Connersville

The 7th Red boys basketball team traveled to South Dearborn Saturday to play in the Tip-off Classic with Batesville, St. Nicholas, South Dearborn and Shelbyville. The Spartans went 4-0 on the day as they played some great basketball throughout the day. Connersville first went to battle with a good Batesville squad where each team made runs throughout the game. The Spartans were able to secure an 8 point lead at the half before the Bulldogs fought back to take the lead early in the second half. Connersville was resilient though as they picked up the 45-36 victory. St. Nicholas was the next victim as the Spartans slayed the Saints, 51-4. Connersville was out and running from the jump and they never looked back. Nine of ten Spartans scored in the game which is always good to see as a coach. Connersville continued their fast-paced play against South Dearborn picking up a 61-8 decisive victory. Again, nine of ten Spartans put points on the board to help with the offensive effort. The last game of the day was a battle of the undefeateds. Shelbyville came out quick and led at the half 24-15 as they stunned the Spartans at the start. The Golden Bears were able to get to the basket regularly in the first half and also picked up a number of offensive rebounds. The Spartans were never daunted however, as Connersville battled back the entire second half before taking their first lead with less than two minutes to play on a 3-point basket by Harper Buckles. Shelbyville battled back once again though when they tied the game with an old-fashioned 3-point play of their own. With six seconds left, Connersville had the ball out of bounds under their own basket. Buckles found Bryson Walker open under the basket and Walker was fouled on the play with a mere three seconds on the clock. Bryson calmly knocked down the first free throw to seal the victory. It was great to see the boys' resiliency in the second half pay off with the hard-fought victory. The defense was at a different level toward the end of the game and the boys did a much better job on the boards as well. Today was a great way to start the year and I look forward to seeing what the boys can accomplish this season. Coach Munchel Leading the way for the Spartans on the day was Desmond Shipman with 55 points followed by Bryson Walker with 33. Leo Moyer and Harper Buckles each added 23 and 20 points respectively. Kohl Britton and Kashton Cotten each added 15 points while Noah Frost and Alec Lakes chipped in 13 and 12 respectively. Rounding out the scoring for the day was Koltyn Kafka with 10 and Anthony Becker with 4 points.