Third quarter blitz propels Class 3A, No. 6 Shelbyville to win over Franklin

Class 3A, No. 6 Shelbyville used a 16-0 run in the third quarter Thursday to pull away from Franklin and win 64-45.

A less-than-stellar finish to the first half allowed the visiting Grizzly Cubs to cut a double-digit lead down to seven by halftime, 28-21. And with a Jaxon Doddridge drive and score early in the third quarter, Franklin was within five at 28-23.

All five members of Shelbyville’s starting unit contributed to the 16-0 run that included three-pointers by Brody Runnebohm, Gavin Reed and Caden Claxton.

”At halftime, we talked about extending … up seven points,” said Shelbyville head coach John Hartnett. “The last two games we’ve done a great job coming out and working on getting defensive stops and stringing those together. We did just that in the third quarter and separated ourselves. We extended the lead and ran the floor the way we wanted to.”

The game-deciding run started with Runnebohm hitting a 3 from the wing. Cole Schene scored in the low post and Runnebohm finished off a fast-break opportunity to make it 35-23.

Gavin Reed followed with a corner 3. Claxton scored in the low post and Mar Nicholson hit a 3 from the top of the key to extend the lead to 43-23.

Claxton added four more points on two possessions to make it 47-23.

After shooting 50% in the second quarter, Franklin (9-9) hit just 3 of 11 shots in the third quarter and missed all four of its 3-point attempts.

Nicholson led the Golden Bears, now 15-4, with 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Claxton had 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Runnebohm hit three 3s and finished with 14 points.

The only Franklin player to score in double digits was Melik Rasor, who hit three 3s in the fourth quarter and scored 10 points. The sophomore also scored 10 points in the junior varsity game.

Drew Wertz had nine points and three rebounds.

Franklin won the JV game, 48-42. Jasper Hahn led the Golden Bears (7-8) with nine points. Cooper Thoman, Bram Kolkmeier and Austin Martzall each scored eight points.

Shelbyville next two games are against potential Sectional 28 opponents. The Golden Bears are at New Palestine (8-8) on Feb. 13 and at Beech Grove (6-11) on Feb. 14.