Local Sports

State-ranked Hoosier Heritage Conference foes ahead for Shelbyville

Shelbyville’s 60 points in a pair of season-opening losses is the most points the program has scored in back-to-back games since late in the 2017 season.

By comparison, the offense put up 43 combined points against Greensburg and Richmond in 2021.

Shelbyville continues to show upward trends for a program that has won two games over the last four seasons. The next step is to find offensive success against Hoosier Heritage Conference foes. The Golden Bears were shutout in four HHC contests last season.

“Now we’re playing a whole different ball game,” said Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing of the 7-game stretch against HHC schools, including Class 4A, No. 1 New Palestine. “We are playing high-caliber teams. … We have to battle. It’s the HHC. We didn’t score a point last year and we didn’t score many the year before that and we didn’t score many the year before that. It is what it is. We can’t change who we play.”

Glesing gets his first up close look at Class 3A, No. 12 Delta (2-0) Friday after the 2021 game was cancelled due to Shelbyville having limited roster availability due to COVID-19 protocols.

“Delta is traditionally a good football program back to when coach (Grant) Zgunda was there,” said Glesing, who has spent most of his coaching career in southern Indiana. “They are well-coached, play hard and have a good football program. That is attributed to the things they have done traditionally.”

The Eagles have relied on senior running back Palmer Samuels to secure wins over Muncie Central (34-28) and Columbia City (21-14) to start the season. Samuels has 306 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

“We have do better with our keys, we have to play more aggressive, we have to play downhill and get off our blocks,” said Glesing of slowing Delta’s run game. “Our safeties have to be more active. Our linebackers have to play more downhill and be more aggressive. So what if you make a mistake, make it playing hard and going downhill. That’s what we have to do better.”

Kaiden Bond, Delta’s junior quarterback, has completed 16-of-28 passes for 126 yards this season. Caleb Elliott, a senior, and Jonny Manor, a junior, have combined for 15 of those pass completions.

“They have a lot of weapons that are good ones and they can really spread it out,” said Glesing. “It seems like they have a good athlete at every position.”

In its two losses, the Golden Bears have allowed 703 yards rushing. Rushville racked up 250 yards last week in a 41-39 win over Shelbyville.

“We’re not physical enough right now,” said Glesing. “We’re too passive; we’re not aggressive enough. We just stand on our heels and let teams take it right at us instead of us taking it to them.”

Senior linebacker Cael Lux leads the Golden Bears with 37 total tackles over two weeks. Senior Jordan Marcum (photo, below) has 20 total tackles.

 

 

Quarterback Eli Chappelow produced the best start of his career at Rushville, completing 58% of his pass attempts for 217 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 62 more yards and three touchdowns.

Axel Conover ran for 95 yards on 18 attempts.

“Delta plays a 5-2 and is fast and physical off the ball,” said Glesing. “They are fundamentally sound.”

Glesing closed out practice Tuesday celebrating the team’s football card fundraising success. Despite being a rebuilding program, Glesing is impressed with the Shelbyville community supporting the Golden Bears and the excitement the student body is showing – including at Rushville last week.

“It’s a tradition that I inherited and we’ve built on it a little bit,” said Glesing of the coupon cards. “It’s the same old good deal. A lot of high schools do it. I have people calling me to this day asking if I have any football cards left.”

Despite starting the season 0-2 and carrying a 7-game losing streak, there is profound positivity within the program.

“It’s one of the hardest things about the coaching profession,” said Glesing. “I’ve been there because I’ve built programs. You have to find those successes, those little baby steps that you can build on. Yes, we’re 0-2 but it feels a little different this year that we’ve made some strides, at least offensively.

“You can’t keep getting your brains beat in and then expect the kids to keep bringing it every day. That’s a challenge, especially in this conference.”

 

 

QUICK FACTS

Shelbyville at Class 3A, No. 12 Delta

Game time: 7:30 p.m. at Delta Stadium in Muncie, Ind.

Head coaches: Brian Glesing, 1-8 in 2nd year at Shelbyville, 119-102 in 20th year overall; Chris Overholt, 42-26 in 7th year at Delta.

2021 record: Shelbyville 1-6; Delta 5-6.

Sagarin ratings: Shelbyville 36.29, 246th overall, 54th in Class 4A; Delta, 58.15, 130th overall, 29th in Class 3A.

Point spread: Delta favored by 24 points.

Last year: Due to COVID-19 protocols, Shelbyville had to cancel its Hoosier Heritage Conference contest with Delta. On Sept. 24, 2020, Delta defeated the Golden Bears, 68-0.

Last 10 years: Delta has won seven of the last 10 meetings and three straight in the series.

Around the HHC Friday: Class 4A, No. 8 Greenfield-Central (2-0) at Class 4A, No. 10 Mount Vernon (0-2); Class 4A, No. 1 New Palestine (2-0) at Yorktown (2-0); and Pendleton Heights (1-1) at New Castle (1-1).

Prep Report: TC runs win streak to seven straight with sweep of Waldron

Triton Central volleyball dispatched of Waldron in three sets Tuesday to run its win streak to seven straight.

The Tigers prevailed 26-24, 25-19, 25-14 in Fairland to improve to 9-2 this season. Waldron dropped to 4-4.

Maddy Brown, Triton Central’s career kills leader, had a team-high 13 kills against the Mohawks. Brooklyn Bailey added eight kills and Kayden Simmons and Kaitlin Bramlett each had six.

Brown also collected seven service aces and 13 digs.

Hallie Schweitzer finished with a team-high 14 digs for TC. Setter Kate Isley had 27 assists.

Triton Central will attempt to stay unbeaten against Indiana Crossroads Conference opponents this season Thursday when Indianapolis Lutheran (2-7, 1-1 ICC) visits Fairland.

Waldron hosts Knightstown (2-5) Thursday.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls Golf

Southwestern 226, Rising Sun 268, Jac-Cen-Del Inc.

At North Branch Golf Course, Southwestern’s Sydney Griffin and McKinley Correll shared their first medalist honor of the season and led the Spartans to a season-best team score.

Griffin and Correll each shot 51. Emma Isgrigg followed at 59. Aurora Belton completed the team scoring with a 65 and Hannah Hicks shot a season-best 66.

Vanessa Woodruff and McKenzie McDaniel each shot 66 to lead Rising Sun.

Jac-Cen-Del’s lone golfer, Emma Wagner, posted a 65.

Southwestern hosts Morristown Thursday.

 

 

Indiana Crossroads Conference Tournament

At Deer Creek Golf Course, Cascade’s Brianna Andres shot 83 to be crowned the conference champion and she helped the Cadets win the team title.

Cascade’s 390 topped Monrovia (457), Ritter (457), Speedway (462), Beech Grove (516) and Triton Central (536).

Olivia Williams led Triton Central (photo) at 121.

Triton Central is at Speedway today.

Boys Soccer

Southwestern 3, Greensburg 3

At Greensburg, Constant Martinez scored a pair of goals for Class A, No. 13 Southwestern, including the game-tying goal with just over four minutes left in the second half.

Martinez scored his first goal midway through the first half to tie the score at 1-all.

Eli Stone put the Spartans (2-1-1) up early in the second half but Cy Miller and Ethan Smith gave the Pirates (2-2-1) the lead once again.

Martinez, Garreth Stringer and Owen Stringer each had assists.

Southwestern is at Indianapolis Crispus Attucks Thursday.

Girls Soccer

Triton Central 6, Rushville 0

At Triton Central, Lizzie Graham collected a hat trick to help the Tigers improve to 3-1 this season.

Graham pushed her season goal total to eight. Elaina Maurice scored twice and had two assists.

Jocelyn Firebaugh tallied her first goal of the season. Vivian Blye had her first assist in 2022.

Cheyenne Allen and Hope Smith each played 40 minutes for a combined shutout.

Triton Central travels to Cascade (2-4, 1-2 ICC) Thursday.

Mt. Vernon 3, Shelbyville 0

At Mt. Vernon, Kylie Brandes, Addison Lockwood and Hannah Monroe scored to lead the Class 3A, No. 20 Marauders to the Hoosier Heritage Conference victory over the Golden Bears (2-1, 1-1 HHC).

After a scoreless first half, Mt. Vernon (4-2, 2-0 HHC) pulled away in the second half while goalkeeper Khloe Patterson preserved the shutout.

Macy Cooley was credited with 12 saves in goal for Shelbyville.

The Golden Bears host New Palestine (5-1-1, 2-0 HHC) Saturday.

Boys Tennis

Shelbyville 4, Pendleton Heights 1

At Pendleton Heights, the visiting Golden Bears improved to 5-3 this season and 2-1 against HHC foes.

At No. 1 singles, Shelbyville’s Aidan Asher pushed his record to 6-2 this season with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 win over Sam Bowers.

Caden Tackett also needed three sets for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Austin Perny at No. 2 singles.

Logan Prickett started the singles matches sweep with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Cove Ritchey at No. 3 singles.

Shelbyville’s No. 2 doubles pairing of Karson Schaf and Reece Prickett stayed unbeaten at 7-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Isaac Haugh and Tory Thorsen.

The Arabians’ lone win came at No. 1 doubles where Cole Bubenzer and Mark Nielsen defeated Aiden Smith and Caden Claxton, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Shelbyville hosts New Palestine Thursday.

New Palestine 5, Waldron 0

At New Palestine, the Mohawks dropped to 2-4 this season.

Lucas Shaw lost at No. 1 singles to Moses Haynes, 6-2, 6-1.

Arjomand Khokhir defeated Jack Fischer at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 6-3.

Brady Torzewski bested Caiden Young at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-2.

At No. 1 doubles, Maxwell Havel and Eli Sloan defeated Josh Kellems and Jacob Lindsay, 6-2, 6-0.

Tyler Wilson and Dawson Lynch completed the sweep with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Matthew Thomas and Connor Hinchman.

Waldron is at Trinity Lutheran Thursday.

Morristown 4, Oldenburg Academy 1

At Oldenburg Academy, the visiting Yellow Jackets dominated both doubles matches and added two singles victories to secure their first win of the season and first win for new head coach Ben Reuter.

At No. 1 doubles, Dalton McMichael and Michael Ballinger blanked Carson Ruter and Zach Phillips, 6-0, 6-0.

Bryce Bryant and Brady Schonfeld also shut out Jonah Short and Carson Phillips, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles.

At No. 1 singles, Morristown’s Tyler Schonfeld secured a 6-2, 6-4 win over Will Hollingsworth.

Austin Gabbard provided the final Yellow Jackets victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jack Freeland at No. 3 singles.

The Twisters’ only victory came at No. 2 singles where Clay Eckstein topped Jameson Palmer, 6-2, 6-4.

Morristown hosts Greenfield-Central Thursday.

Volleyball

Guerin Catholic def. Shelbyville, 25-20, 25-22, 25-13

At Guerin Catholic, the visiting Golden Bears suffered their third-straight loss to fall to 2-4 this season.

With the win, Guerin Catholic (4-5) ended its own three-match losing streak.

Shelbyville is at Greenwood (6-4) Thursday.


Tate Martz wins TQ Midget series race at Shelby County Fairgrounds

Tate Martz secured his third All Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midget series feature race win Saturday night at the Shelby County Fairgrounds.

Shelbyville native Logan Prickett (photo, left) entertained the hometown crowd with a third-place finish while current series leader Matt Lux finished fifth.

Martz (photo, right), who came into Saturday’s event third on the series points leaderboard, held off Joey Paxson, the top qualifier for the night, and Prickett to close the gap on series leader Lux.

Paxson also closed the gap on Lux with a runner-up finish. He came into Saturday’s race No. 2 in the standings.

 

 

Rylan Gray finished fourth with Lux (photo) getting a top-five finish.

Paxson was the top qualifier with a time of 17.303 seconds on the dirt track at the fairgrounds. Prickett was second fastest at 17.307 seconds.

Heat race winners were Matthew Hedrick, Robbie Roland and Dylan Powell.

The series continues Saturday for the 4th annual Brad Gray Memorial at the Rush County Fairgrounds. Cars take the track at 6 p.m.

Steve Bush photos

Collegiate Update: Julia Sanders makes collegiate debut for IU Kokomo

Julia Sanders made her collegiate debut a successful one as Indiana University Kokomo volleyball finished 3-1 in the Amber McClure Fayerweather Memorial Tournament.

Sanders, a Triton Central graduate, closed out the event with a career-high nine digs for IU Kokomo in a 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Concordia University (Michigan) Saturday at Odle Arena at Taylor University.

IU Kokomo opened the 2022 season Friday with a 25-12, 25-16, 22-25, 27-25 win over St. Thomas University (Florida). Sanders finished with three service aces and four digs in her debut.

The Cougars followed the win with a 25-14, 25-16, 25-15 sweep of Clarke University. Sanders had two assists, one ace and six digs.

IU Kokomo’s only loss came to No. 22 ranked Taylor, the host school, 25-21, 23-25, 15-25, 25-22, 15-12. Sanders had two assists and eight digs in the loss.

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

 

 

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate helped Jacksonville State’s volleyball team defeat its first “Power Five” school in nine seasons.

Jacksonville State collected wins over Chicago State, Indiana State and Indiana University this past weekend in Bloomington, Indiana.

On Friday, the Gamecocks topped Chicago State, 25-15, 26-24, 25-17. Schiffli had two assists and nine digs in the win.

Jacksonville State started its Saturday slate with a sweep of Indiana State, 25-13, 26-24, 25-11. Schiffli had one assist and six digs.

The Gamecocks closed out the event with a sweep of the Hoosiers on their home floor, 25-21, 26-24, 25-16. Schiffli had six digs.

“I’m really proud of the team,” said Jacksonville State head coach Todd Garvey. “To go 3-0 in a tough tournament, and to cap it off by sweeping a Big Ten (conference) team in their own gym says a lot about our team.”

Jacksonville State’s last win over a Power Five school came at the University of Tennessee in 2013.

 

 

Emma Nolley

The Shelbyville graduate made her collegiate volleyball debut Saturday in Jackson, Tennessee.

Texas Woman’s University finished 1-3 at the Union Volleyball Classic.

The Pioneers defeated Belmont Abbey in their season opener but lost to Mississippi College, Union and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Nolley took the court for the first time Saturday in the Pioneers’ 25-23, 25-14, 19-25, 20-25, 15-10 loss to Arkansas Monticello. She played in two sets but did not record a statistic.


Prep Report: Shelbyville tennis defeats Waldron

With four matches complete and inclement weather moving in, Shelbyville claimed a 4-0 victory Monday at Waldron.

The visiting Golden Bears (4-3) swept the singles matches and secured a win at No. 2 doubles when the match was stopped.

At No. 1 doubles, Shelbyville’s Aiden Smith and Caden Claxton and Waldron’s Josh Kellems and Jacob Lindsey played to a 6-2, 2-6, 4-4 draw.

Shelbyville’s No. 2 doubles pairing of Karson Schaf and Reece Prickett improved to 6-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Connor Hinchman and Matthew Thomas.

Aidan Asher defeated Lucas Shaw at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-2.

Caden Tackett pinned a 6-3, 6-4 loss on Jack Fischer at No. 2 singles.

And Logan Prickett bested Caiden Young at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-1.

Waldron is 2-3 this season.

In junior varsity matches, Shelbyville’s Layne Pogue defeated Andy Lacy, 9-8 (2). Waldron’s Connor Ping topped Aiden Alton, 6-4.

Shelbyville’s Gavin Reed and Alex Bunton defeated Sam Jones and Connor Ping, 8-0.

Shelbyville travels to Pendleton Heights today. Waldron is at New Palestine today.

In other prep events Monday:

Girls Golf

Greensburg 198, Shelbyville 218

At Greensburg Country Club, the host Pirates had three golfers shoot 50 or better to defeat the Golden Bears.

Greensburg’s Sarah Stapp was the medalist with a 41. Zoey Seal followed at 45 and Annie Pumphrey shot 50.

Kate Linville and Madison Monroe led Shelbyville with 53s. Emmie Higgins carded 54 and Ava Essex shot 58.

Shelbyville hosts Columbus East Thursday.

 

 

South Decatur at Morristown, ppd.

At Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville, the host Yellow Jackets honored seniors Ashlee Ballinger (photo, left) and Oakleigh Goedde (photo, right) before taking the course.

Inclement weather forced the postponement mid-match.

Boys Soccer

Morristown 1, Southwestern 1, ppd.

At Morristown, the Mid-Hoosier Conference soccer match was postponed with 31 minutes left in the second half.

The Yellow Jackets led 1-0 at halftime but a Garreth Stringer goal in the first minute of the second half tied the score.

The match will be finished at a later date.

Volleyball

Triton Central def. Ritter, 25-15, 25-11, 25-10

At Triton Central, the host Tigers secured their sixth-straight victory and third Indiana Crossroads Conference win of the season.

Maddy Brown had a team-high seven kills and added four service aces and three digs for Triton Central (8-2, 3-0 ICC).

Kaitlin Bramlett finished with five kills while Kayden Simmons, Brooklyn Bailey and Gracie Miller each had four against the Raiders (6-3, 1-2 ICC).

Kate Isley and Hallie Schweitzer each had three aces. Isley collected 14 assists.

On Saturday in Hagerstown, the Tigers scored victories over Hagerstown (25-19, 25-23) and Richmond (25-10, 25-15).

Brown and Bailey each had six kills against Hagerstown (3-4). Schweitzer had 14 digs and Isley finished with 13 assists.

Bailey led the Tigers with nine kills against Richmond (1-10). Isley had 21 assists.

Middle School Tennis

Triton Central 3, Batesville 2

Triton Central lost the top two singles matches but swept the No. 3 singles match and both doubles matches to defeat Batesville.

Triton Central’s Lexi Poole won 8-0 at No. 3 singles.

Brayden Hoover and Drayton Kermode were victorious, 8-4, at No. 1 doubles. Colton Ayres and Hyatt Watson won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.

Graham Gast and Ellie Gast were defeated at No. 1 singles and No. 2 singles, respectively.

Waldron avenges loss to Indian Creek to win invitational title

Waldron Junior High School’s tennis team defeated Batesville and Indian Creek Saturday to capture the Waldron Invitational title.

The Mohawks opened the event with a 5-0 sweep of Batesville.

Charlie Fischer, Lincoln Fischer and Caige Sheaffer each won singles matches by identical 8-2 scores.

The No. 1 doubles team of Jackson Kuhn and Noah Leap won 8-0.

Wyatt Everette and Kevin Crouch completed the sweep with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles.

Indian Creek defeated Waldron four days earlier but the Mohawks prevailed Saturday, 3-2.

Waldron’s doubles teams produced two victories with Kuhn and Leap winning, 8-2, over Abram Wiseman and Aaron Hickson. Everette and Crouch notched an 8-5 victory over Lochard Rainwater and Austin Fox.

Indian Creek collected wins at No. 2 singles and No. 3 singles.

Mason Frische defeated Lincoln Fischer, 8-1. A.J. Emenheiser topped Sheaffer, 8-4.

At No. 1 singles, Charlie Fischer sealed the invitational win with an 8-2 victory over Nick Winters.


Shelbyville scores 16 goals, gets two shutouts to win invitational

Shelbyville boys soccer put on a dominant performance Saturday in winning the 30th Annual Shelbyville Invitational.

The Golden Bears defeated Knightstown, 11-0, in the morning semifinal contest then shut down Herron, 5-0, in the championship with a senior-laden roster.

“That was a pretty good day,” agreed Shelbyville head coach Ben Purvis. “I was pretty happy with the performance across the board.”

With senior goalkeeper Jalen Hounshell and veteran defensemen in front of him, Purvis believes the Golden Bears can keep opponents in check. The difference maker for Shelbyville wins will be putting goals on the scoreboard.

“Offensively, we have struggled a little bit this year so to see things click was really exciting for me,” said Purvis. “I wasn’t sure what to think about our defense coming into this year but it has been our calling card. So to come in on a hot day, two games in the same day, for them to keep the intensity and the mental focus to get shutouts was phenomenal.”

Shelbyville entered its invitational Saturday with a 1-2-1 record and just seven goals scored (six coming in a 6-0 win over Oldenburg Academy).

The Golden Bears wasted little time attacking winless Knightstown, scoring seven first-half goals in 40 minutes and cruising to its first double-digit goal-scoring performance in almost two years.

 

 

Drew Hassebroek, Al Hernandez, Osvaldo Reyes (photo, right) and Diego Hernandez each had two goals in the win. Aiden Helfer-Vazquez, Diego Rosales and Mylez Clark also had goals.

Eight different Golden Bears had assists.

“It’s hard to say on a day when you score 16 goals, but we have struggled to score and we have spent every day in practice trying to find a way to unlock what can get us opportunities,” said Purvis. “When we went up to Hamilton Heights (a 1-0 loss on Aug. 23), we had 19 shots and zero goals. Just trying to find ways when Drew and Al are on the ball and creating for themselves or their teammates, how do we convert more of those chances. I think today was a really good step forward on some things we can do getting the ball to feet, using our speed on the wings to slip in behind defenses and create those chances.

“If we can do that more consistently, I think this year could be a very special year. Our record is not reflected where our effort and our talent is just because we have been unable to unlock other teams’ defenses and 16 goals in two games makes me very optimistic we’ve started to find that connection.”

Herron (3-2) did not score a goal in regulation in the invitational but still slipped by Batesville in the second semifinal with a 3-1 advantage in penalty kicks after playing to a scoreless draw in regulation.

Batesville rebounded for a 6-1 victory over Knightstown in the consolation match to improve to 4-2 this season. Knightstown dropped to 0-3.

Shelbyville had the edge in team depth, an easier semifinal win and more time to recover before the championship match with Herron. The Golden Bears took full advantage with two goals in the match’s first eight minutes.

Hassebroek delivered the ball to Hernandez, who beat the Herron goalkeeper to the near post for a quick 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest.

Senior Benny Cazares pushed upfield on a long run and fought off a Herron defender to beat the goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead with 32 minutes left in the opening half.

 

 

Senior Christian Haas (photo, right) got in on the scoring at the 24:35 mark to make it 3-0, which would hold up to halftime.

Aiden Helfer-Vazquez was credited with a goal early in the second half when his shot hit the top crossbar and landed in goal.

Hassebroek finished off the scoring with 15:29 to go with a strong shot to the far corner.

The Achaeans put pressure on the Shelbyville defense for an extended stretch late in the first half but could not beat Hounshell, who was credited with nine saves.

“Jalen’s development in the back has been crucial to us this year,” said Purvis. “He played really well as a junior but he was raw and there were some things he needed to improve on. He has put in the work like I never would have expected. He has given the entire defense confidence in the way we can play moving forward.”

Working in front of Hounshell are seniors Carlos Torres, Zavier Leon, Brayden Jones and Cazares.

“It is a wonderful thing to have defenders as outside backs (Jones and Cazares) that we trust on the ball,” said Purvis. “Even Benny getting one of the early goals today as an outside back pressing all the way high, we’ve not had that kind of depth and talent across the board in the back line where we can play under control and possessions rather than just trying to kick it and hope we go win the ball in the midfield. I think this is possibly the most connected group that I’ve had since I’ve been coaching.”

Transitioning possession to Hassebroek and Hernandez, both seniors, in the midfield is the key to Shelbyville’s offense.

“Between Drew and Al, our two center mids, I would put them up against any other pair we’re going to see and possibly in central Indiana,” said Purvis. “Those two and what they can do when they are connected and playing together is the best tandem that we’ve had in the middle of the field. We’ve had great players in the past but not two at the level they are playing at.”

Helfer-Vazquez is a sophomore while Reyes is a junior.

Other Golden Bears that saw multiple minutes in the championship include sophomore Jett Suiter, senior Jack Johnson, junior Benjamin Price and senior Antonio Harbert.

 

 

“I love this team,” said Purvis. “This is a phenomenal team. We have a lot of seniors. They have been together and been with me a very long time. It’s a special group that has the right mentality.

“Sometimes you can get this many kids and senior-year egos can become an issue because they think it’s their last year and they have to do certain things and have to get certain stats. This team is always playing for the name on the front of the jersey and it’s beautiful to watch. When they are that connected and supporting each other, I do think they will do some special things that haven’t been done here in awhile.”

Shelbyville travels to Madison (3-1) Thursday before opening the Hoosier Heritage Conference schedule Saturday at Delta (2-2-1, 0-1 HHC).

Jeff Brown and Steve Bush photos

Triton Central rises to No. 7 in state football coaches poll

Triton Central’s come-from-behind 21-14 win at New Castle Friday helped the Tigers climb two spots in this week’s Indiana Football Coaches Association Poll.

Triton Central rises to No. 7 and is one of six unbeatens ranked in the top 10.

Evansville Mater Dei (2-0) remains No. 1 in the Class 2A coaches poll ahead of Eastbrook (2-0), Linton-Stockton (2-0), Andrean (0-2), Scecina (2-0), Fort Wayne Luers (1-1), Triton Central (2-0), Heritage Christian (2-0), Eastside (1-1) and Lafayette Central Catholic (1-1).

 

 

Triton Central will host the top-ranked team in Class A Friday at Mendenhall Field.

Indianapolis Lutheran (2-0) remains the No. 1 team in Class A with Adams Central (2-0), South Adams (2-0), Monroe Central (2-0), North Judson (2-0), Park Tudor (2-0), North Decatur (2-0), Tri (2-0), Carroll (Flora) (2-0) and South Decatur (0-2).

Chatard stays atop the Class 3A poll with a 2-0 record. West Lafayette (2-0) is No. 2 ahead of Gibson Southern (2-0), Western Boone (2-0), Guerin Catholic (2-0), Mishawaka Marian (1-1), Tri-West (1-1), Heritage Hills (2-0), Norwell (2-0) and Lawrenceburg (1-1).

Delta (2-0), Shelbyville’s week three opponent Friday, is ranked No. 12.

New Palestine’s emphatic win over previous Class 5A, No. 2 Decatur Central was enough to vault the Dragons’ to the top spot in Class 4A.

Roncalli (2-0), last week’s No. 1, falls to No. 2 with Mooresville (2-0), East Central (2-0), Kokomo (2-0), Northwood (2-0), Brebeuf Jesuit (1-1), Greenfield-Central (2-0), New Prairie (2-0) and Mt. Vernon (0-2) following in the poll.

Three of the top 10 teams, New Palestine (2-0), Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon, are from the Hoosier Heritage Conference.

Merrillville (2-0) maintains the top spot in Class 5A ahead of Whiteland (2-0), Mishawaka (2-0), Fort Wayne Snider (1-1), Decatur Central (1-1), Franklin (2-0), Valparaiso (1-1), Fort Wayne Dwenger (1-1), Fort Wayne North (1-1) and Harrison (West Lafayette) (1-1).

With wins this season over Warren Central and Carmel, Center Grove (2-0) sits firmly atop the Class 6A poll but Brownsburg (2-0) is giving chase.

Brownsburg defeated previously No. 2-ranked Cathedral Friday to jump over the Irish in the poll.

Cathedral (1-1) is No. 3 followed by Ben Davis (1-1), Hamilton Southeastern (2-0), Carmel (0-2), Warren Central (1-1), Penn (2-0), Carroll (Allen) (2-0) and Homestead (2-0).


Prep Report: SHS, Waldron cross country compete at Franklin Invitational

Shelbyville and Waldron cross country runners got their first look at their sectional course Saturday while competing in the Franklin Invitational held at Franklin Community High School.

The Golden Bears finished 16th in the boys team standings – two spots back of Waldron – while both programs did not field enough runners for a team score in the girls race.

Leading Shelbyville in the girls race was Hannah Wright (photo, right), who finished 44th overall out of 192 runners with a personal-best time of 22 minutes, 16 seconds.

Angel Kreider followed in 77th with a personal-best time of 23:28.

Competing in their first 5k races, freshmen Aerin Garcia-Santiago and Cora Flynn clocked times of 27:22 and 27:27, respectively.

Competing for Waldron were Sophie Hudnall (131st in 25:41) and Riley Price (151st in 27:33).

Will Larrison scored a top-40 finish in the boys race. The Waldron sophomore placed 35th in 18:05. He was followed across the finish line by Jared Crosby (52nd, 18:31), Nathaniel Evans (173rd, 21:28), Ethan Richardson (214th, 23:00) and Kyle Lacy (216th, 23:16).

 

 

Shelbyville’s top finisher was Beau Kenkel (48th, 18:21) (photo).

Also competing for Shelbyville were Logan Reinhart (100th, 19:44), Ben Hinojosa (166th, 21:16), Christian Powell (211th, 22:49), Gavin Harker (212th, personal-best 22:51), Gaige Harker (225th, personal-best 23:42), Isaac Zermeno (234th, 24:46) and Ayden Holmes (238th, 25:41).

In prep events Friday:

Girls Golf

Rushville 189, Morristown 244

At Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville, the host Yellow Jackets posted a season-best score but could not overcome the Lions.

Ashlee Ballinger led Morristown with a season-best score of 50. Also competing for the Yellow Jackets were Clara Hale (63), Mollie Runnebohm (64) and Oakleigh Goedde (67).

Morristown hosts the Mt. Vernon junior varsity squad today at Blue Bear.

Southwestern def. Morristown, 25-16, 19-25, 25-21, 25-20

At Southwestern, Madison Espich led the visiting Yellow Jackets with 11 kills and 12 digs in their second Mid-Hoosier Conference match of the season.

Kindall Dorsey collected six kills, four aces and 16 digs for Morristown. Maycee Cole had four blocks and Raegan Kleine finished with 11 assists.

The host Spartans improved to 4-6 this season.

Southwestern won the junior varsity contest 25-9, 25-18.

In other prep events Saturday:

Boys Soccer

Morristown 3, Wapahani 0

At Wapahani, the visiting Yellow Jackets improved to 4-1-1 this season with a shutout victory over the Raiders (2-3).

Matthew Carlton, Kade Rogers and Caydon Coombs scored goals for Morristown.

Dyllan Rutledge collected the shutout in goal.

Morristown hosts Class A, No. 11 Southwestern (1-1) today.

Boys Tennis

Delta 4, Shelbyville 1

Shelbyville’s No. 2 doubles pairing of Karson Schaf and Reece Prickett improved to 5-0 this season with a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 11-9 victory over Isaac Anderson and Jake Bilby.

Delta swept the singles matches and Riley Bratton and Colin McGrady defeated Shelbyville’s Aiden Smith and Caden Claxton at No. 1 doubles, 6-4, 6-3.

At No. 1 singles, Dalton Royal topped Aidan Asher, 6-0, 6-0. Owen Vest defeated Caden Tackett, 7-6 (4), 6-0. And Kody Vest bested Logan Prickett, 6-3, 6-2.

Shelbyville (3-3, 1-1 Hoosier Heritage Conference) travels today to Waldron (2-2).

Franklin Central 4, Triton Central 1

At the Franklin Central Invitational, the host Flashes pinned the first loss on Triton Central this season.

The Tigers’ only win came at No. 1 singles where Tucker Hutchinson defeated Hayden Hege, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Avram Rund lost in three sets at No. 2 singles to Brendan Engle, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Ryan Mueller topped Cole Thomas at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-3.

Griffin Sego and Ben Toth suffered their first loss of the year at No. 1 doubles, 6-2, 6-1, to Landon Carlisle and Aaron Mahoney.

Oliver Gearlds and Connor Evans also tasted defeat for the first time at No. 2 doubles, 6-0, 6-1 to Ethan Jackson and Chase Rigler.

Franklin Central defeated Triton Central, 4-1, in the junior varsity contest. TC’s only win came from the No. 2 doubles pairing of Caleb McGuire and Janssen Capps.

Plainfield 5, Triton Central 0

Triton Central finished the Franklin Central Invitational with a loss to the 26th-ranked Quakers.

Plainfield lost a total of four games in sweeping the Tigers (5-2). The Quakers also won the JV match 5-0.

Triton Central returns to action Tuesday at Brown County.

Volleyball

Rising Sun def. Morristown, 26-24, 25-27, 23-25, 25-22, 17-15

At Morristown, Jenna Peelman, Hillary Lambert and Ryan Works each had 10 kills to lead the Shiners (4-2) to a hard-fought, five-set victory over the Yellow Jackets (2-6).

Baylee Morris had 22 digs and 23 assists for the Shiners.

Danika Rutledge led Morristown with 14 kills. Espich followed with 10.

Espich and Kleine each had five aces while Kleine collected 24 assists.

Dorsey finished with a team-high 22 digs.

Indian Creek Invitational

Waldron scored victories over Greencastle (25-14, 27-29, 15-7) and South Ripley (25-15, 25-17) before falling to the host Braves in the championship match, 25-12, 25-19.

Caroline Gooch and Keirsten Clark led Greencastle (1-7) with five kills each.

Katelynn Samples topped South Ripley (6-3) with six kills. Lydia Cornett added nine digs.

Faith Wiseman led Indian Creek (6-3) with nine kills. Adriana Williams finished with a team-high nine digs and Grayson Burkett notched 11 assists.

Waldron (4-3) hosts Triton Central Tuesday.

Cross Country

Rushville Classic

Runners from Morristown and Triton Central competed in the Rushville Classic.

Morristown’s Grace McLaughlin secured the top finishing position from either squad. She crossed the finish line 34th (25:37) in the Division I race for small schools.

In the boys Division I race, Morristown’s Max Compton placed 44th in 20:10; Triton Central’s Liam Thompson finished 65th (21:10); TC’s Hank Hadler was 97th (22:59); Morristown’s Drake Hibst was 104th (23:29); and TC’s Nick Straber was 108th (23:58).

Steve Bush photos

IHSAA approves postseason hosts for basketball, swimming and wrestling

Southwestern High School will host both girls basketball sectional and regional tournaments in 2023.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association has released the postseason site approvals for basketball, wrestling and swimming.

Girls basketball

All five Shelby County girls basketball programs will stay in the county for 2023 sectional tournaments.

Shelbyville’s William L. Garrett Gymnasium is the host site for Class 4A, Sectional 14 that includes Columbus East, Columbus North, East Central, Franklin, Shelbyville and Whiteland.

Columbus North will be the regional site for the Sectional 14 champion.

New this season, Shelbyville will serve as one of two South Semistate host sites along with New Albany.

Triton Central will host Class 2A, Sectional 42 that includes Eastern Hancock, Scecina, Irvington Prep and Riverside.

Southmont is once again the regional site for the Sectional 42 champion.

Southwestern takes over the Class A, Sectional 60 hosting duties for a seven-team sectional that includes Edinburgh, Jac-Cen-Del, Morristown, Oldenburg Academy, South Decatur, Southwestern and Waldron, the 2022 host school.

Southwestern continues as host of the regional that will include sectional champions from Bloomfield, Bethesda Christian, Eminence and Southwestern.

The girls basketball regional championship games are slated for Feb. 11, 2023. Semistate championships follow on Feb. 18 with the state championship games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Feb. 25.

Boys basketball

Columbus North will host the Class 4A, Sectional 14 tournament with the champion advancing to the Seymour Regional.

Triton Central travels to Eastern Hancock for the Class 2A, Sectional 42 tournament. The sectional champ moves on to the Greenfield-Central Regional.

Edinburgh returns as the host of Class A, Sectional 60 with Martinsville the host site for the sectional champion.

The sectional fields for the boys basketball tournaments involving Shelby County schools are identical to the girls sectional fields.

Regional tournaments are scheduled for March 11 with the semistates one week later. The state championship games will be played March 25 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Swimming

Shelbyville will once again travel to New Palestine for boys and girls sectional competition in 2023.

The girls sectional at New Palestine concludes on Feb. 4. The 11-team field includes Centerville, Connersville, Eastern Hancock, Greenfield-Central, Hagerstown, Mt. Vernon, New Castle, New Palestine, Richmond, Seton Catholic and Shelbyville.

The State Finals for the girls is Feb. 10-11 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.

The boys sectional championship is Feb. 18 with the state finals on Feb. 24-25.

Wrestling

Shelby County’s wrestling programs at Shelbyville and Triton Central will compete at the Warren Central Sectional on Jan. 28.

The regional qualifiers will travel to Perry Meridian on Feb. 4 and semistate qualifiers head to New Castle on Feb. 11.

The state championship meet is Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

In other IHSAA executive committee meeting business:

 

 

  • Waldron High School was one of 18 IHSAA member schools to earn the Sportsmanship Award for 2021-2022.

The 18 schools are Angola, Brebeuf Jesuit, Brownsburg, Calumet, Clay City, Eastern Greene, Frankton, Fremont, Harrison (West Lafayette), Highland, Madison, Mooresville, North Vermillion, Pioneer, River Forest, Seymour, Sheridan and Waldron.

Each school will receive an award banner to display.


Shelbyville drops road game against Rushville in first meeting since 2012

RUSHVILLE -- Anyone associated with Shelbyville’s football in recent years program could understand what Rushville was going through. 

In 2021, Shelbyville snapped a 26-game losing streak after two winless seasons.

Rushville was saddled with back-to-back winless seasons and a 24-game losing streak entering this season.  A come-from-behind win over Milan in the 2022 season opener ended that streak.

The Lions 41-39 win over Shelbyville Friday in week 2 is the start to another streak – a win streak.

You have to go all the way back to Sept. 14 and Sept. 21 of 2018 to find Rushville’s last consecutive football victories.

Shelbyville’s defense was on its heels early. Rushville’s up-tempo offense is geared to run a play every nine seconds and scored on the opening drive just over three minutes into the game.  Jayden Roosa’s six-yard touchdown run followed by the extra point gave Rushville the early 7-0 lead.

Rushville went up 14-0 as senior quarterback Austin Vance found 6-foot, 5-inch junior wide receiver Dylan Thompson over the middle for a 47-yard catch and run about two minutes later.

Vance was 9-for-20 passing for 122 yards and two touchdowns. 

He tied the Rushville single game record for touchdown passes with four against Milan last week.  It tied the mark set by Doug Marlowe against Shelbyville in 1992.

Shelbyville (0-2) got on the board at the 4:21 mark of the first quarter.  Quarterback Eli Chappelow capped a 61-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run.  Aiden Helfer-Vazquez's extra point cut the Rushville lead in half, 14-7.

Chappelow accounted for four Golden Bear scores with three rushing touchdowns and one passing. 

Chappelow was the GIANT fm Ashford Place Health Campus Player of the Game. He was 11-for-19 passing for 217 yards. The junior also recorded 62 yards rushing and four tackles on defense.

Rushville (2-0) quickly re-established a 14-point cushion by taking the ensuing kickoff down to the Shelbyville 20-yard line.  The Lions scored on the next play from scrimmage, a Harper Miller 20-yard run.

Harper was the top ball carrier on the night with 174 yards on 31 carries. He scored twice on the ground.

A game that yielded 28 combined points in the first eight minutes went quietly the rest of the half as Shelbyville stabilized its defense.

Shelbyville quickly narrowed the gap in the third quarter.  After a drive stalled at the Rushville 24, Helfer Vazquez converted his first varsity field goal from 32 yards out to bring Shelbyville back to a 21-10 deficit.

A fumble by Rushville on the Lions next drive was turned into a Shelbyville 19-yard rushing touchdown by Axel Conover (95 yards rushing).  With a successful two-point conversion pass, Rushville’s lead was trimmed to 21-18 with 6:56 remaining in the third quarter.

The rest of the way the old rivals alternated scores.  Rushville pushed the lead to nine, 27-18, late in the third quarter with a Vance touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal from the six-yard line. The extra point kick was missed.

Shelbyville pulled to within two on three occasions in a fourth quarter that saw the Lions and Golden Bears combine for 35 points.  The first time was on a Chappelow to Lux 60-yard pass and run, 27-25.

Rushville took advantage of another kickoff return.  Starting the offensive series at the Shelbyville 43-yard line, Miller scored the second of his rushing touchdowns to extend the lead, 34-25.

Chappelow’s nine-yard run two minutes later again brought Shelbyville within two, 34-32.

But Shelbyville couldn’t stop the high-octane Rushville offense.  Roosa ran 26 yards for his second touchdown of the night with 5:16 remaining.  The three-year veteran for the Rushville football team, finished with 13 carries for 86 yards.

Shelbyville had one final possession and made it count with Chappelow’s third rushing touchdown of the night to again pull within two, 41-39. But with only 58 seconds remaining Rushville was able to run out the clock.

The win snapped an 11-game losing streak in the series for Rushville.  It was the first meeting between the program's since 2012 when Rushville moved from the Hoosier Heritage Conference to the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference.  Rushville second-year head coach Isaac Sliger was on the field as a player for the Lions that year as Shelbyville won in overtime, 21-20.

Shelbyvillle travels to Delta (2-0) to open Hoosier Heritage Conference play in week 3.  Delta got by Columbia City Friday, 21-14.

Steve Bush photo

Defense carries Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central to win at New Castle

NEW CASTLE -- Following one of the worst halves of football for Triton Central in the Tim Able era, the Tigers clawed their way back to the lead at New Castle then went into ground-and-pound mode to salt away a 24-17 victory Friday.

The Class 4A Trojans (1-1) had 37 yards of offense in the first half yet held a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter. By then, Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central had amassed six penalties and botched its first two punt attempts of the season.

“I can’t remember any game where we executed worse,” said Able. “We have two of the best snappers in the world and we have two bad snaps? It’s not because we don’t practice it. We did it all summer long and they are great snappers. People have bad days and we had it.”

The Tigers’ offense turned to senior Brad Schultz for a spark – and he delivered. Schultz had six receptions on a 65-yard scoring drive to cut New Castle’s lead in half at the break.

 

 

“That gave us some hope,” said Triton Central quarterback Jace Stuckey (photo). “We knew we were that team. That put in our head that we can score. We drove all the way down the field and our offense needed that. We needed that little spark.”

New Castle had one offensive drive all game that lasted more than six plays. Yet, the Trojans ran 14 plays in the red zone. Triton Central’s defense stepped up and ended one drive with a Levi Dewey interception in the end zone and another with a Hadyn Ball trip up of New Castle quarterback Tyson Lewis inside the 10-yard line on fourth down.

“Our defense just dominated,” said Able, now in his 10th season in Fairland. “We had a great game plan and the kids executed it. We have that depth on the defensive line and we just kept bringing bodies in and wearing them down.”

Triton Central’s defense limited the Trojans to 127 total yards, benefited from two safeties and produced three interceptions.

“Our defense, you can’t ask for much more,” said Stuckey. “Three turnovers. Two safeties. Let’s give them credit.”

After a scoreless first quarter, a high snap on TC’s second punt attempt of the game set up New Castle’s offense at the TC 13. Lewis needed two plays to find Quintin Boatright wide open in the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Triton Central opted not to punt on its next series and turned the ball over on downs at its own 34. New Castle needed five plays for Lewis to once again connect with Boatright to make it 14-0.

The Tigers responded with a 12-play drive that ended with Stuckey finding Schultz in the end zone from 11 yards out. Dewey provided the extra point to give life to the visitors.

“We finally finished a drive,” said Able. “We had multiple drives early and penalties and our mistakes. It was at every different kind of position there were mistakes. (Saturday) is going to be a long film day because there is so much we have to fix.”

New Castle’s best drive of the game opened the third quarter. It was benefitted by another bad punt snap that Aidan Bradley pulled in and ran left for 38 yards and a first down.

 

 

A Jared Schweitzer (photo) sack preceded back-to-back incomplete passes in the red zone. Chase Chandler had an interception in the end zone on fourth down but the Tigers were flagged for pass interference that gave the Trojans another fourth-down play.

Lewis looked to the end zone again then tried to run for the touchdown but Ball tripped him up behind the line of scrimmage.

When Ball did get a good snap, he delivered booming punts. Triton Central’s next drive halted at the 37-yard line and Ball delivered a 54-yard punt down to the New Castle 9-yard line.

On the next play, Lewis dropped back to the end zone and threw the ball away as the pocket collapsed on him. Intentional grounding was called which netted the Tigers a safety.

TC’s next possession went nowhere and Ball punted down to the New Castle 20. A holding penalty on first down and an 8-yard loss on a bad snap set up third-and-27 from the 3. That snap sailed over Lewis’ head and TC had a second safety that cut the lead to 14-11.

Stuckey started the next drive on his own 39 and narrowly avoided being sacked, then delivered a laser across the field to Mason Compton, who found the sideline and raced 57 yards down to the New Castle 4.

Ray Crawford reached the end zone on the next play and Triton Central had its first lead of the game, 18-14.

“To our kids credit, we came back in the second half and played like we are capable of,” said Able.

Luke Faust collected his first interception early in the fourth quarter to stop another New Castle drive and the Tigers went into finish mode.

 

 

Starting at its own 33, Triton Central rolled off 15 plays that killed off over eight minutes of the final quarter. Dewey (photo) delivered a 36-yard field goal to set the final score.

Stuckey completed 21 of 32 attempts for 168 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 27 yards on 13 carries.

Schultz finished with nine catches for 79 yards and a touchdown – his fourth of the season. Crawford racked up a hard fought 78 yards on 17 carries.

Triton Central now prepares for an Indiana Crossroads Conference showdown in week three against Class A, No. 1 Lutheran (2-0, 2-0 ICC). The Saints, the defending state champions, travel to Fairland next week after routing Indianapolis Ritter Friday, 71-0.

 

TRITON CENTRAL 21, NEW CASTLE 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TC (2-0)   0    7  11   3  --  21

NC (1-1)  0  14    0    0  --  14

Second Quarter:

NC – Boatright, 12 pass Lewis (Barrett kick), 8:22

NC – Boatright, 7 pass Lewis (Barrett kick), 5:30

TC – Schultz, 11 pass Stuckey (Dewey kick), 1:15

Third Quarter:

TC – Safety (Lewis intentional grounding), 5:52

TC – Safety (Snap out of end zone), 3:01

TC – Crawford, 4 run (Dewey kick), 2:25

Fourth Quarter:

TC – Dewey, 36 field goal, 1:30

                                         TC               NC

Rushing:                       34-116       23-60

Passing yards:              168              98

First downs:                   16               11

Fumbles-Lost:               0-0              0-0

Interceptions:                  3                 0

Penalties:                      8-65            5-50

Rushing (Individual): Stuckey 13-27, Crawford 17-78, Wilkins 3-12, Schultz 1-(-1) (TC); Eberhart 12-27, Bradley 1-38, Thrine 2-1, Lewis 8-(-6) (NC).

Passing (Individual): Stuckey 21-32-168 (TC); Lewis 9-23-98 (NC).

Receiving (Individual): Schultz 9-79, Faust 6-18, Compton 1-57, Kemper 1-12, Crawford 3-(-10) (TC); Boatright 6-67, Bradley 3-31 (NC).

Prep Report: Shelbyville's Linville cards season-best round at Timbergate Golf Course

Kate Linville carded her best round of the season to lead the Shelbyville golf team to a 215-245 victory over Southwestern Thursday at Timbergate Golf Course in Edinburgh.

Linville (photo, second from right) fired off a 43 to earn her third medalist honor of the season.

She was backed by a pair of 56s from Madison Monroe and Emmie Higgins. Ava Essex completed the Golden Bears’ scorecard with a 60.

McKinley Correll led Southwestern with a 54. Sydney Griffin was six shots back at 60.

Also competing for Southwestern were Aurora Belton (64), Hannah Hicks (67) and Emma Isgrigg (70).

Southwestern is at Triton Central Monday. Shelbyville hosts Columbus East Thursday.

In other prep events Thursday:

Girls Golf

Brown County 199, Morristown 247

At Blue Bear Golf Course, Ashlee Ballinger topped the host Yellow Jackets with a 56.

Also competing for Morristown were Clara Hale (62), Mollie Runnebohm (64) and Oakleigh Goedde (65).

Morristown hosts Rushville today at Blue Bear.

Boys Soccer

Southwestern 6, Brown County 0

At Southwestern, the Class A, No. 11 Spartans got a pair of goals from Garreth Stringer and Michael Clements and Garrett Shaw combined for the shutout in goal.

Constant Martinez, Tucker Simmons, Eli Stone and Cecil Newton also scored goals for Southwestern (2-1). Martinez had a pair of assists on goals. Also collecting assists were Jonah DeArmitt, Carter Cooley, Gavin Shaw and Simmons.

Southwestern travels to Morristown Monday.

Morristown 3, Beech Grove 1

At Beech Grove, the visiting Yellow Jackets earned their third win of the season with a road victory over the winless Hornets (0-5).

Morristown is at Wapahani Saturday.

 

 

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 5, Southwestern 0

At Southwestern, the visiting Tigers dominated the doubles matches while Tucker Hutchinson and Avram Rund improved to 4-1 in singles matches.

At No. 1 singles, Hutchinson defeated Kyle Beck, 6-2, 6-2. Rund was successful at No. 2 singles over Jaime Oliver, 6-1, 6-1.

Cole Thomas earned the win at No. 3 singles when Southwestern did not provide an opponent.

At No. 1 doubles, Griffin Sego and Ben Toth improved to 5-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Carter Snepp and Chris Cecil.

Oliver Gearlds and Connor Evans also improved to 5-0 this season with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Josh Wenger and Ben Schlabach.

Triton Central is 5-0 this season and competes next at the Franklin Central Invitational Saturday. Southwestern is 1-2 and at the Brown County Invitational Saturday.

Waldron 5, Morristown 0

At Morristown, the visiting Mohawks won all five matches in straight sets.

At No. 1 singles, Lucas Shaw improved to 3-1 this season with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Tyler Schonfeld.

Jack Fischer defeated Jamison Palmer at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-3.

Caiden Young earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over Austin Gabbard at No. 3 singles.

At No. 1 doubles, Josh Kellems and Jacob Lindsey topped Dalton McMichael and Michael Ballinger, 6-4, 6-3.

And at No. 2 doubles, Connor Hinchman and Matthew Thomas bested Bryce Bryant and Brady Schonfeld, 6-1, 6-2.

Waldron (2-2) hosts Shelbyville Monday. Morristown (0-3) is at Elwood Monday.

In a middle school match Monday, Waldron defeated Morristown, 4-1. Collecting match wins for Waldron were Charlie Fischer (No. 1 singles), Lincoln Fischer (No. 2 singles), Jackson Kuhn and Caige Sheaffer (No. 1 doubles) and Noah Leap and Wyatt Everette (No. 2 doubles).

 

 

Volleyball

Triton Central def. Cascade, 25-10, 25-22, 25-22

At Triton Central, Kaitlin Bramlett and Maddy Brown combined for 21 kills to push the Tigers’ record to 5-2 this season and 2-0 against Indiana Crossroads Conference opponents.

Bramlett finished with a team-high 11 kills. Brown had 10 kills and 15 digs.

Hallie Schweitzer led the defensive effort with 21 digs. Setter Kate Isley collected 31 assists.

Cascade dropped to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in the ICC standings.

Triton Central travels to Hagerstown Saturday for an invitational event.

North Central def. Shelbyville, 25-12, 25-10, 25-14

At North Central, the visiting Golden Bears dropped to 2-3 this season.

With the straight-set victory, North Central improved to 5-3.

Shelbyville returns to action Tuesday at Guerin Catholic.

Morristown def. Providence Cristo Rey, 25-8, 25-8, 25-8

At Providence Cristo Rey, the visiting Yellow Jackets improved to 2-4 this season with a straight-set victory over the winless Wolves (0-2).

Nevaeh Sanders finished with a team-high nine kills for Morristown.

Senior setter Raegan Kleine had nine assists and 11 service aces.

Morristown is at Southwestern tonight.

Waldron def. Jac-Cen-Del, 25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20

At Waldron, the Mohawks improved to 2-2 against the winless Eagles.

Jac-Cen-Del dropped to 0-8 this season.

Waldron competes in the Indian Creek Invitational Saturday.

Cross Country

South Decatur Invitational

Southwestern’s boys program finished fourth overall with all five runners clocking personal-best times.

Dane Kissell (7th in 18:52), Dakota Claiborne (8th in 18:54) and Chris Claiborne (11th in 19:55) all finished in the top 12 Thursday.

Jackson Bentz placed 17th in 20:25 and Ryan Wildman finished 43rd in 26:46.

Maxine Higdon finished 15th in the girls race for Southwestern in 27:36.

Golden Bears rekindling old rivalry with Rushville

After allowing Greensburg to score four second-half touchdowns in a 35-21 season-opening loss Friday at McKeand Stadium, Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing had a simple breakdown of his team’s performance.

“We have to be more physical, that is one of the biggest things,” said Glesing. “We have to be more physical.

“There has to be more hard-hitting collisions for us to be successful. That is my biggest take, we have to be more physical, more aggressive, especially defensively. Defensively, we just kind of laid back and took it.”

The Pirates had two scoring drives of more than 80 yards in the second half after trailing the Golden Bears 13-6 at halftime.

“Physicality and inexperience at some positions,” continued Glesing of his assessment. “We just laid back and took it rather than going and being aggressive. We have to be more confident and play downhill defensively.”

Greensburg ran the ball 43 times out of 56 plays and amassed 433 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Still, Shelbyville led 21-20 after a fourth-quarter Luke Jackson scoring run. Instead of talking about being overwhelmed by talent as in games past, Glesing was focused on effort plays and the right mentality to get the stops needed to seal victories.

“We have to get tougher, we have to be more physical,” said Glesing. “It’s not just one person, it’s pretty much all of our guys. We have to understand that football is a brutal contact sport. You have to have something inside you to go hit somebody.

“We’re working on it. We are so much better than last year. We have to make that next step, continue those steps and one of those is we need to be more physical.”

 

 

The Golden Bears turn their attention this week to an old rival returning to the regular-season schedule. Shelbyville and Rushville have history dating back to the South Central Conference days. The two were a mainstay on the schedule until Rushville left the Hoosier Heritage Conference more than a decade ago. The last meeting between the two teams came on Aug. 31, 2012, when Shelbyville won in overtime at Rushville, 21-20.

Both programs have struggled to find Friday night success in recent seasons. Shelbyville’s last winning season came in 2017; Rushville’s was in 2013. The two programs have combined to win two games in the last three seasons.

“This is a good football game for both of us,” said Glesing. “It comes at the right time for both teams. They have this one circled. We’ve got it circled. It comes at the right time for both teams that are hungry for a win. It’s a natural kind of rivalry we should have been playing all along.”

Shelbyville broke a 26-game losing streak in week two of the 2021 season. Rushville ended a 24-game skid last week with a 41-35 victory over Milan.

 

 

The Golden Bears are searching for their first road win since Oct. 13, 2017 – a 34-27 victory at Pendleton Heights.

To do so, Shelbyville will have to keep Rushville senior quarterback Austin Vance in check. The six-foot-four signal caller threw for 217 yards and four touchdowns in the week one victory after missing nearly all of the 2021 season with an injury.

“They have a great quarterback in Vance,” said Glesing. “They do a lot of different things offensively, give you a lot of different looks. They like to run the counter and the power. They like pulling guards and then they will throw it off of that.

“They hit some big plays against Milan and they hit some big plays in their scrimmage. We will have to be on top of our game to be successful.”

Vance is the son of new Shelbyville Central Schools Superintendent Matt Vance, who was previously the superintendent of Rush County Schools.

On the ground, Harper Miller, a 5-10 junior, ran for 131 yards on 27 attempts against Milan.

Shelbyville counters with junior quarterback Eli Chappelow, who was 5-for-11 passing against Greensburg for 89 yards and a touchdown.

“Eli was solid. He is still just a junior,” said Glesing. “We are trying to get him more confident to command the offense and do those things the quarterback needs to do.

“I think he was a little nervous last week, fumbled some snaps early. We overcame most of those. He is only going to get better with time. He is coachable. He will get better each week.”

 

 

The quartet of Axel Conover (photo) (16 rushes, 101 yards), Luke Jackson (9-77), Cael Lux (8-31) and Alex Macharia (4-22) helped the Golden Bears rack up 240 rushing yards in the loss.

Macharia (main photo) also had three receptions for 63 yards and a touchdown.

 

 

Shelbyville is on the road back-to-back weeks before returning home to McKeand Stadium on Sept. 9 to host New Castle. Glesing (photo) anticipates another large student section in attendance much like last week in the season opener.

“It’s a great job by our Student Athletic Advisory Council,” said Glesing. “Becca Hoefler (SHS girls basketball coach) and Royce Carlton (SHS baseball coach) have done a good job promoting school spirit in our school. The tailgate party, that’s what the high school experience is all about. Whether you are on the team or in the stands, you want to have fun and enjoy it. After a long, hard week of school you get to blow off some steam and have fun.”

Steve Bush photos

 

QUICK FACTS

Shelbyville at Rushville

Game Time: 7 p.m. at Hinshaw Stadium in Rushville, Ind.

Broadcast time: 6 p.m. pregame show live from Hinshaw Stadium with Johnny McCrory and Mark Drake on GIANT fm (96.5 fm, 106.3 fm, 1520 am) or on the GIANT fm app.

Head coaches:  Brian Glesing, 1-7 in 2nd year at Shelbyville, 119-101 in 20th year overall; Isaac Sliger, 1-10 in 2nd year at Rushville.

2021 record: Shelbyville 1-6; Rushville 0-10.

Sagarin Ratings: Shelbyville, 42.3, 242nd overall, 55th in 4A; Rushville, 40.07, 255th overall, 56th in 3A.

Last meeting: Shelbyville won 21-20 in overtime on Aug. 31, 2012, in Rushville.

Around the HHC Friday: Anderson (0-1) at Pendleton Heights (0-1); Columbia City (1-0) at Class 3A, No. 14 Delta (1-0); Class 5A, No. 2 Decatur Central (1-0) at Class 4A, No. 2 New Palestine (1-0); Greensburg (1-0) at Class 4A, No. 10 Greenfield-Central (1-0); Class 4A, No. 5 Mt. Vernon (0-1) at Class 5A, No. 12 Franklin (1-0); Muncie Central (0-1) at Yorktown (1-0); Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central (1-0) at New Castle (1-0).

Bumble of Love spreads the joy in Peony Stakes

Bumble of Love defended her title in the 19th running of the $100,000 Peony Stakes Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville. Guided by Rodney Prescott, the mare earned her second straight win in the one and one-sixteenth mile turf event.

Starting from post 12 left Prescott with an early decision to duck over to the inside into ninth place in the full field of 12. Early speed horse Southern Smile and Orlando Mojica set the tempo joined by Mintchocolatechip and Joe Ramos just to their outside in the early stages of the race. As the field entered the final turn, horses began to bunch up and it was anybody’s race from there to the wire.

Bumble of Love swung widest of all, and once she hit the stretch, she found another gear to accelerate to the lead, scoring the win by three-quarters of a length over Louder than Words and Sammy Bermudez, who also closed gamely. Timeless Rose and Fernando De La Cruz finished third.

 

 

Bumble of Love paid $9.60 for the win. The five-year-old daughter of Hampton Court is owned by Andrew Ritter and trained by Brian Michael. Her repeat victory in the Peony Stakes is her second stakes win in 22 starts and she now has just under $300,000 in career earnings. Prescott has ridden her to all but one of her seven career wins.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Michael, who has campaigned the mare her entire career. “She ran fantastic today and is now five for seven over this turf. She is one of the most dependable horses I’ve ever had and has kept this ‘mom and pop’ stable going. She’s what you call an ‘ATM’ horse. We plan to come back and defend her title for the third time next year.”

Ritter has also had Bumble of Love since she began racing. He is co-breeder with Ledgelands LLC, and Beatrice Ingham on the Indiana bred mare.

“We are just thrilled,” said Ritter. “My wife, Shelly, and I couldn’t be happier with how this mare has raced for us.”

Leading the Charge repeats in Bucchero Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Leading the Charge led the way to the wire for a repeat win in the 18th running of the $100,000 Bucchero Stakes Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.

The one and one-sixteenth mile event served as a springboard for the flashy grey gelding to near $300,000 in career earnings.

Starting from post two, jockey Marcelino Pedroza Jr. got Leading the Charge out of the gate for a good early spot among the 11 starters in the race named after Indiana’s all-time leading money earner, Bucchero.

From there, he bided his time aboard the five-year-old gelding as two horses from the far outside had moved over to take control of the early fractions. Latigo and Joe Ramos held a slight lead early on over Akamai and Manny Esquivel down the backstretch with Leading the Charge tucked away in third along the inside.

Around the turn, the field began to bunch up and horses were four and five wide to get positioning for the stretch drive. Pedroza Jr., who is the defending leading jockey champion in Indiana, timed his move just right to the outside and when he had clearance, Leading the Charge exploded.

 

 

The five-year-old son of Suntracer hit another gear and blew past his opponents to win by one length over Rockin Justice and Andres Ulloa who closed for second. Akamai held his ground for third.

Leading the Charge was the favorite of the field, paying $3 for the win. The homebred owned and raised by Team Block now has eight career wins in 15 career starts. He is 8-for-13 over Indiana’s turf course and is trained by Robert Dobbs Jr. It was the second win in three starts for Leading the Charge in 2022 with Pedroza Jr. aboard for both victories.

“They put this horse in the right spot,” said Pedroza Jr. “He broke sharp, and I just waited until we had a spot to get out and move. He responded just like I wanted him to.”

The win aboard Leading the Charge was extra special in the Bucchero Stakes. Pedroza Jr. started off riding Bucchero for the Tim Glyshaw Stable in the early stages of the standout stallion’s career.

The chestnut horse, now 10, retired in 2018 as a Graded Stakes winner with two starts in Breeders Cup action and accumulated more than $947,000 in earnings for Ironhorse Racing Stable. He now stands at stud in Florida and his first foals are two-year-olds in 2022.

“I want to thank the owners and trainer for this opportunity to ride this horse in this stakes race named after Bucchero,” said Pedroza Jr. “It’s really special to me since I used to ride him and I’m happy to get this win.”

Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central prepped for big challenge at New Castle

Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central took little satisfaction from a season-opening 42-14 victory over Cascade. Too many little things did not go right for the Tigers.

“We did a lot of good things for a game one,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able. “There are some simple mistakes that are correctable. We are excited because the second game is when you usually get a lot of improvement.”

That excitement is heightened by a new week two opponent this season – New Castle.

The Trojans offer a unique matchup that Triton Central does not normally see during the regular season.

“It’s a (Class) 4A opponent that’s like a lot of schools we played all summer long,” said Able. “They maybe have more depth (than us).”

Kyle York’s New Castle program finished 2-8 in 2021 but opened the 2022 season with an 18-12 overtime win over Franklin County.

“They have a quick little running back and their quarterback throws well,” said Able of the Trojans. “Traditionally, they have been a passing team, that’s been their forte. We need to get them into passing situations by controlling the run so we know when they are going to throw.”

 

 

The running back is five-foot-eight senior Jon Eberhart, who ran for 140 yards and the game-winning touchdown in overtime last week.

Junior quarterback Tyson Lewis (6-3, 170) struggled with his completion percentage against Franklin County, hitting just 5-of-21 attempts. He threw for a touchdown and was intercepted in the win.

“Franklin County put them in difficult (passing) situations,” said Able.

New Castle was bolstered by Aidan Bradley’s opening kickoff touchdown that put the Trojans ahead 6-0.

“We can’t give up any freebies,” said Able. “We have to win the special teams battle.”

Able noted that Triton Central did not punt in its win over Cascade – scoring on four of its five first-half possessions, while senior kicker Brogan Winslow went 6-for-6 on extra-point attempts and junior kicker Levi Dewey and the kickoff coverage unit limited Cascade to an average starting position of the 18-yard line.

Triton Central quarterback Jace Stuckey threw for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth behind a makeshift offensive line.

 

 

Senior Hadyn Ball (photo) will start at center again this week with senior Aden Sosbe and sophomore Andrew Bailey at the guard positions and senior Aidan Wasson and sophomore Willie Baugh at the tackles.

“(New Castle’s) defensive ends are quick and try to get upfield,” said Able. “Our tackles will have to do a good job at pass protection.”

Ray Crawford handled the bulk of the running duties in the opener and racked up 122 yards on 18 carries. The junior only caught one pass against the Cadets but will be more active in the passing game in the coming weeks.

 

 

Senior Brad Schultz (photo) was a matchup nightmare for Cascade. He caught 10 passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns and just missed connecting on two more long pass attempts from Stuckey.

“We will get better,” said Able of his team’s offensive capabilities. “It takes time. We’ve got to pick up our tempo.”

New Castle presents a formidable challenge early in the season and keeps the Tigers’ focus off a week three contest with Class A, No. 1 Lutheran.

“We’re trying to get one day better then spend the next day preparing for New Castle,” said Able.

 

QUICK FACTS

Triton Central at New Castle

Game Time: 7 p.m. at Huffman Field in New Castle, Ind.

Media coverage: Follow Shelby County Post News Editor Jeff Brown on Twitter at @Sportsboss4life for live updates from New Castle.

Head coaches: Tim Able, 81-32 in 10th year at Triton Central, 206-130 in 29th year overall; Kyle York, 23-31 in 6th year at New Castle.

2021 record: Triton Central 8-5; New Castle 2-8.

Sagarin Ratings: Triton Central, 64-12, 105th overall, 13th in 2A; New Castle, 62.17, 120th overall, 29th in 4A.

Series history: This is the first football meeting between the two programs.

Around the ICC Friday: Beech Grove (0-1) at Cascade (0-1); Cardinal Ritter (0-1) at Class A, No. 1 Lutheran (1-0); Monrovia (1-0) at Edgewood (1-0); and Class 3A, No. 13 Speedway (1-0) at Class 2A, No. 7 Scecina (1-0).

Prep Report: Golden Bears collect HHC tennis victory over Yorktown

Shelbyville tennis collected its first Hoosier Heritage Conference victory of the season Wednesday, 4-1, over Yorktown at Mt. Vernon High School.

The Golden Bears, now 3-2, swept all three singles matches and got a doubles victory from Karson Schaf and Reece Prickett.

Schaf and Prickett defeated Ryan Richards and Joe Stinson, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 doubles.

At No. 1 singes, Aidan Asher improved to 4-1 this season with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Anson Isaacs.

Caden Tackett notched a straight-set victory over Jaydon Sarino, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.

Logan Prickett finished the singles sweep in three sets over Mark Avila, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Yorktown’s lone victory came at No. 1 doubles where Raphael Sabijon and Ethan Darby topped Caden Claxton and Aiden Smith, 6-2, 6-2.

Shelbyville got junior varsity singles wins from Gavin Reed and Aiden Alton and a doubles victory from Layne Pogue and Reed.

Shelbyville goes for a second HHC win Saturday against Delta.

In a prep tennis match Tuesday:

 

 

Indian Creek 5, Southwestern 0

At Southwestern, the visiting Braves dropped just three games while winning all four contested matches.

At No. 1 singles, Peyton Strunk defeated Southwestern’s Kyle Beck, 6-2, 6-0.

Brendan Conner bested Carter Snepp at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

Southwestern forfeited the No. 3 singles match.

At No. 1 doubles, Aiden Pemberton and Landen Sichting defeated James Oliver and Chris Cecil, 6-1, 6-0.

And Aaron Spurgeon and Trent Volz topped Josh Wenger and Ben Schlabach, 6-0, 6-0.

Southwestern hosts Triton Central today.

Prep Report: Triton Central stings Hornets for first conference win of season

With double-digit kill performances from Maddy Brown and Brooklyn Bailey, Triton Central volleyball secured its first Indiana Crossroads Conference victory of the season Tuesday at Beech Grove, 25-16, 25-16, 25-19.

Brown led the Tigers (4-2, 1-0 ICC) with 12 kills over three sets. Bailey added 10. Brown also had four service aces and nine digs.

Setter Kate Isley collected 29 assists and also had four aces.

Hallie Schweitzer matched Brown with nine digs.

Triton Central returns to the court Thursday to host Cascade (6-2, 1-0 ICC).

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls Golf

Morristown 253, North Decatur Inc.

At North Branch Golf Course, the Yellow Jackets collected their second match win of the season.

Ashley Ballinger led Morristown with a 58. Oakleigh Goedde followed with a season-best round of 61.

Mollie Runnebohm (65) and Clara Hale (69) completed Morristown’s scorecard.

The Yellow Jackets host Brown County Thursday at Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville.

Columbus North JV 241, Southwestern 259

At Timbergate Golf Course, McKinley Correll shot 55 to lead Southwestern.

Emma Isgrigg (66), Hannah Hicks (68) and Aurora Belton (70) also competed for the Spartans.

Columbus North’s Mila Bachman was the medalist with a 53.

Southwestern is at New Palestine today.

Boys Soccer

Hamilton Heights 1, Shelbyville 0

At Hamilton Heights, the visiting Golden Bears were on the attack for the first 25 minutes of the second half but missed on several scoring opportunities, according to head coach Ben Purvis.

With 13 minutes left in the scoreless contest, the Huskies (2-1-1) were able to counter and score to steal the victory.

The story was similar in the junior varsity match when the Golden Bears failed to score early when chances were available. Hamilton Heights countered to make it 1-0 and added a second goal before halftime.

The Huskies added a third goal in the second half to win 3-0.

Shelbyville hosts its invitational tournament Saturday featuring Batesville, Herron and Knightstown. The Golden Bears (1-2-1) take on Knightstown in the first semifinal contest at 10 a.m.

Morristown 2, Indianapolis Washington 2

At Washington, the Continentals scored twice in the first half of their season opener but the visiting Yellow Jackets scored a second-half goal to net the draw.

Morristown is at Beech Grove Thursday.

 

 

Boys Tennis

Seymour 4, Shelbyville 1

At Shelbyville, the Golden Bears’ lone win came at No. 2 doubles where Reece Prickett and Karson Schaf rallied after losing the first set to prevail, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Shelbyville’s Aidan Asher suffered his first loss of the season at No. 1 singles. Eli Meyer bested Asher, 6-2, 6-1.

Caden Tackett and Logan Prickett lost three-set singles matches to Hunter Heckman and Rueben Uruse, respectively.

At No. 1 doubles, Jack Vandielinger and Joe Schmidt defeated Caden Claxton and Aiden Smith (photo), 6-3, 6-1.

Gavin Reed won a junior varsity singles match for Shelbyville.

The Golden Bears travel to Mt. Vernon today to take on Yorktown.

Connersville 4, Waldron 1

At Waldron, Lucas Shaw rallied from one set down to win the No. 1 singles match over Rylee Brannon, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Jack Fischer had the same opportunity at No. 2 singles but could not overcome Connersville’s James Williams, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Josh Kellems lost at No. 3 singles to Kolton DeBoard, 6-0, 6-1.

At No. 1 doubles, Luke Morris and Chandler Fox topped Waldron’s Connor Hinchman and Matthew Thomas, 6-0, 6-2.

The Spartans completed the win with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 3 doubles over Jacob Lindsey and Caiden Young.

Waldron (1-2) travels to Morristown (0-2) Thursday.

Volleyball

Indian Creek def. Southwestern, 25-22, 25-17, 25-21

At Southwestern, the visiting Braves improved to 3-2 this season with a straight-set win.

Faith Wiseman led Indian Creek with 15 kills and five blocks. Gabie Francis and Mattie Key each had six kills. Key also had 20 assists.

Indian Creek won the junior varsity contest, 25-23, 25-12.

Southwestern hosts Morristown Friday.

Edinburgh def. Morristown, 25-21, 25-14, 19-25, 25-14

At Morristown, the visiting Lancers improved to 8-2 with their second win over the Yellow Jackets this season. Edinburgh also moved to 2-0 in the Mid-Hoosier Conference standings.

Morristown dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the MHC.

The Yellow Jackets travel to Providence Cristo Rey Thursday.

 

 

Middle School Tennis

Indian Creek 4, Waldron 1

At Indian Creek, the visiting Mohawks (photo) took their first loss of the season.

Waldron’s lone victory came at No. 1 singles where Charlie Fischer stayed unbeaten this season with an 8-5 win over Nick Winters.

Lincoln Fisher and Jackson Kuhn were defeated in singles matches.

Noah Leap and Caige Sheaffer lost 8-4 at No. 1 doubles.

Wyatt Everette and Kevin Crouch took an 8-5 loss at No. 2 doubles.

Rylie Stephens finds fresh start with Samford women's basketball program

Rylie Stephens knew entering the NCAA transfer portal could be a harrowing experience but the changing dynamic at the University of Evansville forced her to find a new opportunity.

Following a sophomore year where she saw limited action with the Purple Aces women’s basketball program, Stephens found a nice fit in the University of Indianapolis. Then the phone rang.

“She called me and was like I have some really bad news,” said Stephens of the call she got from Indianapolis head coach Kristin Wodrich. “She told me she was not with the team anymore; that she was going to Butler (University). She told me I could go look at other schools and still have UIndy if I wanted to go there.”

Wodrich was hired as the assistant coach at Butler which left Stephens once again part of a basketball program bringing in a new coach that knew nothing about her game.

Stephens believed Evansville was the right fit for her after graduating from Triton Central in 2020. In her first game as a Purple Ace, she scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had two steals in a loss to Murray State. It was a sign of things to come from the five foot, 11-inch guard.

Stephens played nearly 21 minutes per game her freshman year and averaged 8.7 points and 3.6 rebounds over 23 contests, but Evansville finished a disappointing 6-18 and the coaching staff was let go.

“My coaches saw a lot in me my freshman year,” explained Stephens. “It was a good relationship with them but the season didn’t go how it should have went and they ended up losing their jobs.”

With the coaching staff change came a roster shakeup. Only six players were left from Stephens’ first season and new players recruited by a new coach arrived on campus.

“It was a hard year for me,” admitted Stephens. “I went from being a freshman that was getting good stats to never seeing the floor at all no matter what I did.”

 

 

Stephens averaged just five minutes per game her sophomore year, averaging 1.3 points over 14 games. The Purple Aces went 8-22.

Stephens finished out the season after already seeking advice about transferring. She knew she needed a fresh start.

“It was tough,” she said of the decision. “I liked Evansville, the team and the school. I didn’t go there just to play basketball.”

Stephens was already familiar with UIndy from attending youth camps there and her first go round in the recruiting process. Her visit to the Indianapolis campus went well and she felt wanted by the coaching staff.

“I went on the visit and I really loved it,” she said. “The coaches were like, ‘We want you here.’ The campus is nice. The players are nice. All that happened and the coach left.”

Stephens opted to give the new coach a chance. She wanted his assessment of her game and how it fit into the system he was bringing to Indianapolis.

“I did not vibe (with the new coach) at all,” she said.

There were too many red flags in her mind but there also was limited time to find another school. Then Samford University found her.

An assistant coach contacted Stephens to see if her recruitment was still open. That lead to a phone call, a quick visit to the Alabama campus and a whirlwind recruiting trip.

 

 

Samford, a Division I basketball program located in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood, saw what the Evansville coaching staff saw when it first started recruiting her at Triton Central.

“They don’t have big guards,” said Stephens. “They really liked my pull-up jumper. They set a lot of ball screens and roll to the post. I fit perfectly into their offense.”

Stephens, who received a full-ride scholarship to Samford, still has three years of eligibility left. She will continue to pursue a degree in Communications then add a master’s degree in Business.

Stephens leaves for her new campus this week with a refreshed viewpoint on college basketball.

“When I went to Samford, nobody tore anybody down. It was a complete culture difference than what I’ve seen,” said Stephens. “At Triton Central, we had that culture a little bit. The majority of the times at TC it was uplifting but we had that winning mentality culture, and so does Samford.

“I hope it brings that sense because I know how good it can feel to be on a team like that. I am excited to go back and see. I think that is what I am most excited for, bringing the fun and culture back … and obviously playing again.”

Tony Martinez named track superintendent at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Tony Martinez has been named the new track superintendent at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville. Martinez is set to replace current track superintendent Roy Smith, who has announced his retirement at the end of the 2022 season.

Martinez has been involved in track maintenance for more than 30 years and brings more than 15 years of experience as a track superintendent. The third generation track man has expertise in all surfaces and is especially known for his work in fine grading, track moisture evaluations, extensive harrowing, and soil composition.

Over the years, he has been involved with the construction of more than 25 training and arena facilities. Martinez has served as superintendent at seven racetracks over his career and his most recent post at Gulfstream Park in Florida.

“We are extremely pleased to bring in Tony as our next track superintendent,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “Roy (Smith) has developed a great track maintenance program at our facility. We look forward to welcoming Tony in to continue the hard work already implemented. We have a great foundation for both our dirt and turf courses and are confident in Tony’s skills to take the lead in this department.”

 

 

Horseshoe Indianapolis underwent a total track renovation during the 2018 racing season with an investment that topped $800,000. Prior to that, a new $3.3 million track maintenance building was constructed with upgrades in equipment added for both surfaces.

“I’m very excited to join the team at Horseshoe Indianapolis,” said Martinez. “Their facility is state of the art and being able to walk into a program like this is a great opportunity for me. I look forward to working with both the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse programs in Indiana.”

Martinez will begin his duties alongside Smith this fall. Smith will remain on property in a consulting position until his retirement at the end of the year.

“Having a top-notch track man like Roy (Smith) is hard to replace,” added Joe Morris, Senior Vice President of Racing for Caesars Entertainment. “Being able to secure a talent like Tony (Martinez) is another way we can continue our upward momentum in the Indiana horse racing industry. It shows our continued commitment to both the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse programs. We strive to provide the best possible racing surfaces and will continue that goal under the guidance of someone who is a third generation track man and who is invested in our vision in taking our program to the next level.”

The 20th season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing extends through Nov. 23.

Prep Report: Schaf, Prickett propel Shelbyville tennis over Batesville

With a three-set win at No. 2 doubles from Karson Schaf and Reece Prickett, the Shelbyville Golden Bears improved to 2-1 this season with a 3-2 victory Monday at Batesville.

Schaf and Prickett (photo) improved to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1 win.

Shelbyville also got singles victories from Aidan Asher at No. 1 singles and Logan Prickett at No. 3 singles. Asher improved to 3-0 this season.

Caden Tackett lost a three-set match at No. 2 singles, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

At No. 1 doubles, Caden Claxton and Aiden Smith lost 6-0, 6-4.

Shelbyville hosts Seymour today.

In other prep events Monday:

 

 

Girls Golf

Shelbyville 215, Beech Grove 261

At Sarah Shank Golf Course, Shelbyville got season-best performances from three golfers and Kate Linville (photo) secured her second medalist honor of the season.

Linville carded a nine-hole round of 50 to lead all golfers. Madison Monroe (52), Ava Essex (56) and Livanet Rosales (57) each posted their best rounds of the season.

Brooke Roessler led Beech Grove with a 60.

Shelbyville is at Greensburg today.

Ritter 211, Pike 241, Triton Central 263

At Coffin Golf Club in Indianapolis, Ritter posted a 30-stroke victory over Pike with Triton Central finishing third.

Olivia Williams led Triton Central with a 63. Hanna Fink (65), Jaylee Davis (68) and Lindsay Huxford (68) completed the scoring for the Tigers.

Triton Central hosts Southwestern Monday.

Boys Soccer

Oldenburg Academy 1, Southwestern 0

At Southwestern, Thomas Lohmueller scored the game’s only goal with 1.7 seconds left in the contest to give the Twisters (1-2) the upset victory over Class A, No. 11 Southwestern.

Michael Clements had two saves in goal for Southwestern (1-1).

Isaiah Waggoner finished with eight saves for Oldenburg Academy.

Southwestern hosts Brown County (0-1) Thursday.

Girls Soccer

Triton Central 7, Beech Grove 0

At Triton Central, Lizzie Graham scored four goals to lead the Tigers to their first Indiana Crossroads Conference victory of the season.

The Tigers (2-1, 1-0 ICC) scored two first-half goals then erupted for five more in the second half while Cheyenne Allen kept the Hornets (0-3, 0-2 ICC) out of the net.

Allegra Foley, Bella Ball and Ariel Walker also scored goals for Triton Central. Elaina Maurice finished with three assists while Abby Byrd had one assist.

Triton Central is off until Aug. 30 when it hosts Rushville (0-2).

Boys Tennis

Edinburgh 3, Morristown 2

At Morristown, the host Yellow Jackets won both doubles matches but could not find a win in the three singles matches.

At No. 1 doubles, Dalton McMichael and Michael Ballinger defeated Edinburgh’s Bailey Totten and Braylon Lenknor, 6-3, 6-2.

Morristown’s No. 2 doubles pairing of Bryce Bryant and Brady Schonfeld topped Teddy Crawhorn and Jayson Music, 6-1, 6-0.

At No. 1 singles, Edinburgh’s Max Blandford bested Tyler Schonfeld, 6-0, 6-1.

Austin Brockman defeated Morristown’s Austin Gabbard at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-0.

Milas Burkman completed the Lancers’ victory at No. 3 singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Jacob Robey.

Morristown hosts Waldron Thursday.

Triton Central 5, Speedway 0

At Triton Central, the Tigers swept the Sparkplugs to improve to 4-0 this season.

Tucker Hutchinson, Avram Rund and Cole Thomas dropped a total of seven games in winning all three singles matches.

At No. 1 doubles, Griffin Sego and Ben Toth defeated Camden Outlaw and Corbin Woodlock, 6-2, 6-1.

Oliver Gearlds and Connor Evans improved to 4-0 this season with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Alasdair Curts and Braeden Martin.

Triton Central is at Southwestern Thursday.

Volleyball

Franklin Central def. Shelbyville, 25-14, 25-18, 25-11

At Franklin Central, the host Flashes improved to 5-3 with a straight-set win over the Golden Bears (2-2).

Ashlyn Turner led Shelbyville with six kills. Shelby Lasure finished with five.

Riley Lee had a team-high seven digs and setter Karlie Lawson collected 15 assists.

Shelbyville travels to North Central (1-3) Thursday.

Southwestern def. Jac-Cen-Del, 19-25, 24-26, 25-11, 26-24, 15-7

At Jac-Cen-Del, the visiting Spartans dropped the first two sets to the winless Eagles (0-7) before rallying to steal the victory.

Southwestern improved to 3-5 this season and host Indian Creek today.

IFCA moves two new football teams to top of state coaches poll

 The Indiana Football Coaches Association released the week two state coaches poll Monday and there is already a new No. 1 team in Class 4A.

Preseason No. 1 Mt. Vernon lost to Noblesville, 43-35, Friday and dropped to No. 5 in this week’s poll.

Preseason No. 2 New Palestine defeated then Class 6A, No. 6 Westfield, 42-28, Friday but did not rise to No. 1.

Roncalli, preseason No. 3, routed Southport, 46-7, and climbed over the Dragons to become the new No. 1 in 4A.

New Palestine is No. 2 followed by Mooresville, East Central, Mt. Vernon, Kokomo, Northwood, Jasper, Brebeuf and Greenfield-Central.

Triton Central’s convincing 42-14 win over Cascade Friday did not help it move up in the Class 2A poll. The Tigers remain No. 9 as they were in the preseason poll.

There is a new No. 1 in 2A – Evansville Mater Dei. The Wildcats blanked Evansville Central Friday, 35-0. And with Andrean’s 27-7 loss to 5A No. 1 Merrillville, Evansville Mater Dei took over the top spot with Andrean now No. 2.

Eastbrook is No. 3 ahead of Linton-Stockton, Lafayette Central Catholic, Eastside, Scecina, Fort Wayne Luers, Triton Central and Heritage Christian.

 

 

Lutheran, the week three opponent of Triton Central, remains No. 1 in Class A with Adams Central, South Adams, Monroe Central, North Judson, Park Tudor, South Putnam, North Decatur, Tri and Carroll (Flora) giving chase.

The top four remained the same in Class 3A. Chatard is still No. 1 ahead of West Lafayette, Gibson Southern and Tri-West. Western Boone moves up to No. 5 with Guerin Catholic, Mishawaka Marian, Heritage Hills, Norwell and Lawrenceburg following.

The top five of Merrillville, Decatur Central, Fort Wayne Snider, Whiteland and Fort Wayne Dwenger stayed the same in Class 5A. The second five is now Mishawaka, Castle, Bloomington South, Michigan City and Chesterton.

One of the marquee matchups in week one was Class 6A, No. 1 Center Grove hosting 6A No. 5 Warren Central. The top-ranked Trojans prevailed, 17-8, to keep the top spot.

Cathedral sits at No. 2 ahead of Brownsburg, Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, Warren Central, Ben Davis, Lawrence North, Penn and Carroll (Allen).

Prep Report: Shelbyville girls soccer off to fast start to 2022 season

For the first time in more than a decade, Shelbyville’s girls soccer program has started the season 2-0.

The Golden Bears opened the 2022 season under new head coach Garrett Belden with an impressive 4-1 road victory Thursday against Franklin, a program it has not had recent success against.

Ella Johnson scored a pair of goals while Evelyn Kiefer and Hannah Baker beat the Franklin goalkeeper.

Sydney Baker had two assists for Shelbyville and Ava Mummert and Ava Wilson each had one assist.

Macy Cooley had six saves in goal for Shelbyville.

Emma Williams scored the lone goal for Franklin.

On Saturday, Shelbyville’s offense was relentless even after scoring eight first-half goals on the way to a 14-0 win at home against New Castle.

Kiefer scored four goals and was credited with two assists against the Trojans (1-2, 0-1 Hoosier Heritage Conference).

Wilson collected the hat trick with three goals and added two assists while Mummert found the back of the net twice.

Also scoring for Shelbyville were Ellie Simpson, Hannah Baker, Kincade Dorsey, Brooke Byers and Ella Johnson.

Hailey Pogue earned the shutout in goal.

Shelbyville will attempt to stay atop the HHC standings on Aug. 30 with a road trip to Mt. Vernon (2-1, 0-0 HHC).

In other prep events:

Girls Golf

Mooresville Invitational

Shelbyville traveled to Heartland Crossing Golf Links Saturday to compete in the Mooresville Fall Four Ball Invitational.

Teams paired up two golfers, who played their own ball and kept their own score. At the end of the round, the lowest score on each hole was counted toward the team score for the pairing.

Shelbyville’s first pairing of Kate Linville and Madison Monroe carded 102 on the par 72 course. Ava Essex and Emmie Higgins posted a 108.

On Thursday, Whiteland traveled to Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville and defeated the Golden Bears, 201-242.

Whiteland’s Chloe Cooper was the medalist with a 45.

Higgins led the Golden Bears with a 54.

Shelbyville is at Beech Grove today.

Columbus North JV 228, Southwestern 249, Eastern Hancock Inc.

At Timbergate Golf Course Thursday, McKinley Correll led Southwestern with a 56. Emma Isgrigg followed at 58. Aurora Belton (67), Hannah Hicks (67) and Sydney Griffin (68) completed the Spartans’ scorecard.

Columbus North’s Mila Bachman was the medalist with a 55.

Emily Grant, Abby Bolding and Lyla Hancock each shot 61 for Eastern Hancock.

Southwestern hosts Oldenburg Academy Tuesday.

Edinburgh 207, Morristown 255

At Blue Bear Thursday, Ashley Ballinger led the host Yellow Jackets with a 56. Mollie Runnebohm followed at 64. Clara Hale (66) and Oakleigh Goedde (69) rounded out the scoring for Morristown.

Izzy Richardson led Edinburgh with a 43.

Morristown travels to North Decatur Tuesday.

Boys Soccer

Shelbyville 1, Lawrence North 1

At Lawrence North Saturday, Osvaldo Reyes scored in the opening 10 minutes to give the Golden Bears the early lead but Lawrence North scored inside the final two minutes of the first half and the score never changed from there.

Jalen Hounshell made a diving save in net in the match’s final seconds to preserve the tie for Shelbyville (1-1-1).

Shelbyville lost the junior varsity match, 2-1. Rory O’Connor scored the Golden Bears’ only goal.

The Golden Bears posted a 6-0 shutout Thursday over Oldenburg Academy.

Christian Haas scored three goals for Shelbyville and Drew Hassebroek, Ben Price and Reyes found the back of the net. Diego Rosales had two assists.

Shelbyville is at Hamilton Heights Tuesday.

Girls Soccer

Connersville 5, Triton Central 0

At Connersville Saturday, Paige Dafler scored three goals to keep the host Spartans (3-0) unbeaten this season.

Triton Central dropped to 1-1. The Tigers host Beech Grove today.

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 3, Heritage Christian 2

The Tigers improved to 3-0 Thursday with its third-straight victory over an Indianapolis-based school.

Cole Thomas rallied from a slow start at No. 3 singles to defeat Hughie Baker, 0-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2) and improve to 3-0 this season.

At No. 1 doubles, Triton Central’s Griffin Sego and Ben Toth topped Andrew Johnson and Kyle Rogers, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Oliver Gearlds and Connor Evans only needed two sets to get TC a win at No. 2 doubles, 6-4, 6-2.

Both of Triton Central’s doubles teams are 3-0 this season.

At No. 1 singles, Heritage Christian’s Zach Leming defeated Tucker Hutchinson, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

James Vandeventer bested Avram Rund at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-4.

Triton Central got junior varsity wins from Bohdan Rollo and the doubles pairings of Max Crouse/Eli Sego, Caleb McGuire/Janssen Capps and Talan Canter/Connor McGuire.

Triton Central hosts Speedway today.

Waldron 4, Edinburgh 1

With a pair of dominant doubles performances, Waldron earned its first win of the season.

At No. 1 doubles, Josh Kellems and Jacob Lindsey defeated Edinburgh’s Bailey Totten and Braylon Lenkner, 6-0, 6-0.

Matthew Thomas and Connor Hinchman were equally strong at No. 1 doubles, taking down Teddy Crawhorn and Jason Music, 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 1 singles, Lucas Shaw defeated Edinburgh’s Max Blandford, 6-2, 7-6 (2).

Waldron’s fourth victory came at No. 3 singles where Caiden Young cruised past Milas Burkman, 6-2, 6-0.

The Lancers’ lone win came from Austin Brockman at No. 2 singles. He defeated Waldron’s Jack Fischer, 1-6, 6-3, 10-6.

Waldron got JV wins from Sam Jones and Connor Ping.

Waldron hosts Tri today.

Southwestern 3, Morristown 1

Southwestern opened the 2022 season with a victory over the Yellow Jackets.

At No. 1 singles, Southwestern’s Kyle Beck defeated Kyle Schonfeld, 6-3, 7-6 (0).

James Oliver was victorious for the Spartans at No. 2 singles, netting a 6-3, 6-4 win over Morristown’s Austin Gabbard.

Morristown’s third victory came at No. 1 doubles where Carter Snepp and Chris Cecil rebounded from a first set loss to top Bryce Bryant and Brady Schonfeld, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.

The Yellow Jackets’ only victory came at No. 3 singles where Michael Ballinger defeated Ben Schlabach, 6-2, 6-7 (1), 10-4.

Neither team had a No. 2 doubles entrant.

Morristown hosts Edinburgh today. Southwestern hosts Indian Creek Tuesday.

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Batesville, 33-31, 27-25, 22-25, 25-20

At Shelbyville Saturday, Shelby Lasure collected a season-high 22 kills to hand Batesville (2-1) its first loss of the season.

Lasure was backed by 10 kills from Ashlyn Turner and five from Karlie Lawson as the Golden Bears improved to 2-1 this season.

Riley Lee produced a team-high 19 digs while Turner (16 digs) and Lawson (11 digs) combined for 27 more.

Lawson finished with 35 assists.

Batesville had 19 kills and four total blocks from Cayman Werner. Ava Powner finished with six service aces and 26 assists.

On Thursday, Shelbyville suffered its first loss of the season at Columbus North, 25-17, 25-22, 25-16.

Lasure had a team-high nine kills and 13 digs.

Shelbyville travels to Franklin Central (4-3) tonight.

Hagerstown def. Morristown, 25-13, 26-24, 25-21

At Morristown, the host Yellow Jackets got 12 kills and 13 digs from Madison Espich but could not keep up with the visiting Tigers (1-2).

Bailey Jeffers led Hagerstown with nine kills, three aces and five digs. Ella Logston and Emma Snodgrass combined for 24 assists.

Raegan Kleine led the Yellow Jackets with 17 assists and three aces.

Morristown hosts Edinburgh (4-2) Tuesday.

Covenant Christian Invitational

Triton Central (3-2) scored victories over Muncie Burris and Decatur Central Saturday but was swept by Guerin Catholic.

The Tigers opened the invitational with a 25-23, 21-25, 15-10 win over Muncie Burris (3-2). Maddy Brown had a team-high 13 kills for TC. Hallie Schweitzer delivered 10 digs and Kate Isley collected 23 assists.

Guerin Catholic (2-2) defeated Triton Central, 25-15, 25-14. Brooklyn Bailey led TC with five kills.

The Tigers closed out the event with a 25-16, 25-17 win over Decatur Central (0-5). Kayden Simmons had a team-high six kills. Schweitzer had 12 assists and Isley notched 16 assists.

On Thursday, Greensburg (7-0) needed four sets to defeat Triton Central, 25-14, 25-15, 20-25, 25-15.

Brown led the Tigers with 12 kills. Bailey finished with nine kills and Kaitlin Bramlett followed with seven.

Schweitzer topped the Tigers with 19 digs. Brown added 17. Isley racked up 28 assists.

 

 

Shenandoah Invitational

Southwestern finished in fourth place with a 2-2 record Saturday.

The Spartans (2-5) opened the event with a 21-25, 25-16, 15-13 loss to Seton Catholic and closed it with a 25-19, 25-23 loss to Lapel.

The Spartans scored their first win of the season with a 25-22, 25-15 win over Union City then defeated the host Raiders in three sets.

Lauryn Blondell and Riley Engel (photo) were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Cross Country

Plainfield Relays

Shelbyville sent a dozen runners to Plainfield Saturday for its season-opening event.

Runners were paired together to alternate running six total miles.

Beau Kenkel and Logan Reinhart combined for a time of 34 minutes, 53 seconds to finish 36th overall in the boys’ race.

Angel Kreider and Hannah Wright stopped the clock in 41:09 to finish 30th overall in the girls’ race.

Also competing in the boys’ event were Ben Hinojosa and Josue Isaac (38:25), Christian Powell and Isaac Zermeno (41:27) and Gaige Harker and Gavin Harker (42:21).

Running in the 2-mile junior varsity races were Aerin Santiago-Garcia (17:01) and Cora Flynn (17:38).

Shelbyville will compete again Saturday at the Franklin Invitational.

Indian Creek Invitational

Waldron finished third in the boys’ race with Will Larrison (6th overall, 18:05) and Jared Crosby (17th, 19:10) securing top-20 performances.

Also competing for Waldron were Skylar Ferguson (20:39), Nathaniel Evans (21:48), Ethan Richardson (23:01) and Max Jones (27:00).

Indian Creek won the event with 26 points. Edgewood was runner-up (36) with Waldron (87), Beech Grove (102) and Martinsville (130) following in the team standings.

Sophie Hudnall was Waldron’s lone representative in the girls’ race. She finished 15th in 24:46.

Waldron travels to Franklin Saturday for the Franklin Invitational.

 

 

Jeremy Wright Invitational

Southwestern hosted a strong contingent of small schools Saturday from around Indiana at the Blue River Cross Country Course in Shelbyville.

Austin claimed the boys’ title with three top-10 finishers, including race winner Brandon Rice (16:31).

The host Spartans finished 23rd in the team standings and were led by Dakota Claiborne (78th in 20:06) and Dane Kissell (85th in 20:20).

Liam Thompson finished 151st (21:55) for Triton Central. Morristown’s Drake Hibst placed 211th (24:02). Neither the Tigers nor Yellow Jackets had enough runners to field a team score.

Tri’s Jillian Chew was the only girl to break 20 minutes. The freshman posted a race-winning time of 19:58 that broke the school record.

Forest Park had three finishers in the top 10 to secure the team title.

Morristown’s Grace McLaughlin placed 99th overall in 26:34. Southwestern’s Maxine Higdon (123rd in 28:03) and Malori Pike (126th in 28:15) crossed the finish line less than 13 seconds apart.

Morristown finished fourth in the boys middle school race. Thane Cole led the Yellow Jackets with a 14th-place finish in 12:25. Bradley Theobald (12:32), Ryan Crisman (12:36) and Colston Allford (12:58) also had top-30 runs.

Anthony Toon topped Triton Central with a 36th-place finish in 13:23. Southwestern’s Brayden Beasley was 65th in 14:35.

 

 

With five runners in the top 15, Morristown (photo) captured the girls’ team title with 33 points. South Adams was runner-up at 57.

Morristown’s team scoring came from Clara Wallace (3rd in 13:08), Lauren Kuhn (4th in 13:10), Brooke Kuhn (9th in 13:35), Sawyer Rogers (12th in 13:45) and Chloe Theobald (15th in 14:02).

Triton Central’s Dannahi Lopez finished 40th in 15:25. The Tigers were 7th in the team standings.

Southwestern’s Addy Brewer placed 42nd in 15:28. The Spartans finished 13th in the team standings.

Southwestern is at South Decatur Thursday.

Morristown and Triton Central are at the Rushville Classic Saturday.

Greensburg outlasts Shelbyville for season opening football win

Shelbyville’s season opening loss to Greensburg Friday at McKeand Stadium came down to a tennis analogy for Coach Brian Glesing.

 

Photos by Steve Bush

 

The Golden Bears were forced to punt early in the second half and it “broke serve” to give Greensburg an advantage. 

 

Add on a late turnover by Shelbyville that brought an end to a potential game tying or winning offensive drive in a home loss, 35-21.

 

Shelbyville (0-1) was tied twice through the first three quarters, at 6-6 and 13-13, but never trailed until the early minutes of the fourth.  The Shelbyville defense stopped Greensburg on a fourth down attempt on the opening drive of the game and then drove 68 yards for the game’s first score.  Junior running back Axel Conover punched it into the endzone from one yard out for a 6-0 lead. The point after was squelched by a bad snap.

 

Greensburg (1-0) answered led by senior quarterback Sam West.  West capped a drive with a two yard touchdown pass to sophomore Kaden Acton with 7:37 remaining in the second quarter.  The game stayed tied 6-6 when the Pirates also couldn’t handle a snap on the extra point kick.

 

The passing touchdown was one of four accounted for by West.  The 6’5”, 215 pound Indiana University recruit is going to play tight end in college but is needed now to star in his role as Greensburg quarterback for a second season.  West was 10-for-15 passing for 88 yards.

 

Shelbyville was able to take a lead into the halftime locker room.  Golden Bear quarterback Eli Chappelow  found wide receiver Alex Macharia for a 20-yard touchdown pass and catch on a fourth and 8.  The score with 2:41 left in the half put Shelbyville ahead, 13-6.

 

On the scoring drive, Chappelow and Macharia hooked up on a 30-yard pass play where Macharia came back to the underthrown football near midfield and made the catch in front of the defensive back. 

 

 

Macharia had three receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown to go with five tackles on the defensive side of the ball.

 

Chappelow was 5-for-5 passing for 83 yards to open the game.  He was only able to complete one of his final six throws and finished with 97 yards through the air.

 

Greensburg drew even at 13-13 midway through the third quarter on a Sam West two yard touchdown run that capped an 85-yard drive.  The score came after Shelbyville was forced to punt on the opening drive of the second half.  It's the point in the game where Brian Glesing broke out the tennis analogy to describe the swing in momentum.

 

Hear the GIANT fm Sports postgame conversation with Coach Glesing in the link below

 

Greensburg’s first lead came with 10:30 remaining in the fourth quarter on another West touchdown run, a 12-yard effort that capped an 89-yard drive with the Pirates on top for the first time, 20-13.

 

 

West led all rushers with 187 yards on 19 carries.  He was second on the team in rushing in 2021.

 

Facing a deficit for the first time Shelbyville responded.  182 pound junior fullback Luke Jackson steamrolled up the middle for a 38-yard touchdown run to pull Shelbyville within one, 20-19.  When the Bears had to use a timeout to get personnel on the field for the conversion kick the decision was changed to a two-point try by Axel Conover.  Conover’s successful two-point run gave the Golden Bears their final lead, 21-20.

 

After a West 20-yard run and two-point conversion put Greensburg back ahead, 28-21, Shelbyville mounted a drive into Pirates territory.  As Shelbyville got down to the Greensburg 27-yard line it looked like Shelbyville would get a late touchdown and then have to decide between tying the game or going for two and the lead.  But then, following a handoff, the ball escaped the grasp of Conover and rolled up his body.  The fumble was recovered by Greensburg.

 

In the final minute, Greensburg’s sophomore running back Kaden Acton broke free for a 68-yard touchdown to seal the game, 35-21.

 

Acton finished with 152 yards on the ground on 12 carries to go along with a receiving touchdown.

 

Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing joined Johnny McCrory and Mark Drake on the Cagney’s Pizza King Postgame.

 

 

Shelbyville travels to Rushville next Friday.  It’s the first game between the programs since 2009.  Rushville (1-0) snapped a 24 game losing streak with a win over Milan.

Greensburg will travel to #13 (4A) Greenfield-Central for a Week 2 matchup.  Greenfield-Central replaces Triton Central on the Pirates schedule.  The Cougars escaped Plainfield with a season opening 30-28 win.

Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central opens season with conference win over Cascade

FAIRLAND -- A healthy Brad Schultz makes all the difference for Triton Central.

Injured in week two of the 2021 season, Schultz played limited snaps the rest of the year.

On Friday at Bud Mendenhall Field, the Triton Central senior was 100% ready for his 2022 season debut. Schultz hauled in three touchdown receptions against Cascade to lead the Class 2A, No. 9-ranked Tigers to a 42-14 victory.

“It felt amazing,” said Schultz. “You cannot be upset with three touchdowns in a game but I am definitely not happy. We could have played a lot better.”

That was the overall postgame tone for head coach Tim Able and his Tigers. Cruising to a victory, nearly the entire fourth quarter was played with a running clock, sent the TC fans home happy but the overall lack of execution was troubling knowing there are tougher foes ahead on the schedule.

 

 

“As a team, we’ve been practicing a little better lately but if we can keep building off that, we will be in good shape,” said Schultz (photo).

Two of Schultz’s three scoring catches came on fourth-down plays as Cascade had trouble keeping track of the speedster.

Triton Central’s ground game started the scoring Friday night.

Ray Crawford took a handoff from the Cascade 34-yard line and scooted through the line of scrimmage, sidestepped a Cascade linebacker and cut back across the field and streaked to the end zone. The Brogan Winslow extra-point kick was good.

Following another defensive stop, Triton Central quarterback Jace Stuckey moved the Tigers across midfield but an incomplete pass on third-and-15 left the offense stalled at the 29. There were no worries after Stuckey found Schultz deep in the end zone for their first scoring connection of the season.

Cascade’s first scoring drive came after Jayson Kemp intercepted Stuckey, who overthrew a receiver in the middle of the field, and returned the ball to the TC 15.

Cascade all-conference running back Liam Farmer took the handoff from freshman quarterback Brady Trebley and rolled right. The senior stopped and passed to J.T. Roshong, who slipped into the end zone. The two-point conversion run failed and Triton Central’s lead was cut to 14-6.

Stuckey answered back with a pass-heavy drive that moved the ball 60 yards in less than two minutes. The junior quarterback worked a pass quickly to Mason Compton just inside the 10-yard line where the junior avoided a Cadet and raced into the end zone.

The Tigers’ defense stuffed four straight running plays on the next series from their own 13 after a long kickoff return and Stuckey drove the offense 87 yards in another series that ended with Schultz scoring.

Stuckey added a 3-yard scoring run late in the third quarter to his 243-yard passing night that culminated with Schultz’s third touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. He completed 15 of 26 passes with four touchdowns and one interception.

 

 

Crawford (photo) finished with 122 yards rushing on 18 carries behind a makeshift offensive line that had some late-week shuffling due to illness and injury.

Schultz had 10 receptions for 153 yards and nearly returned Cascade’s final kickoff of the game for another touchdown before being pushed out of bounds at the Cascade 25.

The statistics are solid.

So is the win.

But there are better teams ahead, including a week two road trip to New Castle for the first ever meeting between the two programs.

“I am not satisfied at all in the overall performance,” said Able. “Our week of practice was not bad but first game of the year, you are going to make mistakes and we made more than our share that an experienced team does not make.”

 

 

Triton Central 42, Cascade 14

CA (0-1, 0-1 ICC)   0    6   0   8  --  14

TC (1-0, 1-0 ICC) 14  14   7   7  --  42

First Quarter:

TC – Crawford 34 run (Winslow kick), 6:45

TC – Schultz 29 pass Stuckey (Winslow kick), :56

Second Quarter:

CA -- Roshong 15 pass Farmer (Appleby run failed), 8:29

TC – Compton 9 pass Stuckey (Winslow kick), 6:28

TC – Schultz 9 pass Stuckey (Winslow kick), 1:29

Third Quarter:

TC – Stuckey 4 run (Winslow kick), 2:33

Fourth Quarter:

TC – Schultz 30 pass Stuckey (Winslow kick), 1:52

CA – Weigle 5 run (Farmer pass Weigle), 4:11

First Downs: CA 8, TC 13

Fumbles- Lost: CA 5-2, TC 2-1

Interceptions: CA 1, TC 0

Penalties: CA 5-35, TC 5-35

Rushing: CA 35-182 (Farmer 14-74, Savini 4-64, Mink 3-34, Weigle 2-19, Appleby 5-14, Mason 1-(-2), Sebanc 1-(-3), Trebley 5-(-18); TC 27-128 (Crawford 18-122, Kemper 2-4, Kleeman 1-3, Wilkins 1-(-3), Stuckey 1-(-5), Copeland 1-0, Robertson 1-7).

Passing: CA 4-6-47 (Trebley 3-5-52, Farmer 1-1-15); TC 15-26-243 (Stuckey 15-26-243).

Receiving: CA 4-46 (Weigle 1-13, Farmer 1-18, Roshong 1-15, Howrey 0-1); TC 15-243 (Schultz 10-153, Faust 3-75, Compton 1-9, Crawford 1-6).

GIANT fm Sports announces 2022 high school football broadcast schedule

GIANT fm Sports has announced its broadcast schedule for the upcoming Indiana High School Athletic Association football season.

The Shelbyville-based radio station (96.5 fm/1520 am) has a minimum of 10 games on the 2022 schedule that also can be heard via the GIANT fm app.

The broadcast season kicks off Friday when Greensburg travels to J.M. McKeand Stadium in Shelbyville. The game starts at 7 p.m. with the weekly pre-game show airing live one hour earlier.

GIANT fm News and Sports Director Johnny McCrory returns for his 25th season doing play-by-play. He will be joined in the broadcast booth by Mark Drake, a football and basketball standout at Shelbyville High School who played college basketball at the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

 

 

The week two broadcast emanates from Rushville on Aug. 26 when Shelbyville takes on the Lions. The pre-game show starts at 6 p.m. with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

GIANT fm Sports makes its first 2022 trip to Fairland in week three when Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central hosts Class A, No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran on Sept. 2. Lutheran is the defending Class A state champion.

The marquee Indiana Crossroads Conference contest kicks off at 7 p.m.

The week four and week five broadcasts come from Shelbyville as it hosts New Castle on Sept. 9 and Class 4A, No. 13 Greenfield-Central on Sept. 16. Start time for both games is 7 p.m.

GIANT fm Sports will bring fans a third-consecutive Golden Bears game on Sept. 23 when Shelbyville travels to Yorktown for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. Pre-game show airs live at 6:30 p.m.

Another strong ICC matchup is on GIANT fm Sports’ week seven schedule when Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central plays at Class 2A, No. 7 Indianapolis Scecina on Sept. 30. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.

In week eight, Shelbyville travels to Class 4A, No. 1 Mt. Vernon for a Hoosier Heritage Conference contest. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

The final broadcast of the regular season comes from McKeand Stadium on Oct. 14 when Shelbyville hosts Pendleton Heights.

The IHSAA postseason tournament starts on Oct. 21. GIANT fm Sports will announce its broadcast plan once the state tournament pairings are announced.

GIANT fm Sports will continue to air Shelbyville or Triton Central football games throughout the postseason until both are eliminated.

GIANT fm Sports’ high school football broadcasts are sponsored by Dawson Oil, Bishopp’s Appliances, Shelby Materials, Murphy Parks Funeral Service, Spegal’s Prime Cuts, Major Health Partners, J&J’s Pizza, Ashford Place Health Campus, Harvester Financial Credit Union, RushShelby Energy, American Family Insurance – John Lytell, Committee to Elect David Finkel, Cagney’s Pizza King, Centra Credit Union, First Bank Shelbyville, Blue River Dental, and Shelby County YMCA.

Prep Report: TC tennis shuts down another ICC opponent

Triton Central tennis secured its second consecutive win to the start the season against Indiana Crossroads Conference foes.

On Wednesday, the Tigers defeated Lutheran, 5-0, while dropping just one game in the matchup.

At No. 1 singles, Tucker Hutchinson topped Jaren Anderson, 6-0, 6-0.

Avram Rund defeated Isaac Vance, 6-1, 6-0.

Cole Thomas was unopposed at No. 3 singles.

Griffin Sego and Ben Toth improved to 2-0 this season at No. 1 doubles with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Dylan Robertson and Joseph Amstutz.

Oliver Gearlds and Connor Evans also won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles against Matthew Naing and Joshua Amstutz.

Triton Central travels to Heritage Christian today.

In other prep events Wednesday:

 

 

Girls Golf

New Palestine JV 223, Southwestern 277

At Hawk’s Tail Golf Course, Lily Kirchner was the only golfer to break 50 to earn the medalist honor.

Kirchner’s 49 led New Palestine. Janie Hamilton followed at 54. Ava Hasecuster shot 59 and Matti Tiede-White and Lauren Purnell each carded 61.

Emma Isgrigg led Southwestern with a 66. Sydney Griffin shot 69 while Aurora Belton and Hannah Hicks each shot 71.

Southwestern is scheduled to host Eastern Hancock today.

 

 

Boys Tennis

Franklin 3, Shelbyville 2

At Shelbyville, the host Golden Bears (1-1) got wins at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles but could not find the decisive third victory.

Aidan Asher was victorious for Shelbyville at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-2.

The freshmen combination of Aiden Smith and Caden Claxton secured their first high school victory at No. 1 doubles, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Franklin (1-1) needed three sets to score wins at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles.

At No. 2 singles, Reid Davidson defeated Shelbyville’s Logan Prickett, 6-1, 6-1.

Nathan Neville dropped the first set at No. 3 singles but recovered to collect a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Reece Prickett.

And at No. 2 doubles, Pryce Rucker and Luke Sherry outlasted Karson Schaf and Gavin Reed, 6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-3.

Shelbyville travels to Batesville Monday.

 

 

Cross Country

Brown County Invitational

Waldron sent five runners to the relay-style 5K event.

The pairing of Will Larrison and Jared Crosby finished 13th overall in a time of 17 minutes, 21 seconds.

Kyle Lacy and Nathaniel Evans placed 45th in 21:49.

Sophie Hudnall represented the Waldron girls cross country program and ran a 2,500-meter split in 11:47.

Foundation set to grow Golden Bears football program in 2022

A strong and sturdy house must have a great foundation.

Brian Glesing believes he poured one in 2021 despite a one-win season interrupted for three weeks by a pandemic.

“We are building for what it needs to be to be a championship team,” said Shelbyville’s second-year football coach. “Five years down the road, what’s this program going to look like?

“I see a mansion. That’s my vision. It’s something that can happen but it takes a lot of work and we are not stopping, we’re not going to get pushed around and we’re not going to get bullied. We are going to do what we do and get a little better each time. Our parents are bought in. Our community is bought in.”

With a playbook and terminology now firmly in place, Glesing demanded more in the weight room. And he instilled the way to act into his senior class to lead the way for a program that added 15 freshmen this season.

“The thing I like about what is going on is the kids are playing with more confidence,” said Glesing. “Last year, everybody was a rookie. Now we have veterans and that helps a program. When you start from scratch with what we did, it’s exhausting – and I’m old. It wears you down.

“I’ve got great assistant coaches that have been through this a year now. They know what to expect. Everything is going a lot smoother now. Its high school, you are still coaching teenagers but there are no surprises. The kids know the expectations. And now that things are going smoother, we can work on more details and more football-related stuff.”

That starts with a somewhat expanded offensive playbook entrusted to junior quarterback Eli Chappelow, who split time with senior Colton Adkins last season.

“Chappy understands the system and what we are trying to do,” said Glesing.

Chappelow, six foot, 178 pounds, completed 58% of his pass attempts at the varsity level and led the junior varsity team to several wins in 2021.

 

 

“We definitely have a lot more plays in (this year) than last year,” said Chappelow (photo). “About this time (last year), we would just be running. Now we’re starting to put in a lot of plays.”

Chappelow looked confident in the preseason scrimmage Friday at Madison rolling out of the pocket and finding open receivers. New this year will be more offensive sets with Chappelow under center rather than in shotgun formation.

Seniors Cael Lux (5-6, 134) and Jordan Marcum (5-10, 141) and junior Axel Conover (5-9, 164) combined to rush for nearly 700 yards and five touchdowns last season. All three will be entrusted with continuing to move the chains down the field and keeping the opponents’ offense off the field.

 

 

“We are looking at improving. We are more confident and have more size and strength. That has us excited,” said Marcum (photo).

Senior Jackson Parker (6-2, 161) caught 16 passes for 196 yards last season and leads an athletic group that includes juniors Alex Macharia (5-8, 133) and Grant Schene (6-0, 148) and senior tight end Riley Fortune (6-0, 186).

“Those guys all can catch and run with the ball,” said Glesing.

Four juniors and a sophomore are challenged with providing Chappelow time to throw the ball.

Connor Duncan (5-11, 241) is the center with Jacob Harker (6-0, 248) and Brayden Schultz (5-8, 183) on each side of him as guards. Jacob Dupont (5-9, 183) and Elias Jones (5-9, 247) start at tackle. Schultz is the only sophomore in the group.

“I like the experience (of the group),” said Glesing. “These guys all played last year whether it was JV or varsity, they all played and got experience.”

Several of the offensive linemen will play on the defensive line as well along side junior Jaylen Sturgill (6-0, 265).

“We like those big pluggers inside,” said Glesing.

The defense will feature more speed on the ends with Conover and Marcum playing a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker role.

“They can play on the line or off the line. It’s a little bit different look,” said Glesing, who tabbed junior Luke Jackson (5-11, 182) as having a good preseason run that will result in playing time in the offensive backfield and at linebacker.

Lux moves from a defensive back to linebacker this season to work with Fortune.

“Obviously, Cael is undersized but it’s what is best for the team,” said Glesing. “It’s unselfish of him because he wants to be a defensive back and he is a defensive back … just playing linebacker.”

Lux had 35 total tackles in 2021.

 

 

“We are not the biggest team, that’s for sure,” admitted Lux (photo). “We have to play smarter. We have to play harder. You can’t have any fears; you just have to go hit.”

Macharia and Parker are the starting cornerbacks with Chappelow and Schene at safety. Chance Kisby (5-10, 166) will be in the defensive rotation as well.

“The battle is our relief. The four we’ve got are solid. We’re battling for those relief spots – the first guy in,” said Glesing.

Aiden Helfer-Vazquez (5-7, 114) returns to handle the kicking duties. The sophomore was 8-for-8 on extra-point attempts last season.

Parker will handle the punting duties again this season.

 

 

Greensburg

Two familiar names return for Greensburg – quarterback Sam West and running back Kaden Acton. The duo combined for 173 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Golden Bears in last season’s 42-21 victory.

West also threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-5 senior, who also plays defensive line for Greensburg, is committed to play college football at Indiana University.

“They have two horses in the quarterback West and the sophomore running back,” said Glesing. “That’s two big dudes there that are real football players. We have to be able to contain them and not let them go wild on us.”

Glesing lamented the way the 2021 game started – Acton taking the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown – and the way the first half ended – West hitting Ethan Meadows with a 10-yard scoring pass with 15 seconds left on the clock – with hampering the Golden Bears’ ability to get control of the game.

“Big plays. We can’t give up big plays,” he said. “You look back at the Greensburg game last year and the opening kickoff, and they had a big run and then they scored right at the half. If we can just keep them from making big plays, by the fourth quarter I want it to be a football game … give us a chance to win.”

New to the 2022 schedule is old rival Rushville returning to Shelbyville’s regular season schedule. The Lions and Golden Bears have been steady preseason scrimmage partners for many years but an opening came up on Rushville’s week two schedule and Glesing was thrilled to bring a rivalry game back to fruition.

The Hoosier Heritage Conference schedule follows for Shelbyville, starting with a road trip to Class 3A, No. 13 Delta on Sept. 2.

Back-to-back home games follow with New Castle and Class 4A, No. 13 Greenfield-Central. The Golden Bears did not face all three HHC opponents in 2021 due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols that limited the program’s active number of healthy players.

Shelbyville travels to Yorktown on Sept. 23 before hosting Class 4A, No. 2 New Palestine one week later.

The final road trip is to Class 4A, No. 1 Mt. Vernon on Oct. 7.

The final regular season home game at McKeand Stadium is Oct. 14 against Pendleton Heights.

Glesing, who spent many years as a head coach in southern Indiana football programs, may need to pull some contacts to scout Shelbyville’s potential Sectional 23 opponents.

While the Golden Bears are familiar with Class 4A, No. 7 East Central and neighboring Greenwood, there are potential postseason matchups with Bedford North Lawrence, Edgewood, Jennings County, Martinsville and Silver Creek.

QUICK FACTS

Greensburg at Shelbyville

Game Time: 7 p.m. at J.M. McKeand Stadium in Shelbyville, Ind.

Broadcast time: 6 p.m. pregame show from McKeand Stadium on GIANT fm (96.5 fm) or on the GIANT fm app with Johnny McCrory and Mark Drake.

SHS student section theme: Blackout.

Tailgate: Starts at 5:30 p.m. in front of the baseball facility. Free hot dog, chips and drinks for all SHS students. Also, all SHS students that attend the tailgate, dress the theme and stand in the student section will receive a raffle ticket to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

Head coaches: Scott Moore, 72-74 in 15th year at Greensburg; Brian Glesing, 1-6 in 2nd year at Shelbyville, 119-100 in 20th year overall.

2021 record: Greensburg 4-5; Shelbyville 1-6.

2021 final Sagarin Ratings: Greensburg, 48.78, 137th overall, 27th in 3A; Shelbyville, 25.09, 240th overall, 51st in 4A.

Last year: Greensburg won 42-21.

Last 10 years: Series is tied 5-5 with Greensburg winning the last four meetings.

Around the HHC Friday: Class 3A, No. 13 Delta (5-6 in 2021) at Muncie Central (1-9); 4A, No. 13 Greenfield-Central (7-4) at Plainfield (4-6); 4A, No. 1 Mt. Vernon (14-1) at Noblesville (2-8); New Castle (2-8) at Franklin County (6-4); Pendleton Heights (5-5) at Lebanon (7-4); 6A, No. 6 Westfield (12-2) at 4A, No. 2 New Palestine (8-4); and Yorktown (5-5) at Anderson (2-5).

Triton Central football embracing great expectations for 2022 season

Tim Able is seeing his team manage great expectations the right way.

“It’s a day-to-day thing,” admitted Able, who will begin his 10th season as Triton Central’s head football coach Friday. “We are getting better. We had a lot of success at Milan (scrimmage) and didn’t get a big head about it. We came in and worked hard Saturday and had a good practice Monday.”

Following an 8-5 season in 2021 that backed three consecutive 10-win campaigns, Able knew his youthful group that dealt with several key injuries beat the teams they were supposed to beat and lost to the teams that were just more physical.

Those five losses are keeping his talented Tigers grounded for now.

A maturing quarterback is making that happen as well. Ready for his second season as Triton Central’s starting quarterback, Jace Stuckey has matured into a coach and leader on the field after an offseason full of college campus visits.

 

 

“It was really fun. I thank my parents for giving me those opportunities and taking me to those places and all the coaches that reached out to me,” said Stuckey (photo), who threw for 1,386 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore.

Able, who has won eight sectional titles over his first 28 years as a head coach and the 2000 Class 4A state championship with East Noble, has watched Stuckey, now six foot, three inches and 180 pounds, develop into a top flight quarterback.

“He has the potential to be the best I’ve ever had,” said Able.

Stuckey has a stronger and more experienced offensive line to work behind in 2022 and a wealth of explosive athletes at his disposal.

Junior running back Ray Crawford (5-9, 180) has eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in each of his first two seasons at Triton Central and proved to be a dangerous receiver out of the backfield last year, hauling in 24 catches for 433 yards. He ran for 1,273 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore.

 

 

“I’ve been doing this since I was 6 years old,” said Crawford (photo). “I am comfortable with it. I’ve played receiver and running back and I am used to both now.”

Crawford admitted he is chasing a season with 2,000 all-purpose yards.

Able envisions a two-pronged rushing attack with junior Brayden Wilkins (6-0, 175) fully healthy after an injury-plagued sophomore year. Wilkins broke Triton Central’s 200-meter dash record during the spring track and field season.

Senior Brad Schultz (5-9, 170) will be everywhere. The speedster was injured in week two of the 2021 season and was never healthy the rest of the way. He spent the offseason playing 7-on-7 with Stuckey which should pay off on Friday nights this season.

 

 

“We put in a lot of hours over the summer and we are meshing well,” said Schultz (photo).

Despite being sidelined more than he wanted in 2021, Schultz still led Triton Central in receptions (26) and receiving touchdowns (4) while rushing for 188 yards and two TDs.

“He never got a five-day week last year,” said Able, who praised his senior’s speed and ability to find open windows down the field to get open.

“It was awful. I hated watching my team lose,” said Schultz of the 2021 injury. “It’s rough when you are playing but it’s even worse when you can’t even help.”

As defenses key on Schultz, Crawford and Wilkins, that will free up opportunities for Luke Faust (6-3, 175), Chase Chandler (6-0, 175) and Jared Schweitzer (6-0, 180) to impact games.

Faust, a senior, gives Stuckey a big target that can work his way down the field. Chandler, a sophomore, and Schweitzer, a senior, will share tight end duties.

“We can spread the ball around,” said Able. “We just have to try and figure out what to do each week and every week based on the opponent.”

The offensive line has more depth which gives it versatility.

Senior Hadyn Ball (6-0, 205) takes over the center’s role with sophomores Andrew Bailey (5-11, 200) and Nick Riggins (5-10, 185) at the guards and senior Aidan Wasson (6-4, 240) and sophomore Willie Baugh (6-0, 230) at the tackles.

 

 

“We only had one key loss from the line last year and that’s Jayden Mays,” said Wasson (photo). “We’ve been able to not have to relearn everything but grow off that. And everyone is bigger and stronger which I believe was our biggest weakness as a team last year. So to be able to put in the plays we need and execute the way we should, that is a good thing.”

Senior Aden Sosbe (6-0, 250) will be a fixture on the defensive line but also will be part of the offensive line when the team needs more power up front.

“We’re going with the smaller guards this week to block the linebackers more,” said Able. “Sosbe is more of a mauler but he will be in there.”

Triton Central’s offense could be its best defense. Points should be plentiful which takes pressure off the defense to produce shutouts.

Sosbe will anchor the defensive line with Wasson and junior Courtney Dunville (6-1, 210) offering speed and length. Bailey, Ball and senior Mitch Ryan (6-4, 230) also will be in the rotation.

“We are long and quick on the defensive line,” said Able.

Sam Kemper (5-10, 200), a junior, and senior Lucas Kleeman (5-7, 175), TC’s leading tackler in 2021, lead the linebacker group that also will include the two starting running backs in Crawford and Wilkins.

 

 

“We are basically the same defense but we’ve grown a lot over the summer in the weight room,” said Kleeman (photo).

Chandler and Schweitzer are the starting safeties while juniors Levi Dewey (5-9, 135) and Mason Compton (5-10, 150) take the cornerback positions.

Schultz does not have a defined role but can slot in at linebacker or defensive back where needed the most.

Dewey, an all-state kicker in 2021, returns to give Triton Central extended field goal range when the offense does not reach the end zone.

Schultz will handle the punting duties this season.

 

 

Cascade

Triton Central opens the 2022 season at home at Bud Mendenhall Field against Cascade in what is expected to be the two programs’ final meeting as Indiana Crossroads Conference foes.

Cascade is leaving the ICC to join the Western Indiana Conference in 2023.

The Tigers won the 2021 meeting at Cascade, 45-7.

Triton Central took a 7-0 lead on the opening possession when Stuckey connected with Crawford on a 62-yard scoring strike but the Cadets needed one play to tie the game.

All-ICC running back Liam Farmer raced 68 yards untouched but was relatively ineffective the rest of the contest. Farmer returns for what Able expects to be a run-heavy Cascade offense led by freshman quarterback Brady Trebley.

“We saw (Trebley) last year in eighth grade. He’s very good,” said Able.

Farmer accounted for more than 50% of the Cadets’ offense in a 3-7 season for then second-year head coach Connor Simmons (6-15 career record). The physical running back finished with 116 yards against Triton Central but had just 48 yards after the long scoring run.

The Tigers take to the road in week two traveling east to New Castle, 2-8 last season including 1-6 against Hoosier Heritage Conference opponents.

Week three is the early marquee matchup for Triton Central when Class A, No. 1 Lutheran, the defending state champions, come to Mendenhall Field for an ICC showdown.

Triton Central heads to Monrovia in week four looking to avenge a 38-14 loss in 2021.

Indian Creek travels north to Fairland in week five ahead of four straight ICC contests – at Ritter, at Scecina and home games with Beech Grove and Speedway – to close out the regular season.

In his first nine seasons at Triton Central, Able has led the Tigers to the sectional championship game each year. That will prove challenging in 2022 with a Sectional 39 grouping that includes traditionally-strong programs at Scecina and Brownstown Central.

The rest of the Sectional 39 field includes Brown County, Christel House, Clarksville, Eastern (Pekin) and Switzerland County.

QUICK FACTS

Cascade at Triton Central

Game time: 7 p.m. at Mendenhall Field in Fairland, Ind.

TC student section theme: Hawaiian.

Head coaches: Connor Simmons, 6-15 in third year at Cascade; Tim Able, 80-32 in 10th year at TC, 205-130 in 29th year overall.

2021 record: Cascade 3-7; Triton Central 8-5.

2021 final Sagarin Ratings: Cascade, 30.09, 225th overall, 40th in Class 2A; Triton Central, 53.86, 114th overall, 14th in 2A.

Last year: Triton Central won 45-7 at Cascade. Quarterback Jace Stuckey threw for 168 yards and four touchdowns in his varsity debut. Ray Crawford ran for 94 yards and caught two touchdown passes totaling 117 yards.

Last 10 years: Triton Central leads series 3-0.

Around the ICC Friday: Class A, No. 1 Lutheran (15-0 in 2021) at Beech Grove (3-7); Monrovia (7-4) at 2A, No. 15 Ritter (1-10); Phalen Academy (1-5) at 2A, No. 7 Scecina (10-4); 2A, No. 18 Speedway (9-3) at Class A, No. 4 Covenant Christian (7-5).

Prep Report: Shelbyville volleyball overcomes slow start to defeat Southwestern

Shelbyville volleyball spotted visiting Southwestern the first 11 points in its season-opening match Tuesday and, eventually, the first set before rallying to win the next three.

The Golden Bears prevailed 16-25, 25-22, 25-10, 25-13 to collect the first win for new head coach Katie Winters.

Shelby Lasure and Ashlyn Turner led the Golden Bears with 12 kills apiece. Hailey Harness had 11 kills.

Lasure and Turner each had four service aces.

The Spartans dropped to 0-2 this season.

Shelbyville won the junior varsity match, 25-18, 25-14.

The Golden Bears travel to Columbus North Thursday while Southwestern seeks its first win of the season at Oldenburg Academy.

In other prep events Tuesday:

 

 

Cross Country

Hauser Hokum Karem

Southwestern’s Dane Kissell and Koty Claiborne combined for a 6th-place finish (35 minutes, 58 seconds) in the season-opening event for the Spartans.

In a hokum karem, runners are paired together which each competitor running one mile before their partner runs the next mile. Each competitor runs three miles total over the 6-mile event.

Also for Southwestern, Jackson Bentz and Chris Claiborne finished 13th in 38:57.

In the girls’ race, Malori Pike and Maxine Higdon (photo) partnered up for a 10th-place finish (51:25).

Southwestern will host the Jeremy Wright Invitational Saturday.

 

 

Girls Golf

Rushville 199, Mt. Vernon 206, Shelbyville 233

At Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville, Mt. Vernon’s Izzy VanHeel was the medalist with a 44 but Rushville had three golfers shoot 51 or better to secure the team victory.

Emma Tressler led the Lions with a 46 and Isabella Wilson shot 49. Megan Alexander (51) and Claire Waits (53) completed Rushville’s scoring.

Madison Monroe led Shelbyville with a 56. Emmie Higgins followed at 57 and Kate Linville and Livanet Rosales each posted 60.

Shelbyville hosts Whiteland Thursday.

Triton Central 253, Beech Grove 254

Hanna Fink led the Tigers to their first victory of the season with a round of 60.

Lindsay Huxford and Olivia Williams followed at 64 and Jaylee Davis shot 65.

Triton Central hosts Eastern Hancock today.

Blue River Valley 210, Morristown 254

Ashley Ballinger led the Yellow Jackets in the loss with a 57.

Also for Morristown, Mollie Runnebohm shot 61, Clara Hale posted a season-best 67 and Oakleigh Goedde shot 69.

Morristown is at Edinburgh Thursday.

 

 

Boys Soccer

Franklin 2, Shelbyville 0

At Shelbyville, Griffin Atkison and Zach Newton produced second-half goals to lead the visiting Grizzly Cubs past the Golden Bears.

Adam Atkison collected the shutout in goal for Franklin.

“Despite the 2-0 loss, I was very encouraged by our defense,” said Shelbyville head coach Ben Purvis. “The foundation is set for this group to be very good. Our biggest missing piece is finding goal scorers.”

Franklin built a 3-0 first-half lead in the junior varsity contest and held on for a 3-2 victory.

Rory O’Connor and Brock Wischmeyer scored Shelbyville’s goals.

Shelbyville is back in action Thursday at Oldenburg Academy.

Southwestern 3, Knightstown 2

At Southwestern, the Class A, No. 10-ranked Spartans quickly fell behind to Knightstown in their season opener but scored three straight goals to recover for the win.

Owen Newkirk scored in the opening two minutes to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Garreth Stringer answered back for Southwestern, scoring in the game’s fifth minute off an assist from Tucker Simmons.

Simmons picked up another assist three minutes later when Eli Stone scored to give the Spartans the lead for good.

Josh Karr made it 3-1 in the 34th minute off an assist from Constant Martinez.

Knightstown scored late in the second half to cut the lead to 3-2 but could not find the game-tying goal.

Michael Clements had 10 saves in goal for Southwestern, who travels to Hauser Saturday.

Boys Tennis

Shelbyville 4, Hauser 1

At Shelbyville, the host Golden Bears swept the singles matches and added a win at No. 2 doubles to net new head coach Steve Drake his first career victory.

Aidan Asher, Logan Prickett and Caden Tackett dropped a combined six games while dominating all three singles matches.

The No. 2 doubles pairing of Karson Schaf and Reece Prickett cruised past Jayden Blair and Jentzen Bechtel, 6-0, 6-1.

Hauser’s lone win came at No. 1 doubles where Levi Gollmer and Hunter Pappano topped Aiden Smith and Caden Claxton, 6-3, 7-5.

Shelbyville got junior varsity singles match wins from Layne Pogue and Aiden Alton and a doubles victory from Gavin Reed and Alex Bunton.

Shelbyville hosts Franklin today.

Triton Central 5, Ritter 0

At Ritter, the visiting Tigers proved dominant in their season opener.

At No. 1 singles, Tucker Hutchinson blanked Harrison Priesthoff, 6-0, 6-0.

Avram Rund defeated Simeon Pantones at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-0.

Cole Thomas bested Andreas Closser at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-4.

At No. 1 doubles, Griffin Sego and Ben Toth topped Nathan Martin and Luke Adams, 6-0, 6-4.

And Oliver Gearlds and Connor Evans did not lose a game at No. 3 singles against Jordan Liter and Trevor Listeri.

Triton Central got JV victories from Bohdan Rollo, Max Crouse, Janssen Capps and the doubles pairings of Eli Sego/Caleb McGuire and Connor McGuire/Talan Carter.

Triton Central goes for its second straight Indiana Crossroads Conference victory today when Lutheran visits Fairland.

 

 

Volleyball

Triton Central def. Whiteland, 25-18, 25-17, 25-9

At Triton Central, senior Maddy Brown (photo) became TC’s career kills leader while leading the Tigers to a season-opening victory.

Brown started the season three kills shy of tying Maddy Beaver’s record of 624 kills, which was set in 2020.

Kennedi Morrison led Whiteland (0-1) with five kills. Kiley Sullivan finished with a team-high 17 digs.

Triton Central won the junior varsity match in straight sets.

The Tigers are at Greensburg Thursday.

For Love of the Game: Graham excited for final soccer season

FAIRLAND -- Six minutes into her senior season, Lizzie Graham was sprawled out on the artificial turf at Bud Mendenhall Field trying to regain her composure.

Graham caught a Knightstown clearing kick with her face Monday that left her battered and possibly just a little bruised. The Triton Central senior slowly regained her wits as play continued and felt ready to return to the field but her teammates took care of business and defeated the visiting Panthers Monday, 3-0.

Graham (photo) scored the game’s first goal inside the first five minutes of action then went down and out for the rest of the game.

“That is not the way we wanted to start the season,” said Triton Central coach Matt Roberts of seeing his program’s leading scorer the last two seasons lying on the turf. “She is pretty tough and it looks like she is going to be alright.”

Graham’s goal was the 40th of her career. The senior, who will play college basketball at Indiana University South Bend, is excited about her final season with a team that features 18 freshmen and sophomores.

“We definitely want to win more games,” said Graham, who was laughing and smiling after her memorable senior season debut. “We are definitely working better as a team … you can tell already. I think one of our biggest goals is to win our sectional this year.”

For that to happen, more players have to find ways to score to keep opposing defenses from collapsing on Graham, who has scored 71% over her team’s goals the last two seasons.

“It’s a good start to this year. We have 12 freshmen and everyone who is able got into the game tonight,” said Roberts. “We got them all in and got them some experience. Going forward, that is what we are going to be doing … getting these young players some experience.”

 

 

Kennedy Brown, a junior, pushed up from her midfield position to score the game’s second goal Monday. She stayed wide on the far post and was in the right position when the ball cleared past a defender and right to her to make it 2-0 midway through the first half.

“She is fantastic. She gives us that effort in the middle,” said Roberts. “Whenever we need a play to be made, she just steps up and really comes through for us. She does a lot of the nitty-gritty stuff, the dirty work, to set things up.”

Brown was credited with the assist on Triton Central’s third goal when she set up Vivian Blye, who delivered a high-arcing shot over the goalkeeper’s head to complete the scoring.

Triton Central has finished with a losing record the last two seasons but with the influx of young talent that includes freshmen Aerial Walker, who had the assist on Graham’s goal, Bella Ball and Farah Coen, and sophomores Jocelyn Firebaugh and Elaina Maurice, there are rising expectations for the 2022 squad.

“We are young but I like our outlook,” said Roberts. “We are probably going to take a few lumps as we get these younger players some experience but down the road we would like to compete for a sectional title and a conference title this year.”

Graham could have walked away from the program after committing to IU South Bend but she wanted one final season in a sport she has been playing since she was a little girl.

 

For more on Graham's decision to attend IU South Bend, go to https://shelbycountypost.com/sports/644695

 

“I had a debate my freshman and sophomore year if I wanted to play basketball or soccer in college,” explained Graham. “Obviously, I am playing basketball but I don’t want to give up (soccer) yet because it’s my last year. I love this sport – its fun. I could not bring myself not to play.”

Roberts appreciates her dedication to the sport and the leadership she brings to the team.

“It means a lot that she would come back. I never doubted her,” said Roberts. “She loves playing. She loves the game. She has her future figured out and it’s in basketball and we support her in that.”

Prep Report: Seymour defeats Waldron in tennis season opener

Waldron tennis dropped its season opener Monday at Seymour, 5-0.

The host Owls won all five matches in straight sets and captured three junior varsity wins to spoil Waldron head coach Ryan Berkemeier’s return to the tennis program.

At No. 1 singles, Seymour’s Eli Meyer defeated Waldron sophomore Lucas Shaw, 6-1, 6-3.

Hunter Heckman topped Waldron sophomore Jack Fischer at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-4.

Waldron freshman Caiden Young lost his varsity debut match, 6-0, 6-0 to Rueben Uruse.

At No. 1 doubles, Jack Vandielinger and Joe Schmidt defeated Waldron senior Josh Kellems and junior Jacob Lindsey, 6-1, 6-0.

Trevor Alberning and Parker Thompson bested Waldron junior Connor Hinchman and sophomore Matthew Thomas, 6-1, 6-0.

Waldron’s Connor Ping and Isaiah Jones were defeated in JV singles matches while Sam Jones and Andy Lacy lost a JV doubles match.

Waldron returns to action Thursday at Edinburgh.

In other prep events Monday:

Volleyball

Indian Creek def. Waldron, 25-21, 20-25, 25-13, 25-19

At Indian Creek, the host Braves captured their first victory of the season to improve to 1-1.

Waldron dropped to 0-2.

Kaylee Young led the Mohawks with 12 kills. Emily Tyree collected 20 assists and Alyssa Benson finished with 21 digs.

The Mohawks host Milan Thursday.

Herron def. Southwestern, 25-18, 19-25, 25-15, 25-14

At Southwestern, the visiting Achaeans improved to 1-2 this season.

The Spartans took the loss in their season opener under new head coach Kim Britt.

Herron won the JV match, 25-15, 17-25, 15-9.

Middle School Tennis

Waldron 4, Eastern Hancock 1

At Waldron, the Mohawks swept the doubles matches and were victorious in the top two singles matches.

At No. 1 singles, Charlie Fischer topped Luke Zielinga, 8-3. Lincoln Fischer won at No. 2 singles, 8-0, over Cash Poindexter.

Waldron’s No. 1 doubles pairing of Jackson Kuhn and Caige Sheaffer bested Garrett Bridges and Ross Wennen, 8-3.

The Mohawks’ other win came at No. 2 doubles where Noah Leap and Kevin Crouch defeated Koda Hinton and Silas Fradenburg, 8-4.

The Royals’ lone win came at No. 3 singles where Isaac Fletcher defeated Wyatt Everette, 8-4.

Waldron produced a pair of JV doubles match victories with the teams of Nathan Stocklin/Luke Thomas and Tanner Cockerham/Ollie Kuhn.

Waldron prepping for 8-man football debut

Waldron Mohawk football is nearing its debut at the high school level as a part of the IHSAA pilot program.  

 

A handful of schools will offer Indiana its first look at the 8-man football game. It could be a future for a number of schools interested in football but not at a point where 11-man football is feasible.

 

Coaches Corey Barton and Chandler Miller spoke with GIANT fm Sports about counting down the days to introducing Mohawk fans to high school football.

 

 

Waldron is scheduled to scrimmage Irvington Saturday, August 20.  Another jamboree scrimmage is scheduled for August 27.

 

 

The regular season schedule could still see some adjustments.  However, the season opener is a 7:00 pm kickoff at Rock Creek Academy in Sellersburg on September 3.  The Mohawks would host Irvington in the home opener the following week, September 10, at 7:00 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Triton Central football ranked in top 10 in IFCA Preseason Poll

Triton Central opens the 2022 football season ranked No. 9 in the Indiana Football Coaches Association’s Preseason Football Poll.

Defending state champion Andrean is ranked No. 1 in the Class 2A poll. Evansville Mater Dei follows at No. 2 with Eastbrook and Fort Wayne Luers tied for No. 3.

Lafayette Central Catholic is No. 5 ahead of Linton-Stockton, Scecina, Eastside, Triton Central and Heritage Christian.

Also receiving votes in the 2A poll are LaVille, Brownstown Central, Eastern (Greentown), Tipton, Ritter, Alexandria, Lapel, Lewis Cass, Sullivan, Paoli and Seeger.

 

 

Triton Central, Brownstown Central and Scecina are grouped into Sectional 39 this postseason.

Five of the six top-ranked teams in the IFCA Preseason Poll are defending state champions. The sixth, Cathedral, won the 5A title in 2021 and is ranked No. 2 in the 6A poll behind Center Grove.

Mt. Vernon is No. 1 in the 4A poll. Chatard sits atop the 3A poll. And Lutheran is the top-ranked team in Class A.

The 4A poll is led by a pair of Hoosier Heritage Conference schools with a third sitting just outside the top 10.

Mt. Vernon, New Palestine, Roncalli, Mooresville and Brebeuf round out the top five. Evansville Memorial is No. 6 ahead of East Central, Hobart, Kokomo and Northwood. Greenfield-Central is ranked No. 13.

 

 

Shelbyville will face all three HHC schools this season plus Delta (3A, No. 13) and is now in Sectional 23 with East Central and Silver Creek (4A, No. 16).

Following Center Grove and Cathedral atop the 6A poll are Carmel, Brownsburg, Warren Central, Westfield, Ben Davis, Hamilton Southeastern, Lawrence North and Avon.

Merrillville leads the 5A poll with Decatur Central, Fort Wayne Snider, Michigan City, Whiteland, Fort Wayne Dwenger, Valparaiso, Mishawaka, Concord and Harrison (West Lafayette) in the top 10.

The 3A top 10 includes Chatard, West Lafayette, Gibson Southern, Tri-West, Mishawaka Marian, Lawrenceburg, Danville, Western Boone, Guerin Catholic and Norwell.

Lutheran won a state title in 2021 and starts the 2022 season ranked No. 1. Adams Central is No. 2 ahead of South Adams, Covenant Christian, Monroe Central, North Judson, Park Tudor, North Decatur, South Putnam and Tri.

The 2022 football season kicks off Friday night around the state.

Prep Report: Yellow Jackets get season-opening win in Morristown Classic

Morristown split its two season-opening pool play matches then was defeated by Rising Sun in the third-place match at the Morristown Classic.

Edinburgh dealt the Yellow Jackets their first loss of the season Saturday morning at the Bee Hive, 25-21, 25-15. Madison Espich finished with a team-high five kills and six digs in the loss.

Maycee Cole had three blocks and Kindall Dorsey added two service aces. Raegan Kleine notched 11 assists.

The Yellow Jackets followed with their first victory of the 2022 season, 25-19, 25-21 over Jac-Cen-Del.

Cole had a team-high eight kills. Espich racked up five aces. Kleine had 19 assists and Dorsey finished with five digs.

Rising Sun defeated Morristown in the third-place match, 25-18, 23-25, 15-6.

Cole had a team-high five kills while Nevaeh Sanders and Zoey Coons each had four kills. Sanders also had three blocks. Kleine finished with 16 assists.

Morristown hosts Hagerstown Thursday.

In other prep events Saturday:

 

 

Volleyball

Greenfield-Central def. Waldron, 25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21

At Greenfield-Central, Harper Holden and Mya Grigsby combined for 21 kills to lead the host Cougars to a season-opening victory over the Mohawks (0-1).

Holden had a team-high 11 kills for G-C. Grigsby also had six service aces, 22 assists and 14 digs. Avery Roberts finished with four aces and 15 digs.

Waldron returns to action today at Indian Creek.

Jack wins 2nd Annual Hot Diggity Dog Wiener Dog race at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Jack, a one-year-old Dachshund from Brookville, Indiana, was the winner of the second annual Hot Diggity Dog Weiner Dog races Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.

Postponed from an earlier date due to excessive heat, a total of 17 dogs took to the track between races in three heats with the top 11 advancing to the final with $500 in prize money at stake.

Veteran eight-year-old Champion, last year’s winner owned by DJ Rackley, was an easy winner in the first heat. Kobe, an 11-month-old owned by Madison Ewing and Derrick Johnson, scored a victory in the second heat while Jack (photo), owned by Doug Ralph, was a winner in the third heat.

 

 

The top finishers from each of the preliminary rounds returned and Jack was on point, blazing down the track for the top prize of $250 and the Wiener Dog trophy.

Theo, a three-year-old owned by Erin Keys of Indianapolis, took home second place while Champion was third. Also receiving prize money were Kobe in fourth and Jax, owned by Stephanie Campbell of Anderson.

Other dachshunds advancing to the final were Dasher, owned by Lauren Benbenek of Indianapolis; Honey Bun, owned by Michelle Mohr; Addie, also a finalist last year for Rackley; Belle, a finalist last year for Keli and Aydin Eggleston; Toby, owned by Erin Keys; and Judge, also owned Benbenek.

Each dog had two handlers with one accompanying the dog to the start line and the other standing at the finish coaxing the dogs down the track.

The event was held in conjunction with the fourth All-Quarter Horse racing day of 2022 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The event provided added entertainment between several of the later races on the card.

Flashin Five Bar quickest in QHRAI SSA Futurity Trials at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Flashin Five Bar and Juan Marquez set the bar high in the first of six trials for the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Futurity Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.

The duo turned in the fastest time trial to lead the field of 10 into the $196,736 final set for Sept. 3 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Flashin Five Bar got away in mid pack and quickly got his momentum going, taking a short lead before extending to a three-quarter length advantage at the wire in 17.991 seconds in the 350-yard dash. Jupyter and German Rodriguez gave trainer Randy Smith a one-two punch in the race while Runaway Beach Chic and L.D. Martinez finished third.

Flashin Five Bar earned his second win in four starts. The freshman grey gelding is owned by Debbie Smith and Rose Bode and was bred by Sheri Miller. A son of Five Bar Cartel, the Indiana bred has impressive breeding to take him into his racing career.

“He’s a little bit of a hot gelding,” said Smith of Flashin Five Bar. “He’s a half brother to Beach Cartel and he didn’t even race as a two-year-old, so we are pretty proud of him.”

Beach Cartel is among the top five all-time leading Indiana bred horses by earnings. The Escondido Beach gelding is just shy of a half million on his card.

 

 

The second fastest trial was awarded to Mary Jane from the Tim Eggleston barn. The chestnut daughter of Five Bar Cartel earned her first career win for jockey Rolando Pina and was in contention for the lead the entire dash, getting the call by a nose over We B Flyin and L.D. Martinez and HF Whoopi and Edgar Diaz in the three-horse photo. The time of the sprint was 18.012.

Mary Jane is owned by Shirley Tresner and was bred by Markum Corner K of Arkansas. It was one of two wins in Futurity trial action for Eggleston, who also saddled Maysa to a win.

Two other trial winners, Winner Spirit, ridden by Juan Marquez, and Flat Out Smoking, ridden by Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, also turned in quick enough times to join the final. Winner Spirit, trained by Randy Smith, was a winner in 18.107 to rank fifth on the leaderboard while Flat Out Smoking, trained by Jessica Vazquez, was ranked eighth with a time of 18.149.

In a unique twist, Lonnie James, ridden by Erik Esqueda, and DNA Mr Independent, ridden by German Rodriguez, finished in a dead heat behind Flat Out Smoking. Their time of 18.179 was the 10th fastest to advance into the final. A shake will be finalized by racing officials early next week to determine which of the two horses will be added to the final list.

Two-year-olds advancing to the QHRAI SSA Futurity Final, with jockey and time, includes: Flashin Five Bar (Juan Marquez, 17.991), Mary Jane (Rolando Pina, 18.012), We B Flyin (L.D. Martinez, 18.013), HF Whoopi (Edgar Diaz, 18.028), Winner Spirit (Juan Marquez, 18.107), Jupyter (German Rodriguez, 18.109), CV Struttinforakiss (Edgar Diaz, 18.140), Flat Out Smoking (Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, 18.149), Runaway Beach Chic (L.D. Martinez, 18.169), and tied for 10th Lonnie James (Erik Esqueda, 18.179) and DNA Mr Independent (German Rodriguez, 18.179).

Out of those potential starters in the final, Randy Smith will saddle four (Flashin Five Bar, Winner Spirit, Jupyter and DNA Mr Independent), Jessica Vazquez will saddle three (HF Whoopi, CV Struttinforakiss and Flat Out Smoking) and Tony Cunningham will saddle two (We B Flyin and Runaway Beach Chic).

A total of 52 horses were entered into the trials for the QHRAI SSA Futurity.

Kenoma scores top spot in QHRAI SSA Derby trials at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Kenoma and Juan Marquez turned in a gate-to-wire effort to score the fastest win among three trials Saturday for the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Derby during the fourth all-Quarter Horse day at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.

The duo won their trial in 20.245 seconds to lead the top 10 into the $110,173 final set for Sept. 3 at the fifth all-Quarter Horse racing day of 2022.

Starting from post one, Kenoma (photo) was all business when the gates sprung over and was on top of the field from the inside in the early stages of the 400-yard dash. The three-year-old daughter of Mr Ease Cartel began to gain some ground between her and the rest of the field as the wire neared, winning by three-quarters of a length.

Mr Michel and Erik Esqueda finished second over Good Time Stoli and Giovani Vazquez-Gomez for third.

 

 

Kenoma earned her first win of 2022 in her third start. She is owned by Brad Sharp and Brant Barley. Randy Smith handles the training for the filly, which was bred by the late Larry Sharp of Missouri. She now has three career wins in nine outs with earnings of nearly $35,000.

Kiss Me at Midnight was the second fastest qualifier, winning is trial in a time of 20.261. Also trained by Smith and ridden by Marquez, the Kiss My Hocks gelding was the favorite of the field and lived up to his billing, scoring the impressive win by one and one-quarter lengths over Jesses Beach and Rolando Pina. BV Blaze of Glory and Cesar Esqueda finished third.

Kiss Me at Midnight is now two for three this season. Bred by Flag Ranch LLC of Oklahoma, the sophomore gelding is owned by Gordon Timm and Debbie Smith. He is now five for nine lifetime with earnings over the $50,000 mark.

The third trial was won by Ah One Special Wave and Cesar Esqueda. The One Sweet Jess gelding started from post one and held his own along the inside all the way to the wire for the win in 20.385 to rank fourth on the list of finalists. Keens Blood Legacy and Jose Ruiz finished second over Bye Bye B Train and L.D. Martinez for third.

Ah One Special Wave is owned and trained by Ron Raper. It was his second trip to the winner’s circle this year and overall, he has three wins in 11 starts with earnings of $30,000. The sorrel gelding was a $19,000 purchase from the Heritage Place September Yearling Sale in 2020.

The top 10 qualifiers for the QHRAI SSA Derby, in order of time with jockey, includes: Kenoma (Juan Marquez, 20.245), Kiss Me at Midnight (Juan Marquez, 20.261), Mr Michel (Erik Esqueda, 20.269), Ah One Special Wave (Cesar Esqueda, 20.385), Good Time Stoli (Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, 20.429), Jesses Beach (Rolando Pina, 20.486), Fabulous Barbara (Dex Mitchell, 20.501) in a dead heat with Hejfund (Edgar Diaz, 20.501), BV Blaze of Glory (Cesar Esqueda, 20.530) and Keens Blood Legacy (Jose Ruiz, 20.548).

Randy Smith will saddle two (Kenoma and Kiss Me at Midnight) as will Ron Raper (Ah One Special Wave and BV Blaze of Glory).

The QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Derby will be joined by the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Futurity on the next all-Quarter Horse racing day on Sept. 3. Also included on the day will be the $75,000 Bob Woodard Memorial along with trials for the regional qualifiers of the John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the Adequan Derby, if needed. The finals come back Sept. 22 in preparation for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships set for Horseshoe Indianapolis on Oct. 22.

Prep Report: Southwestern golf posts best round of young season

Southwestern golf posted a season best score that resulted in a second-place finish in a three-team match Thursday at North Branch Golf Course.

Edinburgh defeated its Mid-Hoosier Conference foes with a team score of 212. The Spartans followed at 242 and North Decatur finished third at 246.

Edinburgh’s Izzy Richardson was the medalist with a 49. Jillian Turner followed at 51. Gracie Meyers posted 54 and Macy Blandford closed out the team score with a 59.

All of Southwestern’s golfers carded season-best rounds. McKinley Correll led the way at 52. Sydney Griffin shot 59. Emma Isgrigg (63), Aurora Belton (68) and Hannah Hicks (69) completed the Spartans’ roster.

North Decatur was led by Addie Gauck’s 57. Kaylee Smith followed at 58. Hannah Reynolds shot 64 and Chase Christianson posted 67.

Southwestern hosts Brown County Monday.

In another prep golf match Thursday:

 

 

Greenwood Christian 221, Morristown 254

At Blue Bear Golf Course, the host Yellow Jackets dropped to 1-1 this season.

Ashlee Ballinger topped Morristown’s scorecard with a 59. Mollie Runnebohm finished three shots back at 62. Oakleigh Goedde (63) and Clara Hale (70) completed the scoring for Morristown.

Greenwood Christian’s Morgan Brant was the medalist.

Morristown travels to New Castle Tuesday to take on Blue River Valley.

Arabians take down Golden Bears at Blue Bear Golf Course

Shelbyville golf suffered its first home loss of the season Wednesday against Pendleton Heights.

At Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville, the visiting Arabians had four golfers shoot 50 or better to defeat the Golden Bears.

Kelsey Day was the medalist with a 43. Addison Nichols followed at 45 and Skylar Baldwin carded 49. Audrey Jenkins completed the Pendleton Heights’ scorecard with a 50.

Kate Linville led Shelbyville at 56. Rounding out the Golden Bears’ scorecard were Madison Monroe (61), Emmie Higgins (62), Ava Essex (63) and Ella Connolly (67).

Shelbyville will host Mt. Vernon and Rushville Tuesday at Blue Bear Golf Course.

Big finish to summertime golf for Triton Central's Oliver Gearlds

What a week to wrap up golf for the summer of 2022 for Oliver Gearlds, a senior at Triton Central.

 

Gearlds played in the Indiana Master's Tour Championship on July 24 - 25 with rounds of 74 - 74 and a tie for 10th at The Trophy Club.

 

On July 27, Gearlds played in the Indiana Junior Tour Championship Invitational and placed first with a round of 74 at The Players Club. His friends Cameron Chattin, of Vincennes, and Asher Caldwell, of Morristown, tied for second with a 75. 

 

L - R: Gearlds, Chattin, Caldwell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelbyville, Triton Central football hit road Friday for preseason action

The preseason football jamboree never quite disappeared from the football landscape but it has not been a fixture in Indiana high school varsity football for many years.

On Friday, Shelbyville High School’s football program will travel south to Madison High School to compete in a jamboree with the host Cubs and the Salem Lions.

“I will tell you after Friday night if I like it or not,” said Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing when asked if he liked the return to the jamboree from the traditional head-to-head scrimmage format. “I like that it will be a game atmosphere on the field. I know the scrimmages were getting a little choppy. We will see how it goes. It will be good for our kids to play a couple of other teams that we don’t normally see. I think that will be good for us.”

 

 

Shelbyville finished 1-6 in Glesing’s first season with the Golden Bears. Salem went 6-3 in 2021 while Madison finished 3-7.

The Madison Jamboree starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday with the junior varsity offenses from Madison and Salem each running eight plays within a 10-minute timeframe.

At 6:55 p.m., Shelbyville’s junior varsity will take the field against Salem. The Golden Bears will stay on the field at 7:20 p.m. for one more junior varsity session against Madison.

The varsity units are scheduled to take the field at 7:45 p.m. Madison and Salem will run 12 plays each in 15-minute time increments.

Shelbyville takes the field at 8:20 p.m. against Salem. The Lions return starting quarterback Kaleb Tucker (52-for-101 pass attempts, 835 yards, 9 touchdowns) but lost over 1,400 yards of rushing to graduation.

The final timeslot of the jamboree begins at 8:55 p.m. with the Golden Bears and Madison closing out the event. The Cubs are poised for a breakout season with quarterback Kaden Oliver (116-for-201, 1,410 yards, 12 TDs), wide receiver Colin Yancey (74 receptions, 1,024 yards, 10 TDs) and the top two leading rushers back in the mix.

 

 

Shelbyville will counter with junior quarterback Eli Chappelow (22-of-38, 292 yards, 2 TDs), the rushing trio of seniors Cael Lux (107 attempts, 478 yards, 4 TDs) and Jordan Marcum (13 attempts, 103 yards) and junior Axel Conover (36 attempts, 106 yards) and its top two returning receivers in senior Jackson Parker (16 catches, 196 yards) and junior Alex Macharia (9 catches, 101 yards).

“It’s surreal. I am ready to play,” said Lux (photo). “It’s going to be a good year.”

Shelbyville opens the 2022 season on Aug. 19 at J.M. McKeand Stadium against Greensburg. The Pirates have won four straight over the Golden Bears including a 42-21 win last season in Greensburg.

 

 

Triton Central

Triton Central travels to Milan Friday for its preseason scrimmage with the Indians. The organized scrimmage starts at 6 p.m.

Each varsity unit will run a total of 37 plays over three sessions starting at different yard markers on Milan’s new artificial turf.

The junior varsity units will then have the opportunity to run 16 plays over two sessions.

The scrimmage will not include punts, kickoffs or extra points.

Milan finished the 2021 season at 4-7 with the opportunity to return its starting quarterback and top two leading rushers and receivers.

As a junior, Brayden Rohrig completed 86-of-173 pass attempts for 1,003 yards and nine touchdowns. He also rushed for 342 yards and seven TDs.

Logan Reed (125 rushes, 549 yards, 11 TDs) and Riley Johnson (123 rushes, 568 yards, 3 TDs) both return to the backfield.

Leading receivers Jonny Volk (29 catches, 252 yards) and Ethan Pierce (19 catches, 297 yards, 5 TDs) also are back for the Indians.

Triton Central returns its own wealth of offensive talent but head coach Tim Able will be in no hurry to showcase it Friday night.

“We want to stay healthy, do the simple execution of stuff and be mentally focused,” he said. “We need to be sharp and precise as much as we can early in the season, stay away from the silly stuff and be prepared. It’s a stepping stone for our next week.”

Triton Central will host Cascade at Mendenhall Field on Aug. 19 for an Indiana Crossroads Conference contest.

The Tigers’ offensive capabilities start with returning quarterback Jace Stuckey (93-of-184, 1,386 yards, 12 TDs).

Ray Crawford, a 1,000-yard rusher in each of his first two seasons, returns to the backfield with junior Brayden Wilkins joining him for a powerful 1-2 punch.

 

 

Healthy once again, senior Brad Schultz (26 catches, 416 yards, 4 TDs) leads an athletic wide receiver group that now includes Luke Faust, a Franklin Central transfer who did not play football last season.

“I want to win,” said Schultz (photo) when asked what he wants out of his final season as a Tiger. “I think we can make something special happen but we are young and we have to stay focused to reach our goals.”

 

 

Johnny McCrory, Mark Drake and Jeff Brown will be live Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Madison High School with a High School Football Season Preview Show. As Shelbyville competes in a preseason jamboree, McCrory, Drake and Brown will breakdown the upcoming football season for the Golden Bears, Triton Central Tigers and Waldron’s new 8-man football team. For the best coverage of local high school football, listen to GIANT fm Country 96.5/106.3 or download the GIANT fm app and check out the Shelby County Post at www.shelbycountypost.com.

Blandford leads Edinburgh golf to win over Southwestern

Macy Blandford shot 47 at Timbergate Golf Course Tuesday to lead the Edinburgh Lancers to a 205-260 win over Southwestern.

Izzy Richardson followed for Edinburgh with a 49. The Lancers’ scorecard was completed by Jillian Turner’s 51 and Gracie Meyers’ 58. Also competing for Edinburgh were Hannah Pile (60) and Cloee Britton (68).

McKinley Correll topped the Spartans with a 54. Sydney Griffin and Emma Isgrigg followed with 67 and 69, respectively. Makinze Belton shot 70 and Hannah Hicks finished at 72.

Southwestern is scheduled to face Edinburgh and North Decatur Thursday at Timbergate.

Triton Central spent summer perfecting potential high-octane offense

FAIRLAND -- Triton Central quarterback Jace Stuckey has a wealth of offensive options this season.

The six-foot, three-inch junior signal caller helped the Tigers show off during a 7-on-7 summer competition hosted by the Indianapolis Colts. Triton Central finished fourth in the event with losses to Brebeuf Jesuit and Ben Davis.

“We had an outstanding summer,” said Triton Central coach Tim Able, prepping for his 10th season in Fairland and 29th overall as a head coach.

The Tigers challenged themselves against much larger schools like Zionsville, Decatur Central, Delta and Greenwood with the goal of it paying off later this year.

Able also stressed work in the weight room to get physically stronger to face not only Indiana Crossroads Conference foes but also potential postseason matchups in October and November.

“Last year our weakness was our weakness,” said Able. “We had to get stronger. Our kids have worked hard at that. We are still not where we want to be at because we’re still pretty young.

“It’s a team that we knew had strength enough to win games last year but not enough to dominate. We are more of a speed team, a little more of a spread out team. We have a quarterback that can throw the ball long and quick.”

 

 

The key is how much time will Stuckey (photo) have in the pocket and how effective can the run game be against quality opponents?

“We have more confidence throwing it because Jace has matured,” said Able. “He has played all winter and spring and summer. He’s gone to multiple, multiple (colleges and universities) and thrown for them. That experience allows him to gain the respect of the passing game. Teams will game plan for him but if they are going to worry about the pass, Ray (Crawford) will be glad. And if they worry about Ray, Jace will be glad. Whatever they choose to do, so be it.”

Crawford enters his junior season with 2,576 yards and 27 touchdowns in his career stat sheet. With junior Brayden Wilkins, who broke Triton Central’s 200-yard sprint record during track season, joining him in the backfield, Able equates them to “thunder and lightning.”

Senior wideout Brad Schultz spent much of the offseason working with Stuckey. After an injury-plagued junior season, Schultz also has his sights on playing at the next level.

“I think we can be a really explosive offense,” said Stuckey. “We have the keys to make it happen. We just have to execute week to week.”

 

 

Triton Central travels to Milan Friday for its preseason scrimmage. The Tigers will be the first opponent to take the field at Milan since it installed artificial turf in its football complex.

The Tigers open the regular season on Aug. 19 against Cascade before traveling to New Castle in week two.

Prep Report: Yellow Jackets sting Spartans in golf season opener for both programs

Morristown High School’s girls golf program won its season opener Monday at Blue Bear Golf Club in Shelbyville.

The Yellow Jackets defeated Southwestern, 257-265, in what was the season opener for the Spartans as well.

Ashlee Ballinger was the match medalist with a round of 52 for Morristown. Also competing for the Yellow Jackets were Mollie Runnebohm (61), Clara Hale (72) and Oakleigh Goedde (72).

 

 

McKinley Correll led Southwestern with a 54. Also playing Monday were Sydney Griffin (70), Emma Isgrigg (70), Hannah Hicks (71) and Makinze Belton (71).

The Spartans are scheduled to host Edinburgh today.

Morristown hosts Greenwood Christian Thursday.

In another prep golf event Monday:

 

 

Rushville 201, Greenfield-Central 207, Triton Central 255

At Antler Pointe Golf Course in Rushville, the host Lions secured the win against the visiting Cougars and Tigers.

Greenfield-Central’s Sydney Wherry was the match medalist with a 40. Laney Elliott followed at 49 for G-C.

Strong offseason has Golden Bears ready for 2022 football season

The rebuild of the Shelbyville High School football program was daunting enough for first-year head coach Brian Glesing. Then along came a pandemic.

“I’ve never seen anything like it or been a part of anything like it,” said the veteran coach who was hired to bring the Golden Bears back to winning ways after just one win in the three previous seasons. “You never knew what was going to happen week to week.”

Glesing and the Golden Bears finished an unusual 1-6 when 10 games are the typical minimum for a high school football season. Shelbyville had a trio of Hoosier Heritage Conference games cancelled due to COVID-19 and contract tracing protocols.

“I don’t know how we would have done in those games we didn’t play but our kids responded well to a choppy season,” said Glesing, who is about to start his 20th season as a head coach.

Glesing’s rebuilding phase enters year two Friday night when Shelbyville travels to Madison to face the host Cubs and the Salem Lions in a football jamboree. The Golden Bears’ regular-season opener is Aug. 19 at McKeand Stadium against Greensburg.

“I hope our school year gets off to a good start and our athletics don’t have to deal with (COVID-19) anymore,” said Glesing. “That’s the way it was (last year), our kids fought through that adversity. We finished our season with a great, competitive sectional game against Richmond but came up on the losing end. I thought our kids played hard and it was a culmination of a good first year.”

Glesing was hired with the reputation of a coach that resurrects struggling football programs. In just his second game last season, he helped Shelbyville end a 26-game losing streak with a 22-16 win over Richmond.

That would be Shelbyville’s only win of the beleaguered season but there certainly was a new “buzz” around the program as the offseason arrived.

“The biggest thing to take from last year to this year in year two is our kids know what to do now,” he said. “They know what to expect. They know how practice is run. They know how the weight room is run. There are no surprises. They know what to do. And the upperclassmen that went through last year can teach our freshmen.”

The offseason game plan was simple: get stronger.

“It’s about getting great work habits and establishing our attitude, character and effort,” said Glesing. “We have a core of kids that are doing that right now. They understand it takes hard work, it takes commitment in the offseason and in season, in the weight room, in the speed and agility program, and doing all those things to get where we need to be competitive on Friday nights.”

Glesing spent all of 2021 evaluating talent. That included a senior and a sophomore quarterback sharing playing time. Eli Chappelow, now a junior, instantly became the starting quarterback at the end of last season and he has embraced the role.

“Eli has done a great job in our offseason program,” said Glesing. “He has done a great job leading our team. He is only a junior but he is going to command our team. I am looking forward to seeing how he develops now that he is playing full-time varsity whereas last year he was only getting two quarters.”

 

 

Chappelow (photo) says he is ready for the responsibility.

“I am more prepared than last year where I was getting about half the reps,” said Chappelow. “I am a captain this year and I will embrace that role this year in the classroom and on the field.”

Glesing is still intent on building the program from within, eschewing the more common practice of scrimmaging or doing 7-on-7 work in the summer months with other football programs.

“I am old school when it comes to it,” he said. “I think too many schools do too much. They have to find that happy medium. When I played football, I didn’t want to put pads on in June and July. If you start putting pads on them in June and July and start practicing, they will be ready for it to be over when it comes October. We want our kids fresh when we start in August.”

Glesing admitted, though, that summer 7-on-7 work is in the program’s future as it keeps growing.

“We are still focusing on ourselves to get our program what we need to do before we can start doing those things,” he explained. “Hopefully, next summer we can do some 7-on-7s against other schools.”

Shelbyville typically would be spending the final week before the football season kicks off preparing for a scrimmage against Rushville. The Lions were not going to be able to participate in a scrimmage with the Golden Bears this season but had an opening in week two on their regular season schedule.

The Golden Bears jumped at the opportunity to add an old rival back to its schedule this season.

“It’s a closer drive for us (than Richmond) and it should be a bigger crowd,” said Glesing. “We are excited about that. I think both teams are excited about that game.”

Golden Bears golf secures first dual match win of season

Shelbyville’s girls golf program scored its first dual match win of the season Friday at Westwood Golf Course.

Led by Kate Linville’s 49, the visiting Golden Bears posted a 224-232 victory over New Castle.

Completing the Shelbyville scorecard Friday were Emmie Higgins (56), Madison Monroe (57) and Ava Essex (62).

Shelbyville traveled to Greensburg Saturday for its first 18-hole tournament.

The Golden Bears finished 15th in the Greensburg Invitational played at the Greensburg Country Club.

 

 

Linville led Shelbyville at 119. Higgins followed at 123. Monroe carded 130 and Ella Connolly finished at 139.

Center Grove captured the team title with a score of 318. Completing the top five were Franklin County (362), New Palestine (373), Richmond (376) and Mooresville (397).

East Central’s Rowan Pies shot 73 to be crowned medalist for the event.

Shelbyville returns to action Wednesday at Pendleton Heights.

Coach Michael Duke has seen a lot of basketball

Ask Michael Duke a basketball question about a girls team or player starting with the words, "have you seen?" 

 

Likely, he has.

 

High school basketball coaches are often scouting opponents and watching games on video to prepare for a game.  It seems unlikely that anyone watches as much basketball as Triton Central assistant girls basketball coach Michael Duke.

 

Coach Duke could be prepping for the Lady Tiger basketball program or an AAU team.  And he may be watching even more now after agreeing to a recent assignment to serve as a head coach for the 17U team of the Indiana Pride Girls Basketball Program.

 

 

Duke is back in a travel head coaching position full time after about a year away.

 

 

It seems like Coach Duke is always scouting, watching and taking notes on players and teams.  It can be particulary time consuming during Triton Central's long school season.  He says sometimes that takes away from time other AAU coaches use to track players to build their teams.

 

 

Duke has Cerebral Palsey.  He doesn’t feel it’s gotten in the way of his coaching aspirations.  And it didn’t stop his jump shot when he was younger.  That shooting ability prompted his desire to coach.

 

 

From coaching at Triton Central to coaching across other formats and regions with AAU Duke says he’s been able to reach kids and players.  That’s even when he’s willing to admit that he hasn’t pinpointed exactly why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelbyville opens season with loss to Marauders at Arrowhead Golf Course

Shelbyville High School’s girls golf team opened the 2022 season Thursday at Arrowhead Golf Course with a 195-232 loss to Mt. Vernon.

Sophomore Emmie Higgins led the visiting Golden Bears with a 53. Higgins was followed on the Shelbyville scorecard by seniors Kate Linville (56) and Madison Monroe (59), sophomore Ava Essex (64), junior Ella Connolly (68) and senior Liv Rosales (69).

Izzy Vanheel topped the host Marauders with a nine-hole score of 43 to earn the medalist honor.

Also for Mt. Vernon, Emily Westfall shot 50 and Kalin Wallpe and Aubrey Trittipo each carded 51s.

Shelbyville was scheduled to travel to New Castle today for another 9-hole match then compete Saturday in the Greensburg Invitational.

Latigo wins $250,000 Governor's Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis

The 19th running of the Governor’s Stakes got a boost in purse money beginning in 2022 and is now the second richest race for Thoroughbreds in the state of Indiana. Latigo also got a boost, winning his first career stakes race in the $250,000 Governor’s Stakes Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis with Joe Ramos aboard for the first time.

As Latigo (photo) entered the starting gate, he was antsy but under control. He moved around quite a bit under Ramos but that only meant he was ready to roll once the gate opened. Latigo secured the top spot inside early but had to take a back seat to New Year’s Fever and Alex Achard, who took over setting the tempo in the one-mile event.

There were three clumps of horses down the backstretch with Firing Range and Gage Holmes joining the top two and then a gap back to the second flight, which included race favorite Mowins and Jon Court.

Heading into the final turn, Ramos pushed for Latigo to advance, and the gelding inched away from his opponents. In the stretch, the son of Jimmy Creed was on top by three lengths and coasted under the wire for the win, his fourth in six starts for 2022.

Mr Chaos and Rodney Prescott saved ground inside to move up for second over Cibolo and Manny Esquivel for third.

“He’s a really talented horse,” said Ramos. “I’ve been working him all winter, and it was nice to finally have the opportunity to ride him. He (trainer Randy Klopp) wanted me to try to lay close and today he just took off. I think he’s still growing as a horse and is gonna do big things.”

 

 

Latigo was overlooked by bettors, paying $18 for the win. The chestnut gelding increased his career earnings to more than $230,000 with the win. He was unraced at two and was making only his sixth lifetime start, reeling off three wins to kick off the racing season this spring in Indiana. Klopp trains Latigo for Spiess Stable. Roger Spiess purchased him out of the Keeneland January All Ages Sale in 2020 as a yearling for $8,000.

“We just decided not to run him as a two-year-old,” said Klopp. “Roger (Spiess) doesn’t believe in racing two-year-olds much. We generally get them broke, bring them into the track for about 30 days, and then take them home and turn them out so they can grow. It looks like that worked out for us on this horse.”

Latigo caught Spiess’ eye at the sale, but he also had the colt marked due to what he saw in the sale book.

“I liked the breeding and we do well with buying horses from the breeders (Deann and Greg Baer),” added Spiess. “We have liked him since we brought him into the track.”

Climber reaches new heights in $200,000 Indiana First Lady Stakes

It turned out to be an easy task for Climber as she elevated herself into stakes winning status Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.

The sophomore filly scored the win in the 20th running of the $200,000 Indiana First Lady Stakes with Manny Esquivel aboard. The stakes is one of three that originated during the inaugural season of racing at the track in 2003.

Starting from post 8 in the 10-filly lineup, Climber (photo) had a little bit of a hike to head to the lead early in the one-mile event. Poetic Verse and Eddie Perez grabbed the top spot as Climber was content to sit on the outside in stalking position, flanked by Miss Luv Shack and Fernando De La Cruz on the outside and Lil Evie and Tommy Pompell on the inside.

As the field moved into the final turn, Esquivel asked the filly to accelerate and she responded, circling to the lead and putting lengths between her and the remainder of the field by the head of the lane.

In the stretch, Climber moved out to a five and one-quarter-length advantage to score the win, her third in six starts for 2022. Louder Than Words and Marcelino Pedroza Jr. found racing room in the final turn and moved up for second over Habuiah and Edgar Morales for third.

“I usually just let her do her thing,” said Esquivel, who has been aboard for all six of her starts this season. “She likes to fight (you) in the gate, so the main goal is just to get her relaxed. All the prep for the race goes to Genaro (Garcia). She’s been training really well for today. She broke on top today so all I really had to do was hang on.”

 

 

Climber was the second choice in the field, paying $7.80. The Divining Rod filly earned her second stakes win of the year, connecting in the $100,000 Hoosier Breeders Sophomore Stakes for fillies earlier this year. She now has more than $160,000 in career earnings after going winless last year at two. Genaro Garcia trained the Indiana bred filly for Bruck Murphy and Southwest Racing Stables, which is owned by Garcia.

“We purchased this filly privately last year from the breeder (Dawn Martin) after her first start,” said Garcia. “We saw her on the track and liked the way she moved. Last year, she seemed a little immature, so we made the decision to wait for her three-year-old year and that was probably the best decision. You could see over the winter that she was growing up and filling out and she’s doing much better this year.”

Climber has some breeding that would indicate potential success on the turf, but Garcia has noted the dirt seems to be her forte.

“She has a little breeding for the turf, and we tried her on it last time, but she didn’t run that well,” added Garcia. “She has shown us the dirt is better for her. She has a lot of heart, and we are excited about her.”

Brady Days leaving Southwestern after 16 years for new position at Mt. Vernon (Fortville)

Everyone knows about the difficulty employers have these days finding enough employees.  Brady Days announcement that he’s leaving Southwestern will impact the school system three-fold.

 

Photos in this story by Chad Williams Photography & Design

 

The 16-year head boys basketball coach of the Spartans also served as the assistant principal and athletic director.  But that is ending as Days has accepted a job in the Mt. Vernon school system.

 

 

Days says his daughter, Hayden, is nine and entering fourth grade at Carmel.  He expects the change will allow him more time with her.

 

 

 

The recent addition of the fieldhouse at Southwestern High School is one of a long list of items that Days says he’ll remember.

 

 

The coach in Days is willing to admit that working a basketball sideline may come up again down the road.  For now, he wants his players since 2007 to know what they mean to him.

 

 

 

The Spartans won three of the program’s five sectional titles during Days' 16 seasons as head coach.  The four-time Shelby County Coach of the Year also won two county titles and a Mid-Hoosier Conference title. His 155 wins easily ranks first on the school’s all-time list ahead of Indiana Basketball and Southwestern Hall of Fame member Marty Echelbarger.

 

 

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