GBB: Shelbyville Falls To Columbus North

For
11 minutes, the Golden Bears traded baskets with the bigger Bull Dogs.
Then a momentary lapse in concentration gave Columbus North all the
edge it needed.

Shelbyville was outscored 15-4 over the final
five minutes of the second quarter and the Bull Dogs never relinquished
their double-digit lead in a 54-36 victory.

“I don’t know if we
relaxed or just aren’t used to being in that situation with a good
team,” Shelbyville coach Stacie Cepin said. “I think they were more
stunned than anything else. That hurt us because they created some
opportunities for themselves to score and we relaxed a little bit.”

Freshman Courtney Larson hit back-to-back 17 footers to give Columbus North a 19-14 lead.

After
a Chelsea Weaver free throw for Shelbyville, the Bull Dogs scored the
next nine points, six by 6-foot senior Sydney Mitchell, to push the
lead to 28-15.

A slow start to the third quarter, five turnovers early, put Shelbyville in a hole.

A
7-0 run by Columbus North bolstered the lead to 18 points midway
through the third quarter ,and Shelbyville never got closer than 12 the
rest of way.

“We need to clean up our turnovers,” Cepin said.
“We’ve done well the first two games of the year but we turned it over
too many times this game.”

Shelbyville finished with 20 turnovers, nine in the third quarter.

“And they outrebounded us,” Cepin continued. “It’s hard for us to win if we’re not on the boards.”

Columbus North won the rebounding battle, 28-22. Mitchell and fellow six-footer Andrea Behling each had six.

Weaver, Eryn Hopper and Lesley Sammons each had five rebounds for Shelbyville (0-3).

Mitchell led all scorers in the game with 10 points. Behling and Larson both had nine.

Larson filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, five assists and six steals.

Weaver led Shelbyville with nine points. Sammons and freshman Jordan Wise each had seven.

Shelbyville was 10-of-36 from the field (28 percent) but a solid 14-of-19 from the free-throw line (74 percent).

“We’re
not a great shooting percentage team,” Cepin said, “but what we are
doing is, once the shot is going up we’re getting in there and getting
offensive rebounds and getting second chances and getting to the
free-throw line. If we can keep doing that, we’ll stay in games.”

Shelbyville started two sophomores and a freshman, and all played significant minutes Saturday.

“Right
now, it’s like going to basketball class for a lot of these younger
kids,” Cepin said. “They’re learning a lot and starting to realize that
they can step up and play this role. We have quite a few kids learning
how important they are to this team.”