Shelby in regional finals for first time in 67 years
BOWLING GREEN – The Shelby Whippets boys basketball magical season stays alive with a 59-50 victory over Lima Shawnee on Thursday night in a Division II regional semifinal contest at Bowling Green State University.
The resilient Whippets overcame a sensational performance by Shawnee’s super sophomore, Beckett Bertke.
Shelby used a balanced scoring attack and veteran leadership to advance to a regional final contest against Lutheran West on Saturday afternoon.
The Whippets advance to the regional finals for just the second time in boys basketball history. It had been 67 years, the glory days of Larry Siegfried during the 1956-57 season, since Whippet boys basketball had advanced to a regional final game.
The Whippets (24-2) also got a little payback as Shawnee had knocked the Whippets out of regionals during the 1998-99 season (59-50) and the 2020-21 season (76-67).
The regional final matchup will feature the state’s top two division II AP ranked teams. Topranked Lutheran West and second-ranked Shelby will battle for a trip to next week’s final four in Dayton, Saturday afternoon at 4 in Bowling Green State University’s Stroh Center.
Shelby put three scorers in double digits, handed out 19 assists and made the key plays in the fourth quarter to set up the matchup of the state’s topranked teams.
Shelby head coach Greg Gallaway spoke about his team’s resiliency and veteran leadership.
“Relentless/resiliency was one of our core values at the beginning of the season,” he said.
“We have a veteran group who overcomes obstacles, regroups and we grind it out and don’t panic,” Gallaway said. “We’ve been in tough situations before, we were down 17 on the road at half, we’ve grinded it out on the road. We’ve been in these situations before and it’s a credit to our guys for bouncing back.”
The Whippets overcame a literal one-man show by Bertke. Shawnee’s sophomore scored a gamehigh 41 points, all 16 of his team’s first-half points, while being hounded and face-guarded by the Whippets.
“Beckett’s great, a really special player who’s going to lead his team here the next couple of years. We wanted to try to make things tough on him. He made a lot of tough shots, he’s a special player,” Gallaway said.
The Whippets, who never trailed in the game, didn’t panic when they saw their 19-5 lead in the first quarter dwindle to 11 (27-16) at halftime, then to 43-34 at the end of the third and to 43-41 with 6:16 left in the game.
The Whippets regrouped and rattled off 10 of the game’s next 12 points to extend their lead to 53-43 after Alex Bruskotter scored 6 and Issaiah Ramsey hit for four during the Shelby run.
“Give our guys credit, they got the stops when we needed them and I thought Alex really controlled the tempo during that run,” Gallaway said.
Bruskotter said, “I got going in the 4th quarter. We wanted to extend our lead by controlling the pace of the game, limit possessions and use the clock. We needed to stretch the lead and I attacked the rim.”
After Bertke drilled a three-pointer, Shelby’s Brayden Devito hit a jumper, Bertke scored on an offensive rebound, but Lantz hit a layup with 1:11 left in the game. Shawnee was then forced to foul, but the Whippets sank a couple free throws to put the game away.
Bruskotter spoke about what it means to be playing for a spot in the final four.
“It is really cool and seeing all the people in the stands,” Bruskotter said.
“It’s super special, especially since it hasn’t been done in 67 years,” he said.
It really means a lot to the team,” he said. “I remember my freshman year and looking at the crowd and wanting to get back here but this time I want to win. Every workout and every practice, I wanted to get back here and my teammates pick up on that and they’re motivated as well. It’s been a special year.”
Gallaway spoke about playing Lutheran West.
They’re really good,” he said with a chuckle. “They do a lot of things really well. It’s not one guy for them. “It’s everyone on the floor, but this is what we asked for. This is what we’ve worked for and we’re going to give it our best shot on Saturday.”
The Whippets got off to a fast start, highlighted by a Casey Lantz dunk to open the scoring.
Shelby jumped out to a 10-0 run to start the game and found themselves ahead 19-5 at the end of the first.
Shawnee battled back to close the lead to 27-16 heading into halftime. Shawnee closed the gap to 43-34 at the end of three.
Bruskotter led the Whippets with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Devito knocked in 13 points and handed out 3 assists.
Lantz also hit double digits with 12 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Bryson Baker was a perfect 3-3 from the field and totaled eight points and dished out two assists. Ramsey scored seven. Karsen Homan added a bucket and Tanner Hartz handed out two assists.
The Whippets shot 25-49 from the floor and 7-11 from the foul line. Shawnee was 25-58 from the floor and 6-12 from the line. The Whippets grabbed 31 rebounds compared to Shawnee’s 32.
Shelby has now won the most games in a single season with 24 victories.