The Shelbyville boys basketball coaching staff wanted to be 2-0 for the second straight season. The Golden Bears just wanted a second-straight win over county-rival and future conference rival Triton Central.
Both were achieved Saturday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium where the Golden Bears defeated the Tigers, 52-46.
Caden Claxton scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and helped steady Shelbyville when the Tigers nearly erased a 13-point deficit late in the third quarter.
“We just wanted to beat them and enjoy the rest of the night after,” said Claxton, Shelbyville’s junior guard who led the team in scoring (14.3 ppg) and assists (2.4 apg) last season.
Shelbyville scored 10 consecutive points in the opening to get separation from the veteran Tigers squad now in its second season under the direction of head coach Mark James.
Silas Blair kept Triton Central close in the first half, scoring nine of his team-high 18 points but the Golden Bears defense did not let the Tigers find an offensive rhythm.
“We’ve been working a lot on our defense going all the way back to our basic fundamentals of what we are going to do,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett Jr. “I thought Brody Runnebohm did an excellent job on Eli Sego tonight. I can’t give Brody enough credit for that because Eli Sego is a very tough guy to stop and guard.”
As a sophomore, Sego averaged 17 ppg for a 16-win Triton Central squad, but finished with just eight points Saturday on 3-of-9 shooting from the field.
Shelbyville senior Damon Badgley, who suffered a severe ankle sprain Wednesday in the season-opening win at Rushville, stepped on the court Saturday in the second quarter and quickly hit a 3-pointer to extend his team’s lead to 13-6. Gavin Reed and Claxton also hit 3s in the quarter and Shelbyville led at halftime 26-17.
Badgley and Claxton hit consecutive 3s midway through the third quarter that opened the lead to 35-22 before Gavin Morgan sparked a 13-2 run to close out the quarter.
Morgan hit a corner 3 ahead of Claxton attacking the lane and scoring at the other end. The next 10 points came from Triton Central.
Blair made a pair of free throws. Max Crouse splashed a long 3. Sego had a steal and score while being fouled. He made the free throw and added another score on a drive to cut the Golden Bears’ lead to 37-35 after three quarters.
“We just got our heads together and said that’s no big deal,” said Claxton. “We knew things would be better in the fourth quarter.”
Claxton hit a 3 from the wing just 20 seconds into the final quarter to instantly make things better.
The Golden Bears hit 4-of-7 shots from the field over the final eight minutes, made all six free-throw attempts, outrebounded the Tigers 5-2 and committed just two turnovers to seal the win.
“Our game plan in the fourth quarter was to spread them out as much as we can and let our guards go,” said Hartnett.
Runnebohm and Reed combined for 13 points. Reed finished with four rebounds. Cole Schene pulled down seven rebounds (four offensive) while Mar Nicholson scored 10 points and added five rebounds and two assists.
Blair led the Tigers (1-1) with 18 points and six rebounds. Crouse finished with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Triton Central won the junior varsity game, 51-31. Landon Bailey led the Tigers with 13 points. Jackson Faust scored nine and Brody Ciriello, Brayden Hoover and Chace Calderone each finished with eight points.
Cooper Thoman led the Golden Bears (1-1) with eight points. Josue Isaac and Nick Fischer each scored five points.
Triton Central continues it early-season run through its Shelby County opposition Thursday at Waldron (0-1).
Shelbyville is off until Saturday when it hosts Connersville (1-1).
The Shelby County Post is a digital newspaper producing news, sports, obituaries and more without a pay wall or subscription needed.
Semifinal pairings finalized for Shelby County Basketball Tournament
Crim named Beth Prince State Farm Athlete of the Week
