Basketball Recap: Caden Claxton's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Shelbyville over Mt. Vernon

Shelbyville entered their contest against Mt. Vernon on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Shelbyville Golden Bears took a 64-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Mt. Vernon Marauders. The Golden Bears lost against the Marauders in their previous head to head back in December of 2023, too, but the margin this time around was much closer than the 72-35 score last time.

Shelbyville lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Caden Claxton, who went 6 for 11 on his way to 21 points. Mar Nicholson was another key player, going 7 of 11 en route to 16 points and five rebounds.

Mt. Vernon's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Luke Ertel led the charge by going 7 of 14 on his way to 21 points and six boards. The matchup was Ertel's seventh in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Max Vise, who went 6 of 8 on his way to 21 points.

Shelbyville's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-2. As for Mt. Vernon, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 6-1.

Shelbyville wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 48-46 win against Yorktown on the 21st. As for Mt. Vernon, they will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Westfield at 7:30 p.m. on January 7, 2025.