Saige Stahl of Columbus East shoots the ball during Friday’s sectional game at Shelbyville.
Chris Williams | For The Republic
SHELBYVILLE — A pair of illustrious careers came to a close Friday night.
Danny Brown’s 24-year head coaching career, the past 20 of which was spent at Columbus East, came to an end with the Olympians’ 65-62 sectional semifinal loss at Shelbyville.
At the same time, East senior Saige Stahl saw her career in an Olympian uniform come to an end after a 25-point, 19-rebound effort.
Stahl, however, was frustrated for much of the evening by a stifling Golden Bears defensive effort.
“I think overall, they were helping on me, double-teaming me like always,” Stahl said. “I was getting beat up down there, nothing you can really do about that, but something we have to do is hit shots, and our shots just weren’t falling tonight. Games happen like that, and you just have to keep shooting.”
The Olympians (10-14) battled back from a 12-point third quarter deficit to tie the game at 56-56 with 2:37 remaining following a personal 7-2 run by Jenna Guse. But Shelbyville (15-8) answered with a 3-pointer from Abigail Brenner and a basket by Ellie Keller to push the lead back to five.
East got back to within 63-62 on a basket by Stahl with 17 seconds left. But Kylee Edwards hit two free throws with 11 seconds remaining to make it 65-62.
Stahl missed a potential game-tying 3 with 8 seconds left, and the Golden Bears missed a pair of free throws with 5.9 seconds remaining. The Olympians had one last chance, but an off-balance 3-point try from Guse was off the mark.
East outrebounded Shelbyville 53-32, but finished 10 for 32 from 3-point range, while the Golden Bears were 11 of 20 from behind the arc.
“The bottom line is, we just didn’t make shots, and they made shots,” Brown said. “The second half, they hit some key shots when they needed it. It seemed like every time we got close, they hit a big shot.”
Edwards, a Mississippi State softball recruit, finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Shelbyville, which advances to play Franklin in tonight’s sectional final. Ava Wilson added 15 points.
Stahl, who is headed to play basketball at Indiana State, collected 25 points and 19 rebounds in her final high school game. Guse scored 17 points, and Leah Bachmann added six points and 17 rebounds.
Not only will the Olympians be losing Stahl, they will graduate Bachmann, Maeleigh Roberts, Allison Craig, Heidi Murphy and Brielle Stevens. Longtime assistant coach Willie Humes also is retiring.
“I’m proud of my team,” Brown said. “I’m so proud of these seniors. I’m proud of my coaches.”
Shelbyville 65, Columbus East 62
Shelbyville;11;19;15;20;—;65
Columbus East;11;15;17;19;—;62
Shelbyville (15-8): Kylee Edwards 9 3-6 27, Lilly Marshall 1 0-0 2, Abigail Brenner 2 3-8 8, Ellie Keller 3 0-0 7, Ava Wilson 4 4-6 15, Ella Johnson 2 0-2 4, Hailey Pogue 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 10-22 65.
Columbus East (10-14): Jenna Guse 6 1-3 17, Allison Craig 2 0-0 6, Maeleigh Roberts 1 0-0 3, Heidi Murphy 0 0-0 0, Saige Stahl 10 3-6 25, Brienne Stevens 0 2-2 2, Leah Bachmann 1 3-4 6, Messiah Trapp 1 1-1 3. Totals: 21 10-16 62.
3-point goals: Shelbyville 11 (Edwards 6, Wilson 3, Brenner, Keller); Columbus East 10 (Guse 4, Craig 2, Stah; 2, Roberts, Bachmann).
