Whiteland's explosive second quarter pins another loss on Class 3A, No. 5 Golden Bears

WHITELAND – Class 3A, No. 5 Shelbyville is learning the hard way that any let down against a quality opponent is damaging to its overall success.

Leading 30-29 midway through the second quarter Tuesday at Glenn Ray Gymnasium in Whiteland, the Golden Bears were outscored 15-4 over the final three minutes of the first half and never recovered.

Fresh off winning the Johnson County Tournament Saturday, Whiteland collected its ninth straight win this season, 67-61, to improve to 12-2.

Shelbyville cut the Warriors’ 10-point halftime lead in half by the end of the third quarter and got as close as 63-61 with 52 seconds to go but Kyle Edwards sank four free throws from there to ice the win.

“Right now, our biggest barrier is turnovers and free throws,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “We can’t come out and do these things that are going to hurt us in the end.

“I was really proud of our second-half effort and how we wanted to be more physical. We weren’t getting bumped around as much. The first half, they were doing anything they wanted on any single offensive rebound and they showed us why they are winning all these games in a row.”

The Golden Bears have lost consecutive games for the first time this season to sit at 11-4 with nine regular-season games left on the schedule. Shelbyville hosts Greenfield-Central Saturday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.

Edwards led Whiteland with 20 points and seven rebounds. Joban Kalkat had 14 points and Kaiden Lee scored 13 points off the bench – 10 in the decisive second quarter when Shelbyville allowed a season-high 29 points.

Mar Nicholson got Shelbyville off to a strong start with eight points in the first quarter and 15 by halftime. He finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Caden Claxton had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Brody Runnebohm and Gavin Reed each hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with nine points and seven points, respectively.

Camden Thoman hit a 3 in the final seconds of the opening quarter to give the Golden Bears a 21-15 advantage.

Five different Warriors scored in the first half of the second quarter to get within 30-29.

Lee connected on consecutive 3s from opposite corners of the floor to give Whiteland its first lead of the game, 35-30.

A made free throw by Kalkat and a 3 from Edwards opened the lead to 39-32.

Another 3 by Edwards and a Kalkat rim runner just ahead of the halftime buzzer made it 44-34.

“I thought in the first half they were much more physical than us. They wanted it,” said Hartnett. “You could tell by the way they crashed the boards. Even the boards we got, they came in and bumped us and were being physical and we lost some of them.”

Runnebohm hit back-to-back corner 3s in the third quarter to cut the lead to 50-46 but a score in the low post by Josh Longwe helped keep Whiteland’s lead at 53-48 after three quarters.

A Nicholson layin and a Reed free throw got Shelbyville back within four at 60-56. A Claxton free throw and a Schene offensive rebound and score made it 62-59.

Claxton attacked the lane and scored with 52 seconds left to make it 63-61 but that was as close as the Golden Bears got.

Whiteland won the junior varsity game, 56-46. Four different Warriors scored in double figures, led by Lucas Holder’s 14.

The Golden Bears (6-5) trailed 44-24 after three quarters before posting 22 points in the final seven minutes. Jasper Hahn led Shelbyville with 15 points. Bram Kolkmeier hit three 3s and finished with 11 points.

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