The shots just weren’t falling, and the breaks failed to go the way of the Pendleton Heights boys basketball team.
They had their chances, but in the end it was Shelbyville breaking its seven-game losing streak as the Arabians fell 52-45.
Despite
trailing for most of the night, PH (5-6, 2-3) came up with timely stops
at the end of the game and fought its way back. The Arabians cut the
Shelbyville lead to three at 48-45 with 25 seconds remaining and got
the basketball back twice. But on both possessions, PH failed to come
up with the clutch plays necessary to come away with a win.
The
final time was the best opportunity for the Arabians as freshman
Kendall Waters brought the ball up the court and looked for
leading-scorer Nathan Hendershot on the left wing. But Hendershot
looked at the basket a split-second too early and watched the ball
bounce off his knee and out of bounds.
Shelbyville
would knock in its final four free throws to put the game out of reach.
The loss dropped PH back below .500 and virtually took any chance of a
Hoosier Heritage Conference title away.
Hendershot
finished with a team-high 18 points and Michael Maxwell added 10.
Shelbyville’s Thomas Abner led all scorers with 23 points and 10
rebounds.
When
Harry Larrabee accepted the head coaching position in his hometown of
Shelbyville in May of 2000, he believed it would be his final stop.
Larrabee just didn’t expect the end to come so soon.
On
Tuesday afternoon, the former Indiana All-Star and veteran college
coach, informed his team and coaching staff that this would be his last
season on the Golden Bears sidelines.
Larrabee has been
diagnosed with a rare bleeding disorder that needs to be treated. The
problem caused Larrabee to miss the Shelby Shootout in late December.
With treatment and rest, he thought he was better only to have more
difficulties arise at Hamilton Heights Saturday night.
“When I came back here I wanted my coaching career to end here,” Larrabee said Wednesday afternoon, “just not this way.”
Larrabee
is in his eighth season as coach of the Golden Bears. In that time he
is 96-68 with one sectional title and three Hoosier Heritage Conference
championships.
Larrabee coached the Lady Golden Bears to an 18-5 mark in 2007.
He had a long talk with his wife, Betsy, Sunday before making his final decision.
“This
is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he said. “I
still want to finish this season and give our best effort.”
Larrabee plans to continue his teaching career.
The
Golden Bears host Columbus East (5-5) Friday at William Garrett
Gymnasium before embarking on a three-game swing through the HHC.
Shelbyville (4-6, 1-1 HHC) is at Pendleton Heights (4-5, 1-2 HHC) on Tuesday.
Starting
guard Larry Brown will be back in the lineup Friday after shaking off
the effects of a concussion he received at Rushville.
Patrick
Ellis will not be available due to a lingering knee injury. The
sophomore is likely out until at least February, according to Larrabee.
Around the county
Triton
Central regained some momentum with its second straight Shelby County
Tournament championship. The Tigers are now 7-3 but just 2-3 against
teams not in Class A.
Triton Central is 4-0 in Mid-Hoosier
Conference games and faces a stern test Friday when Hauser (5-5, 2-1
MHC) visits Fairland. The Jets have won five straight in the series.
Last
year Triton Central started the season 9-1 only to finish 12-9. Coach
Kyle Brewer has likened this season to a marathon for the Tigers, who
are about to enter phase three of the season.
“This is a real
important phase for us,” Brewer said. “We’ve done a nice job in getting
into first place to compete for the conference championship.
“Our next hurdle is Hauser. In years past, they’ve always been the team to beat.”
Phase one was getting in position to contend for the MHC title. The second phase was winning the county tournament.
Right
now, the Tigers control their own destiny but Indian Creek (4-5, 2-1
MHC), Edinburgh (6-6, 1-2 MHC) and South Decatur (9-1, 1-0 MHC) also
stand in the way.
Just a few days removed from an astounding
43-point blowout of Southwestern in the county tourney championship
game, Brewer seemed pleased for his seniors.
“That was one of
the best team efforts I’ve been a part of as a coach,” Brewer said.
“The seniors did a great job of showing leadership. It was one of those
nights where things went well.”
Southwestern coach Brady Days
was happy to get his team back on the court Tuesday. The Spartans got
22 points from Craig Reilly in a 65-49 win over visiting Trinity
Lutheran.
“You’re only as good as the last game you played and now we’ve put that one away,” Days said of the tournament loss.
Southwestern
played the county tourney without third leading scorer Roo Standeford,
who was battling bronchitis and an undiagnosed back injury.
It
now appears that Standeford has a muscle injury in his back rather than
a spinal cord problem. The sophomore played Tuesday despite still
battling bronchitis.
The Spartans (6-5) face another tough challenge Saturday when 12th-ranked South Decatur comes to town.
The
Cougars eliminated Waldron in last year’s Martinsville Regional
semifinal. For South Decatur to return to the regional finals, it will
have to get past No. 3-ranked Jac-Cen-Del (7-2), who defeated
Southwestern 76-36 on Dec. 5, in its own sectional.
“It’s important to see if we can compete against an upper echelon team like (South Decatur),” Days said.
Morristown
provided Triton Central with its stiffest test at the county tourney
and welcomed back head coach Scott McClelland to the bench.
McClelland had ankle surgery over the holiday break after a winter mishap.
Now the Yellow Jackets (1-7, 0-3 MHC) host South Decatur Friday and Beech Grove (6-4) on Tuesday.
Waldron
(4-5) takes on potential sectional foe Eminence (2-7) Friday and
travels to Jac-Cen-Del on Saturday. The highly-ranked Eagles only two
losses this season have come to Class 3A No. 9-ranked Batesville.
The big question heading into Saturday’s Hoosier Heritage
Conference Swimming Meet was whether Yorktown would maintain its dominance on
the female side of the competition, or would PendletonHeights
finally break through for a title. The ultimate answer was neither. Mt.Vernon
pulled off the surprise, winning the gilts’ championship. The Marauders edged
Pendleton Heights 289 to 252 with Yorktown
finishing third.
In the boys’ competition, Yorktown
again took the crown. The Tigers amassed 276 points to outdistance New
Palestine who ended second with 260. Mt. Vernon came in third on
that side of the meet.
The storyline of the girls’ meet was the depth of Mt.Vernon.
The Marauders won the crown despite winning only one event, the 200yard
Freestyle Relay. Compare that with Pendleton Heights. The Arabian
women won six events on the day. That includes a double win by Nikki Weston.
She took both the 100 Yard Butterfly and the 200 Yard Individual medley.
However, the Marauders scored well in nearly every event, overcoming the lack
of individual titles.
Yorktown won seven events
on the boys’ side of the meet. Again, it was the depth of New Palestine that
kept this one close. The Dragons won the 400 Yard freestyle Relay to bring the
final margin as close as it was.
The Hoosier
Heritage Conference is making a stron case as the premiere wrestling conference
in Indiana. In the latest rankings of individual wrestlers within weight class,
the HHC has 18 grapplers listed among the top 16 in their respective weight
limits. The list is headed by Yorktown which has six wrestlers ranked.
Pendleton Heights and New Palestine are also well represented. Here is a look
at the HHC wrestlers ranked within each class.
Shelbyville
center Michael Pearce (center) tries to drive to the basket while being
defended by Heritage Christian’s Morgan Cook (12) and Durrel Davis
(right) during the first half of the consolation game of the Shelby
Shootout Tuesday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium in Shelbyville. Dayla Thurston photo
Rushville
ended Roncalli’s two-year run as champions of the Shelby Shootout with
a 57-54 victory Tuesday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium in Shelbyville.
Anthony
Harcourt led the Lions (6-2) with 14 points. Jon Thompson finished with
11 points and 11 rebounds, and C.J. West added 10.
“We talked
about getting to the championship game and not being satisfied,”
Rushville coach Dan Carmony said after the Lions won their first
shootout title.
Roncalli’s Aaron Evans had 22 points, five
assists and four steals to earn tournament Most Valuable Player honors
for the second straight year.
Evans almost forced the championship game into overtime but missed a 3-pointer just ahead of the final buzzer.
Harcourt,
West and Thompson were joined on the All-Tournament Team by Heritage
Christian’s Morgan Cook and Shelbyville’s Garrett Abner.
In the consolation game, Heritage Christian used a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter to seal a 53-43 win over Shelbyville.
Cook finished with 13 points and four rebounds. Tommy Eggleston also had 13 points for the Eagles (6-1).
Abner led Shelbyville (4-4) with 13 points.
The
Golden Bears played without starting guard Larry Brown, who suffered a
concussion in the loss at Rushville Saturday. Also, head coach Harry
Larrabee missed his second straight game while dealing with a
non-serious bleeding disorder.
Michael Parks hit a 3-pointer for Shelbyville to take a 34-33 lead after three quarters.
An Abner drive and score put the Bears up once again 36-35.
But it was all Heritage Christian after that.
Cook sparked the final run with a fast-break layin just after Abner scored.
Shelbyville has now lost three straight after starting the season 4-1.
“The kids are tired,” Shelbyville assistant coach Dave Hunton said. “The whole month of December has been a grind.”
In the championship, Rushville took an eight point lead with 1:12 to go but Roncalli (3-2) kept pushing the issue.
The Lions didn’t help themselves going 13-of-26 from the free-throw line in the game.
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