 pm on 96.5, 106.3, giant.fm, and GIANT fm App)

Glesing building foundation for Shelbyville football program to find more success in 2022

From an outsider’s perspective, a one-win football season does not seem encouraging.

Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing understands a 1-6 season was not the goal. He also understands the Golden Bears’ program is not a one-year fix.

“I don’t think anybody is satisfied,” said Glesing. “I think we are pleased with the progress that we’ve made in establishing a lot of the foundation and all of the things behind the scenes that go into a football program. We are trying to establish great habits for our kids, good work habits that we take with them into the next year and the next year and the following years.”

Shelbyville was 7-3 in 2017 in Pat Parks’ final season as head coach. A three-year run under his successor, Michael Clevenger, netted just one win.

With a history of rebuilding struggling programs, Glesing was hired. He immediately stripped the program down of any past notions and set a new standard.

“The expectations of behavior, attitude, effort and character have all been established,” said Glesing. “They are all there. As far as disciplinary problems, we didn’t have hardly any. The kids now understand what to expect in the football program. All of that stuff has been established.

“It took us awhile to get to that point. It took us a season to get there, but as far as how we practice, how we do offseason conditioning, how we do offseason stuff, how we do film study … there are a lot of things that our kids are starting to figure out. They understand what it takes now. I think that’s a big deal. The foundation is laid. Now, we have to start building the framework.”

Year two for Glesing will commence with QB1 in place. Sophomore Eli Chappelow played both junior varsity and varsity quarters this past season and led the JV squad to an unbeaten record.

In varsity games, Chappelow completed 22 of 38 pass attempts for 292 yards and two touchdowns.

“We had to alter it to get some kids some JV quarters and follow the rules,” said Glesing. “Our best players were playing Friday nights and Monday nights. You can’t sustain that. That’s not how you do it. We did it for a purpose – to get our kids some success but you can’t run a program like that year in and year out.”

Cael Lux was Shelbyville’s leading rusher as a junior. He carried the ball 107 times for 478 yards and four touchdowns.

The second- and third-leading rushers, Jordan Marcum and Axel Conover, also will be returning as will the two leading receivers in Jackson Parker and Alex Macharia.

“With our returning players now and our younger kids coming up, we have somebody to model. We didn’t have anyone to model last year,” said Glesing. “No offense to our seniors but they were rookies just as much as our freshmen and sophomores were. Everyone was a rookie.

“When you put in a play or a technique or something, you say, ‘Let’s watch a senior do it.’ Well our seniors were learning along with our freshmen. Now our younger kids can model stuff the upperclassmen are doing.”

 

 

Glesing is after numbers right now – more overall numbers in the program and greater numbers in terms of strength and conditioning.

“We’re trying to get more kids to play. Football ain’t easy,” he said. “It’s not all rainbows and unicorns all the time. Its hard work and drudgery, putting on the pads when its 100 degrees out. It’s getting dirty, getting knocked down and getting back up. It’s a lot of work. When you are building a program and the kids haven’t done that, it’s hard to get that turned. You have to find the ones that do it for you and they start getting those younger kids to follow them. Then it starts snowballing. We’re just not there yet.”

The program will focus on strength and conditioning this offseason then start installing the offensive system for rising freshmen in the spring.

“There will be a major emphasis on strength and conditioning and developing athletes,” said Glesing. “We have to get faster, we have to get stronger, and we have to get bigger.

“In the spring, we will start with some of our younger kids with an offensive install. With our middle school kids we will have 4-5 sessions like a mini-camp then our high school guys will have team activities in April.”

Glesing kept all the training in-house last summer because there was too much to change and install.

“I would like to do maybe one (7-on-7) or a scrimmage,” said Glesing. “We are still at the point where the kids have to buy-in. I want to see it a little bit longer before we start doing some of that stuff. It might happen. I will know more in the spring.”

Shelbyville has little flexibility when it comes to adjusting its schedule with seven of the nine regular season games coming against Hoosier Heritage Conference schools – two of which have won state titles in the last three seasons.

There will be a change to the 2022 schedule with Richmond dropping off. The Golden Bears defeated the Red Devils, 22-16, on Aug. 27 to end a two-plus season losing streak.

Shelbyville will open the season on Aug. 19, 2022, when Greensburg visits McKeand Stadium.

The Golden Bears will then face Rushville in week two. The programs have been consistent preseason scrimmage partners for several years but have not met in the regular season since Aug. 31, 2012.

“It becomes easier when you are winning because you see the results even though you are getting the same thing out of it,” said Glesing. “It’s a struggle. It’s one of the hardest things to do. I’ve done it a few times, to build a football culture and build a football program in the mold that you want it with attitude, character and effort. Right now, our kids work hard. From April on, our kids worked just as hard as the other schools. Right now, we’re just behind athletically. You can’t lie about that but we’re getting there.”

Prep Report: Triton Central off to 3-0 start with win over Waldron

Triton Central improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2015 season with a 67-47 win over visiting Waldron Thursday.

Ten different Tigers scored in their third-consecutive win over a Shelby County opponent this season. With the victory, Triton Central kept possession of the Victory Bell – the county’s traveling trophy.

Aiden Lindsey and Isaac Morgan each scored 17 points to lead TC. Caleb Miller finished with 13.

The Tigers opened up a 16-11 lead after one quarter and extended it to 30-19 at halftime. A 22-point third quarter sealed the fate for the Mohawks (2-1).

 

 

Bryce Yarling scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half Thursday and Lucas Mitchell scored 12 but only four other Mohawks combined for 13 points in the loss.

Triton Central won the junior varsity game, 43-41.

Waldron trailed by seven going into the fourth quarter and did not allow a TC field goal but the Tigers hit 5 of 7 free throws to close out the win.

Cooper Baugh scored 13 points to lead Triton Central. Jace Stuckey had eight and Silas Blair finished with seven.

Parker Douglas scored 12 of his game-high 16 points in the second half for Waldron. Will Larrison had eight.

Triton Central will attempt to sweep all four county rivals Saturday when Southwestern (1-1) visits.

Waldron hosts Class A, No. 5 Edinburgh (2-0).

In other prep events Thursday:

 

 

Boys swimming

Columbus East 97, Shelbyville 75

At Shelbyville, the host Golden Bears won two of the three relay races and captured six first-place finishes in individual races but did not have enough team depth to overcome the Olympians.

Tyler Harker and Juan Gonzalez-Gallego each won two events for Shelbyville.

Harker touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:51.86. The senior also won the 500 freestyle in 5:17.3.

Gonzalez-Gallego earned first-place points in the 200 individual medley in 2:11.35 and the 100 butterfly in 57.2.

Will Rife won the 50 freestyle in 24.0 and finished runner-up to Gonzalez-Gallego in the 100 butterfly in 1:04.56.

Trey Carrell won the 100 freestyle in 53.05.

Shelbyville opened the dual meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Harker, Carrell, Gonzalez-Gallego and Rife stopped the clock in 1:47.07.

Gonzalez-Gallego and Rife teamed with Tristin Maloney and Lance File to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.47.

Girls swimming

Columbus East 128, Shelbyville 52

At Shelbyville, senior Karissa Hamilton scored a pair of wins for the Golden Bears.

The senior won the 50 freestyle in 24.55 and the 100 backstroke in 1:03.45.

Also for Shelbyville, Miriam Garringer won the 200 freestyle in 2:11.09 and finished second in the 100 freestyle in 58.9.

Hamilton and Garringer teamed with Jordan Tobler and Madison Monroe to win the 400 freestyle relay in 4:23.41.

Maiah Helfer-Vazquez was the runner-up in the diving competition with 167.35 points.

Shelbyville is off until Dec. 11 when it hosts the Shelby Relays.

Triton Central football needs to be bigger, stronger for continued success in 2022

Time will tell if Triton Central turns lessons learned in 2021 into a dedicated out-of-season workout routine that builds to a 2022 season full of great expectations.

“I hope the kids understand we don’t want to go through what we went through again,” said Triton Central football coach Tim Able. “I hope they are not satisfied and want to keep playing longer.”

With rebuilt offensive and defensive lines littered with underclassmen, expectations were curtailed for a 2021 team also breaking in a sophomore quarterback with no real Friday night experience.

The Tigers opened the season 2-0 for the seventh-straight season but a key injury and a brutal Indiana Crossroads Conference schedule weighed on the program and left it 5-4 going into the postseason.

“We knew we were playing teams more experienced and with more talent because they were more experienced, so it was not too much of a surprise,” said Abel of the barely above .500 record.

That tough conference schedule prepared Triton Central for a sectional slate of team from southern Indiana. The Tigers mangled Eastern (Pekin), 58-0, and Clarksville, 42-7, to set up a sectional championship showdown with Paoli.

“The pinnacle of our season was beating Paoli,” said Able. “They were good at things we were not good at.”

Triton Central prevailed, 37-35, to capture the program’s third-straight sectional title. The championship game appearance was a ninth straight under Abel’s watch. The veteran coach, with a state championship to his credit, won career game No. 200 during the regular season.

The season ended one week later when Evansville Mater Dei rolled into Fairland and captured the regional title, 35-7.

That left Triton Central with an 8-5 record with the five losses coming to teams with a combined 53-14 record. Evansville Mater Dei won the southern Indiana semistate before losing to Andrean in the Class 2A state championship game.

Indianapolis Lutheran, who handed the Tigers their first loss of the season, 35-7 on Sept. 3, won the Class A state title.

And ICC-rival Indianapolis Scecina also won a regional title before losing to Evansville Mater Dei in the semistate round.

 

 

The calendar now reboots as preparation begins for a 2022 season where Triton Central has most all of its top playmakers back as well as linemen with a year of experience under their belts.

“The kids are working hard in class and staying after school if they are not in (winter) sports,” said Abel. “Putting on weight and strength is huge between now and spring break.”

An offensive line that at times had two freshmen starting must get more powerful to protect a strong-armed quarterback and a dynamic running back that has eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in his first two seasons with the program.

“That’s a no brainer,” chuckled Able. “We are going back to the weight room. You can only get stronger by working year round. We got better (as the season progressed) but we have got to get stronger and more physical.”

Sophomore quarterback Jace Stuckey completed 51% of his pass attempts in his first varsity season for 1,386 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also rushed for nine touchdowns.

“He needs to get more consistent with his habits and his mechanics and keep working to get stronger,” said Able. “He is very athletic and if he gets stronger he can run more often.

“He’s a good student of the game. He will keep watching film. He has a lot of talent and a lot of football savvy. He can think through things and anticipate things. He has a bright future that he has control of.”

Sophomore running back Ray Crawford collected 1,273 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns behind a young offensive line that forced him to be more creative.

“Ray will be better next year when we can open more running lanes for him,” said Able. “He will keep developing as an athlete.”

Crawford also became a threat in the passing game this season, hauling in 24 receptions for 433 yards and three TDs.

Brad Schultz had an on-and-off junior season while trying to get healthy after suffering an injury in week two against Greensburg. Schultz ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns this season and finished with a team-leading 26 receptions for 416 yards and four touchdowns despite playing in just 10 games.

A big offseason goal is finding new leaders on the team. Graduation takes away senior all-conference selection Jayden Mays, who played offensive line, linebacker and handled punting duties for the Tigers.

“He is someone with leadership ability … a hybrid player,” said Abel. “He could do so many things that he will not be easy to replace.”

Developing the front seven on defense is another priority. Most of the defensive backs will return following a solid season.

“We have to get that front seven shored up,” said Abel.

Sophomore Levi Dewey locked down the kicking duties, hitting 36-of-37 extra-point attempts and 7-of-8 field goal attempts this season.

Once spring arrives, Abel expects to see several players participating in twice-weekly workouts. Several Tigers will participate in track and field and baseball as well.

Practice time ramps up to four days a week during the summer session which provides time to develop a good eighth-grade class coming to the high school level.

There are no changes to Triton Central’s 2022 schedule. Cascade comes to Mendenhall Field on Aug. 19 with the first road game one week later at Greensburg.

Lutheran, now the defending Class A state champions, are again the week three opponent with Monrovia, Indian Creek, Ritter, Scecina, Beech Grove and Speedway rounding out the schedule.

Coach Donna Sullivan talks with GIANT fm Sports about receiving the John Wooden Legacy Coaching Award

Longtime Seymour coach and former Waldron girls assistant basketball coach Donna Sullivan has been honored with an inaugural award.

 

Two Indiana high school basketball coaches have been recognized among the inaugural honorees of the John Wooden Legacy Coaching Award presented by the National High School Basketball Coaches Association.

           

Gene Miiller, coach of the Washington boys, and Donna Sullivan, a long-time coach of the Seymour girls and a current Trinity Lutheran girls’ assistant, are the first honorees from the Hoosier state as nominated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The two join 76 other winners from 40 states and the District of Columbia that were put forth in an NHSBCA program coordinated with the Paycom Wooden Legacy tournament played Nov. 25-26 at Anaheim, Calif.

           

The award honors scholastic basketball coaches from around the country who are educators and have achieved excellence on the floor, in the classroom and in the community that further embody the characteristics and legacy of the late John Wooden. The criteria for the award are rooted in the ideals of education, longevity, character, service and excellence.

           

 Sullivan, 73, coached girls’ basketball at Seymour from 1970 through 2001. She compiled a career record of 344-241 with the Owls with 10 sectional trophies, five regional crowns, one semi-state title, one State Finals appearance in 1987 and two South Central Conference championships. Four of her Seymour players were chosen to the Indiana All-Stars in Erika McCoy (1986), Teri Moren (1987), Julie VonDielingen (1989) and Amber Holle (1997).

           

After stepping down at Seymour, Sullivan later served as a girls’ basketball assistant coach at Waldron for 12 seasons and currently is in her sixth season as a girls’ basketball assistant coach Trinity Lutheran. She also currently serves as executive vice president for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s executive committee.

 

Sullivan spoke with GIANT fm Sports.

 

           

Sullivan was head coach of the Indiana All-Star team in 1989, and she was the Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 1982. Sullivan was voted an IBCA District 5 Coach of the Year in 1986, an Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association District 5 Coach of the Year four times and was named a winner of an IBCA Virgil Sweet Award in 2004. She was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, and she received the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame “President's Award” in 2003 and 2012.

           

In addition, Sullivan received the Grotke Award from Indiana University in 2015, the highest award given to a former female athlete at Indiana University, and she was inducted into Seymour High School's inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame Class in 2017. Sullivan also received the ICGSA Service Award in 2000 and the National Federation of High School’s Robert F. Kanaby Citizenship Award in 2001. She also conducted basketball clinics in Africa in 1985.

           

Sullivan is a 1966 graduate of Orleans High School and a 1970 graduate of Indiana University, where she competed in volleyball, softball and field hockey on a club level because intercollegiate sports were not offered for women at that time. At Seymour, Sullivan also coached volleyball from 1973-89 (359-102 with four SCC, 12 sectional, six regional and two semi-state titles) and track & field from 1973-80 (45-12 with one SCC title). She also served as the Owls' assistant athletic director from 1977 through 2003.

 

Miiller, 67, is in his 46th season as a varsity basketball coach with a record of 725-352, including a 257-124 mark in his 17th season with the Washington Hatchets. During his tenures at Kankakee Valley (1976-81), Vincennes Lincoln (1981-98), Lafayette Jeff (1998-2005) and Washington (2005-present), Miiller’s teams have won 29 sectionals, eight regionals, four semi-states and state titles at Washington in 2008, 2010 and 2011. He also guided Vincennes Lincoln to a state runner-up finish in 1984.

           

A 1971 graduate of South Newton High School, Miiller was a three-time letterman, a two-time all-conference player and set school records for single-game scoring and assists. He also played football and was class president in high school. Miiller also is a 1975 graduate of Wabash College, where he was a three-year basketball letterman for the Little Giants and winner of the school’s George E. Carscallen Prize in mathematics.

           

Miiller has coached five Indiana All-Star players in his career in Sean Daugherty (1994), Payton Stovall (2003) Bryan Bouchie (2007), and Mr. Basketballs Tyler Zeller (2008) and Cody Zeller (2011).

 

He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.

           

He also was an IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year in 1980 at Kankakee Valley, an IBCA District 5 Coach of the Year in 1990 at Vincennes Lincoln and an Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 1992. In addition, Miiller has held basketball clinics in Africa and Australia during his career.

 

           

Greg Wooden, grandson of John Wooden, wrote a letter to each 2021 winner of the Wooden Legacy Coaching Award that stated:

           

“Our family cannot express how excited we are that you are receiving the NHSBCA Wooden Legacy Coaching Award. My grandfather, John R. Wooden, devoted his life to making an impact in the lives of others through the game of basketball. His passion was teaching, and there was no group that he was more passionate about that subject than coaches.

           

“The fact that you are receiving this award is a testament to a long-standing commitment you have made as a teacher/coach within your community. You are receiving this award because you embody many traits that my grandfather felt were vital to success.

           

“I know that if my grandfather was here today, he would feel that it was an honor to meet you and congratulate you on your success. In his memory, our family wants to do that for him. We appreciate you, and the commitment you have made to success. We could not be more thrilled that the NHSBCA has incorporated this award and could not be happier that you are its recipient in its inaugural year.”

           

John Wooden, namesake of the award, was an Indiana native, Martinsville High School graduate and Purdue University graduate. He was a three-time basketball all-state selection in high school, leading the Artesians to a state title as a junior in 1927 and to state runner-up finishes as a sophomore and senior in 1926 and 1928. He became a three-time All-America player at Purdue, helping the Boilermakers be named the Helms Athletic Foundation national champion in 1932.

           

Wooden later guided UCLA to a record 10 NCAA men’s national championships with a 620-147 mark after previously coaching at South Bend Central High School and Indiana State University. His 29-year college coaching record, including two years at Indiana State, was 664-162. His 11-year high school coaching record, including two years at Dayton (Ky.), was 218-42.

           

The National High School Basketball Coaches Association is a network of coaches’ associations from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with a member from each state on its board of directors. The NHSBCA is the national voice for high school basketball coaches, working to foster high standards of professionalism and to support coaches. 

 

 

Prep Report: Class 2A, No. 1 Triton Central stays unbeaten with win over Greensburg

With a 59-46 win over Greensburg Tuesday, Class 2A, No. 1 Triton Central set up a showdown of unbeatens Friday when Class A, No. 2 Waldron (7-0) comes to Fairland.

The Tigers improved to 7-0 this season with a strong second-half showing against the Pirates (1-8). Triton Central led 23-22 at halftime but outscored Greensburg 20-9 in the third quarter to build a 43-31 lead.

Brooklyn Bailey scored eight of her 13 points in the final eight minutes to help keep Greensburg at bay.

Olivia Faust led TC with 18 points. Maddy Brown had 12.

The Pirates were led in scoring by a pair of freshmen in Mylie Wilkison (24 points) and Kayla Tamm (14 points).

Triton Central won the junior varsity game, 42-28.

Sophomores Tatum Cantor (11 points) and Lucy Spall (8 points) led Triton Central in scoring.

Lydia Balser finished with a team-high eight points for Greensburg.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls basketball

Eastern Hancock 68, Southwestern 34

At Eastern Hancock, the host Royals, ranked No. 9 in Class 2A, scored 44 first-half points and cruised to a win over the visiting Spartans (3-5).

Eastern Hancock (8-1) had four players reach double digits in the scoring column. Emma Bolding led the way with 12 points. Caroline Stapleton and Grace Stapleton each had 11. Sammie Bolding finished with 10.

The Royals led 23-7 after one quarter and 44-14 at halftime.

 

 

Lily Kerber led Southwestern with 14 points. Lilly Rooks had seven.

Eastern Hancock won the junior varsity game, 54-19.

Ellie Meyer topped the Pirates with 12 points. Camryn Andrus and Brooklyn Willis each had 11.

Katelynn Coffman led the Spartans with 11 points.

Southwestern returns to the court Tuesday to host Knightstown (1-7).

 

 

Boys swimming

Franklin 124, Shelbyville 43

At Franklin, Juan Gonzalez Gallego won two events for the visiting Golden Bears against 28th-ranked Franklin.

Gonzalez Gallego took first place in the 200-yard freestyle (2:00.45) and the 100 butterfly (57.68).

Also collecting top-three performances were Tyler Harker in the 200 individual medley (2:14.15) and 100 breaststroke (1:08.1) and Lance File in the 100 backstroke (1:17.15).

The Golden Bears’ home opener is Thursday against Columbus East.

Girls swimming

Franklin 132, Shelbyville 41

At Franklin, a trio of Golden Bears secured runner-up finishes against the No. 8-ranked Grizzlies.

Jordan Tobler finished second in the 200 freestyle (2:35.6), Miriam Garringer was second in the 500 freestyle (6:15.83) and Karissa Hamilton placed second in the 50 freestyle (25.16) and 100 backstroke (1:08.38).

Kylie Stader finished third in the 200 freestyle (3:05.66), Madison Monroe was third in the 200 individual medley (3:07.61) and Lexi Dwiggins was third in the 100 breaststroke (1:45.1).

Maiah Helfer-Vazquez finished fourth in the diving competition with 168.3 points.

Shelbyville hosts Columbus East Thursday.

Wrestling

Shelbyville 39, Lawrence Central 30

At Lawrence Central, the visiting Golden Bears spoiled the home opener for the Bears.

Match winners for Shelbyville were Isaiah Havens (113 pounds), Cael Lux (132), Benny Cazares (138), Brayden Schultz (170), Dylan Garvin (182), Ryan Bradley (195) and Elias Jones (285).

Collegiate Update: Chandler scores career high for Loyola in win over St. Francis

Maya Chandler scored a career-high 21 points and added three rebounds and three assists on Nov. 24 for Loyola in a 96-61 win over St. Francis (Ill.).

On Sunday, Loyola improved to 4-2 with a 69-52 victory over Miami (Ohio). Chandler (photo) finished with seven points, three assists and two steals for the Ramblers.

Loyola ventures out of the state of Illinois for the first time this season with games Friday at Dartmouth and Sunday at Vermont.

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level.

 

 

Hayden Langkabel

The Morristown graduate matched his career high for points Tuesday in Marian’s 82-63 win over Bethel.

Langkabel scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists to get the 11th-ranked Knights to 6-2 this season and 1-2 in Crossroads League games. The senior was 6 of 10 from the 3-point line.

On Saturday, Marian defeated St. Xavier (Ill.), 57-56 in overtime. Langkabel had five points, three assists, one rebound and one steal.

 

 

Taylor Heath

The Triton Central graduate played just eight minutes Sunday in Hanover’s 69-65 win over Centre College. She had one assist, one rebound and two steals.

Heath did not play Monday in Hanover’s 94-87 loss at Spalding University. The loss dropped the Panthers to 3-2 this season.

 

 

Drake Moore

The Morristown graduate finished with seven points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal on Nov. 23 in York College’s 84-79 loss to Bethany.

Moore had two points Saturday in York’s 82-76 loss to Bethel.

York improved to 4-7 this season Monday with an 83-78 win over Friends.

 

 

Kenzie Ryle

The Triton Central graduate had one rebound in eight minutes of playing time Tuesday in Earlham College’s 93-65 loss to Wilmington.

The loss dropped the Quakers to 0-5 this season.

Ryle had four rebounds Sunday in Earlham’s 77-35 loss at Kenyon.

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