Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

Shelbyville (3-0, 0-0 HHC) The Golden Bears enter Hoosier Heritage Conference competition on a roll. With convincing wins over two strong basketball programs — Greensburg and Columbus North — with Division 1 quality point guards, and a steam-rolling 99-20 win over Oldenburg Tuesday, Shelbyville seems ready for Friday’s game with Pendleton Heights (see Game of the Week, page 5A). “I know Pendleton Heights lost two good players, but they are still just good enough that they scare me,” said Shelbyville coach John Fair. “We need to be ready and competitive.” Defensively, the Golden Bears are forcing teams to prove they can take care of the ball. In two of the team’s three games this season, Fair has opened the game with a full-court trapping defense. The third-year coach has the luxury of pushing his team hard for an entire game because he has 11 players all seeing significant playing time. And offensively, Shelbyville is a nightmare to breakdown. Opposing coaches can look at the stats and become confused as to who is the team’s top scoring threat. Of the 11 players who have taken the court this season, nine of them are currently averaging at least five points per game. Senior Sarah Laird leads the team with an 11 points per game average, but she is doing that without a confident shooting stroke. Through three games, Laird has made only 11 of 38 shots (29 percent) and has hit just 4 of 19 3-pointers. Last season, Laird’s shooting percentage hovered near 40 percent and she made over 30 3-pointers through the year. Shelbyville will play its second HHC game on Tuesday as they host Greenfield-Central (2-1) at Garrett Gymnasium.