Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Loper Girls Claim City Elementary Basketball Titles
ABOVE: The Loper White Bulldogs, coached by Randall Gooding, celebrate after last night’s elementary city girls basketball championship game. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
There was nervous energy, incessant chatter, the facial expressions shifting with each maddening bounce of the ball around the rim. And that was just from the parents in the stands.
The tension was arguably less apparent on Shelbyville High School’s Frank Barnes Court, where elementary girls battled out the A and B league city tournaments last night on Garrett Gymnasium’s big stage. Loper White, coached by Randall Gooding, claimed the A league title over St. Joe, coached by Jeff Johnson, and Loper White B, coached by Cristal Astudillo, won their league trophy, defeating classmates on the Max Southern-coached Loper Orange squad.
Both games were hard-fought.
Loper Orange’s Stella Sherwood scored the first basket of the night, in the B league title game, the first of her 4 points, which included a bucket at the first quarter buzzer. White led 8-6 at the half, but Orange battled back, with the game remaining tight until a Nora Rife bucket gave White a commanding 16-9 lead. The White B Bulldogs withstood a late Orange charge to win, 18-13. Rife and Laila Williams each contributed 8 points, and McKenzie Colee scored the remaining basket. Orange was led by Julia McCracken’s 6 and Sherwood’s 4, with Sadie Kinder scoring 2 and Dakota Phillips adding a point.
Loper White players were Rife, Hayden Justus, Colee, Harper Olmstead, Eleena Dudgeon, Williams, Ariana Contreras-Revilla, Caroline Rush and Alejandra Lopez Mendez. Loper Orange players were Sherwood, Sophia Idlewine, Madison Turner, Dakota Phillips, Kinder, Justice Meal, Zoey Hatfield, McCracken and Alex Hyatt.
The A title game followed, and it, too, was worthy of the SHS bright lights.
Despite the 19-12 final score, the Loper White Bulldogs and St. Joe Lions were evenly matched throughout three quarters. St. Joe led, 8-7, but Delaney Bowers scored consecutive shots to put Loper up, 11-8, heading into the final period, and they never looked back. The Lions continued to fight, however, with Juliana Bushfield and Kendall Thoman, who had earlier left the game briefly to have a bloody nose treated, scored baskets in the fourth quarter. Bowers reached double digits for Loper, Harper Cheney added 6, Addison Keller, 2, and Piper Jones scored a point. Bushfield led St. Joe with 6, Thoman scored 4 and Sophia Jones-Sandoval added 2.
Loper White players were Izzy Cunningham, Keller, Autumn Gooding, Bowers, Cheney, Jones, McKenna Craig and Kate Swonger. The St. Joe Lions players were Jones-Sandoval, Katie McFarland, Aubrey Stevens, Marley Leon-Cruz, Thoman, Rebecca Duffy, Bushfield, Jayla Padilla, Claudia Serratos and Chloe Drake.
Loper principal Adam Harpring, whose school provided three of the four teams on the court, served as announcer. Bryan Brown, Shelbyville Central Schools PE teacher, organized league and tournament play.
This Week in Shelby County History
2013: The Big Blue River crested at over 18 feet after heavy rainfall. The levy on River Road was 18.6 feet high. The city had placed hundreds of sandbags and concrete barricades on the road, and Mayor Tom DeBaun spoke with Governor Mike Pence by phone in the event state resources would be needed in Shelby County.
2003: Loper Elementary’s physical education classes went to Blue River Lanes to complete three weeks of bowling for the semester. The initiative had been organized by Loper PE teacher Jan Asher.
1993: A mist of water shot skyward for an extended period on Washington Street near Pike Street after an Indiana Gas crew hit the pipe while working in the area. A Geoff Witt newspaper photo showed cars attempting to navigate the intersection and was titled “Unplanned carwash.”
1983: A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new county animal shelter, to be placed on the same property as the former shelter. Those taking part in the ceremony were Marilyn Hendrick, Dr. David Kingen, Rosalie Adams, Mary Pat Williams, Richard Carlton, Mickey Wagner, Margaret Hamilton, Robert Nolley, Jo Ann Tracy and Jack Boyce.
1973: The National Biscuit Co. (Nabisco) announced plans to obtain property at the east edge of Morristown for a new plant. The property was formerly used by the Jones Canning Co. Nabisco planned to process soybeans and manufacture soybean-related products. Construction had already started on the Detroit Steel Co. plant in Morristown, and earlier in the year International Packings Corp. had opened its sprawling new plant on U.S. 52 at the west edge of town.
1963: The temperature in Shelbyville was -12, the coldest since a 20-degree below zero reading in January. “At least three deaths attributed to heart attacks from shoveling snow were reported Wednesday here,” The Shelbyville News reported.
1953: City officials met with state highway officials to request repaving Colescott St. and the installation of an automatic traffic signal at the Colescott-Miller intersection. The state had earlier promised to repave Colescott St., but had paused indefinitely after repaving S. Harrison.
1943: The Golden Bears basketball team lost their first game of the season, 46-44, to Shortridge. The Bears had furiously scored six in one minute near the end.
1933: Parties, organized by the Business and Professional Women’s Club and Kappa Kappa Sigma, were held at the Golden Glow and National Guard Armory to provide presents for needy families. Each child in attendance received a gift.
1923: Civil War veteran James Smith, of Shelbyville, died at the home of his niece, Fannie Gahimer. Mr. Smith, 79, had never married.
St. Joseph Catholic School students held a holiday choir concert program at the City Opera House. The stage was decorated with Christmas trees and Ruscus plants. Soloists were Hubert Dellekamp, Thompson Morgan, Florence Roell, Wilhelmina Meyer, Martha Banschbach and Rosamond Glowka.