Class 3A, No. 5 Shelbyville puts clamps on GC’s long range shooting to secure HHC win

Class 3A, No. 5 Shelbyville took away Greenfield-Central’s strength Saturday afternoon at Garrett Gymnasium and slowly pulled away for a Hoosier Heritage Conference win despite limited playing time from one of its best players.

Mar Nicholson got in early foul trouble and sat much of the first half. Back on the floor in the third quarter, he banged a knee against a Cougar defender and sat the rest of the game as a precaution.

Caden Claxton produced his most complete game of the season, scoring a game-high 29 points and added six rebounds, three steals and four assists to lead Shelbyville to a 64-45 victory.

”It was just a matter of time until (Caden) had a breakthrough game,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “You could tell today anytime he shot the ball he felt comfortable and was confident every time. I am extremely happy for him to finally break out and have a good game, shoot it well from the 3-point line and the free throw line.”

Claxton hit 7 of 10 shots from the field, including three 3s, and made all 12 of his free throw attempts.

The Golden Bears’ plan was to take the 3-point line away from Greenfield-Central’s Clay and Cole Mullins — younger brothers to 2025 Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins.

Clay Mullins hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key 30 seconds into the game to start the scoring. That was the only 3 made by a Cougar in the game.

The Mullins brothers finished just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc and combined to score 13 points — half their normal output.

”(Greenfield-Central) is getting 20 to 40 3s. Thursday at Shortridge they shot 40 3s in the game,” said Hartnett. “I stressed to the guys how important it is to shut down the 3-point line and not let the Mullins twins get going because they are very good shooters.

”That team thrives when the Mullins twins are hitting 3s.”

At the opposite end of the floor, the Golden Bears hit 5 of 6 3s in the opening quarter to take a 17-12 advantage.

Shelbyville hit three more 3s in the second quarter to offset the Cougars shooting 60% from the field. That opened a double-digit lead at 36-25 at halftime.

Without the 3-point line, Greenfield-Central (7-7, 1-4 HHC) was forced to attack the rim and it did with success, especially with Nicholson on the bench.

Cooper Hinton had eight points by early in the third quarter and Malachi Van was up to seven late in the quarter to cut Shelbyville’s lead to 42-36.

Claxton scored six straight points to close out the period and push the lead back to 12.

The Golden Bears (12-4, 3-2) were nearly perfect in the final quarter, making 5 of 6 shots from the field and all six free throw attempts to seal the win.

Gavin Reed finished with 12 points and four assists. Brody Runnebohm had eight points and four rebounds.

Camden Thoman, who played extended minutes with Nicholson out, added nine points, three rebounds, two assists and one block.

Clay Mullins led Greenfield-Central with nine points. Hinton, Van and Blake Evans each scored eight.

In the junior varsity game, the Cougars outscored the Golden Bears, 21-9, in the fourth quarter to steal a 50-49 victory. Noah Benjamin went coast-to-coast in the final seconds to score the game winner at the buzzer.

Benjamin finished with a team-high 15 points.

Kellen Coffey topped Shelbyville (6-6) with 15 points. Cooper Thoman had 10.

Shelbyville is at Speedway (6-6) Friday.