Basketball Recap: Morgan Havlovic Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Shelby-Rising City

East Butler's game last Tuesday was a loss, but they didn't let that memory haunt them on Thursday. They walked away with a 52-41 win over the Shelby-Rising City Huskies. For the Tigers, this counts as revenge for the 49-23 victory the Huskies walked away with the last time they faced one another back in February of 2024.

Morgan Havlovic

Points (Career)

02/13/25 vs Shelby-Rising City	24
12/28/24 vs Walthill	15
12/21/24 @ Sterling	15
12/14/24 @ Osceola	14
12/05/24 vs Cedar Bluffs	14

East Butler got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Morgan Havlovic out in front who went 5-for-11 to rack up 24 points and five assists. The dominant performance gave Havlovic a new career-high in points. Lillie Kriz was another key player, dropping a double-double with 11 points and 16 boards.

Havlovic wasn't the only one working in the assist department: East Butler was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Shelby-Rising City only five assists.

Shelby-Rising City's loss came despite strong showings from Olivia Adams and Taya Pinneo. Adams posted nine points and seven rebounds, while Pinneo earned 17 points and four steals. That was a full 41.5% of Shelby-Rising City's points, marking the tenth time in a row Pinneo has had more than a third of the team's points.

East Butler's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-13. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.8 points over those games. As for Shelby-Rising City, they have been struggling recently as they've lost seven of their last nine contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-15 record this season.

East Butler didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 60-48 loss against Lyons-Decatur Northeast on the 14th. As for Shelby-Rising City, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 57-45 defeat against Osceola on the 14th.