Golden Bears runner-up at Wettig Tournament for second straight year

RICHMOND – It still takes a full 32-minute performance to defeat a top level team.

Class 3A, No. 6 Shelbyville learned that lesson again Tuesday night in the championship game of the 16-team Bob Wettig Tournament in Richmond.

The Golden Bears sprinted out to an 8-0 lead over Ben Davis, fell behind for the first time early in the third quarter before rallying to take a 34-31 lead.

The Giants responded with a 10-0 run over a two-minute stretch and never trailed again.

Ben Davis earned its sixth-straight win and second-straight Wettig Tournament championship over Shelbyville, 62-56.

“I am disappointed for our guys for how hard they played and how hard they worked,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “There were a couple things that didn’t go our way on the floor and a couple of calls that were very questionable and some inconsistent officiating. Again, we can’t blame it on the officials. There are a lot of things we can do on our end.

“I am just very disappointed for our guys because of how hard they worked to get here in this tournament and how hard they fought the entire time and how much they came out and wanted to win.”

The Golden Bears trailed 44-38 after three quarters and got within 44-41 with a Brody Runnebohm three-pointer very early in the fourth quarter. An 8-0 run followed from the Giants (6-2) and could have put Shelbyville down for good with a better performance from the free throw line.

Ben Davis made 8 of 14 free throws over the final two minutes which allowed Shelbyville got as close as 58-54 after Camden Thoman sank a 3 with 36 seconds to go.

Sherman Moss, a University of Indianapolis recruit, led Ben Davis with 19 points and six rebounds. JaShawn Ladd, who will play collegiately at Akron, finished with 17 points and four assists.

T.J. Minor and Prince Agna each scored 11.

Mar Nicholson (photo) led Shelbyville (9-2) with 14 points. Gavin Reed had 11 points and three rebounds. Caden Claxton finished with eight points, seven assists and three steals.

Cole Schene scored at the rim early and Nicholson and Claxton each hit 3s to get the Golden Bears off to the fast start. Claxton added another made 3 in the quarter to hold the lead at 13-9 at the break.

A pair of free throws from Claxton (photo) extended the advantage to 17-10 for Shelbyville’s largest lead of the second quarter.

Minor answered for the Giants with a 3 and Agna sank two free throws to jump start the defending tournament champions.

A corner 3 from Reed pushed the lead to 23-17 but a 6-0 run culminating with a Moss tip-in at the rim tied the game for the first time.

“They turned their pressure up and showed why they win the games the way they do,” said Hartnett. “They put some extended pressure on our guards and blowing up our handoffs. They started trapping our ball screens and we had to adjust.”

The halftime break did Shelbyville good. Nicholson scored on back-to-back possessions to get the Golden Bears a 29-27 lead. Reed scored in the lane and Runnebohm hit a 3 from the wing to make it 34-31 with 4:39 to go in the quarter.

Taj Long’s 3 from the corner sparked the 10-0 run that changed the trajectory of the game. Moss added back-to-back baskets and Ladd hit another 3 from the corner to make it 41-34 with 2:39 to go.

Runnebohm’s final 3 of the tournament started the fourth quarter scoring. The senior hit 12 of 21 long-range bombs in the tournament.

Agna, a six-foot, 8-inch center, showed off his skills with a fallaway jumper, a jump hook and a dunk that was part of Ben Davis’ 8-0 run that followed.

“It’s a hard stinging loss just because our guys wanted this one so bad,” said Hartnett. “We told them to treat this like a sectional and they definitely did. They played as hard as they could and it’s something we have to move forward with, clean up some of the things we did bad and get better toward the end of the season.”

Following the conclusion of the game, the 10-player All-Tournament Team was announced.

Claxton (82 points, 13 rebounds, 18 assists, 9 steals) and Nicholson (57 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) were selected to represent Shelbyville.

Ladd was named Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Shelbyville 76, Greensburg 50

The Golden Bears hit five 3s in the opening quarter and limited the Pirates to one field goal to race out to a 20-3 lead at the first break Tuesday afternoon.

Runnebohm and Claxton each scored 11 points in the first half to get the Golden Bears a 15-point lead at halftime that grew to 56-36 after three quarters.

Shelbyville closed out its third win at the Wettig Tournament shooting 60% from the field and 56% from beyond the arc.

Claxton finished with a game-high 23 points and added four rebounds, four assists and two steals to his stat line.

Runnebohm (photo) hit 5-of-6 3s to finish with 19 points. Mar Nicholson finished with 13 points.

Greensburg (4-5) did not make a 3-pointer and shot 33% from the field. The Pirates were best from the free-throw line, connecting on 24 of 29. 

Jacoby Miller and Jacob Hellmich each scored 10 points to lead Greensburg. Max Buening and Andrew Bowman each finished with nine points.

Greensburg is Shelbyville’s first opponent in the new year. The Pirates are at Garrett Gymnasium on Jan. 10.

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