Golden Bears show off shooting touch in impressive win over Speedway

Shelbyville buried Speedway in a barrage of three-pointers Friday night at William L. Garrett Gymnasium and cruised to an 88-51 victory.

Four different Golden Bears hit a season-high eleven 3s to produce a season-high point total despite a running clock that kicked in late in the third quarter. The 88 points is the most for a Shelbyville team since a 105-60 win over Waldron on Feb. 18, 2017.

“(Shooting) is something we do every single day in practice. Even on our weekend practices, the first thing we do is come in and shoot the basketball,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett, who secured career win No. 50 Friday against the Sparkplugs. “We’ve got guys that can shoot it. They are continuing to prove themselves. If they can get it up and don’t see a hand up, it’s going to go up.

“With the shooters we have, they do an excellent job getting the shot off quick and that’s what they did tonight.”

Shelbyville hit 11 of 16 shots from beyond the arc, including six straight over the second and third quarters, and shot 72% overall from the field (36 of 50).

Caden Claxton (photo) scored a game-high 23 points and had seven rebounds and five assists.

Gavin Reed (photo) came off the bench to score 16 points, going 4-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line. The junior guard is now shooting 53% from the arc to lead the Golden Bears.

Damon Badgley (photo) connected on two first-quarter 3s and finished with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Brody Runnebohm added 14 points. Cole Schene had nine and Mar Nicholson and Kenny Owens each scored eight.

Shelbyville had 19 assists in the win.

“When we first met to start the season, we went over some things we needed to clean up going into this year,” explained Hartnett. “The more selfless basketball you can play, the better the team will come together. That’s exactly what they are doing right now. They are sharing the basketball. We had four guys (score) in double digits, almost five, everybody is getting a chance to score the basketball whether it be pushing in transition and getting layups or getting down the floor and getting wide open 3s, we are doing a good job making the defense collapse.

“We have really improved on that. The more selfless basketball these guys can play, the more unselfish they can be, the better we will continue to get.”

The Golden Bears shot their way to a quick 10-0 lead and held a 27-12 advantage at the first break. The lead grew to 53-26 by halftime.

Drew Matelic led the Sparkplugs (2-11) with 18 points. Matt Craig finished with 10 points.

Speedway and Shelbyville are both joining the Hoosier Legends Conference. The Sparkplugs start the HLC next season with Triton Central, Tri-West, Monrovia, Beech Grove and Indian Creek. Shelbyville and Greenwood will join in 2026.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity improved to 4-10 Friday with a 49-38 victory over Speedway. Gavin Hall led the Golden Bears with 11 points. Eli Davis finished with 10.

Shelbyville hosts Franklin County (5-11) Wednesday night at Garrett Gymnasium.

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