ONTARIO — Shelby may have taken its foot off the accelerator during the second half Saturday afternoon, but the Whippets had just enough left in the tank to finish.
Uriah Schwemley scored 21 points, including four in the final 23 seconds, and the Whippets held off a spirited Ashland comeback for a 65-58 win in the Richland Source Challenge at Ontario’s O-Rena.
The Arrows (0-5) trailed by as many as 19 points early in the second half before cutting Shelby’s lead to 60-58 on a Garrett Denbow layup with 1:41 remaining. It would stay that way until the final minute before the Whippets (4-1) closed with five unanswered points.
“I know that they haven’t won a game yet, but every game is close. They have been battling,” Shelby coach Troy Schwemley said. “It’s not like they’ve been playing cupcakes. Their losses are against good teams and they have been close.
“I knew they weren’t going to go away. We knew it would be a close game and it came down to one shot.”
Trailing 60-58, the Arrows forced a turnover and had a chance to tie or take the lead but a Denbow layup attempt in heavy traffic with just over a minute remaining was off-line and the Whippets came away with the rebound. Brady Hill was fouled with 50 second left and split a pair of free throws for a 61-58 Shelby lead. Ashland again misfired on a potential game-tying 3-pointer and Uriah Schwemley scored on a layup with 23 seconds to play to make it 63-58. Schwemley then came up with a steal and was fouled with 11.9 seconds remaining. The athletic junior knocked connected on both free throws to seal it.
“We were up three and they had a wide open look,” Troy Schwemley said. “Things could have gotten really interesting if they nailed that.”
Denbow was Ashland’s catalyst, scoring 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. The 6-foot-5 junior attacked the basket with regularity in the third and fourth quarters.
“We were very complacent in the first half,” Ashland coach Jason Hess said. “It took us a good half of basketball before we realized we have to show up and play.
“The second-half effort, if we play like that for four quarters, that wins basketball games.”
Manny Langston backed Denbow with 13 points. Kamrin Knowlton-Goings added 11.
Carter Brooks had 13 points and matched Uriah Schwemley with eight rebounds. Hunter Hoffman had 13 points, while Brady Hill added 10.
Shelby outrebounded Ashland 32-20 and turned 12 offensive boards into 19 second-chance points.
“We were non-existent effort wise and it starts with me as far as having these guys ready to go when we walk out on the floor,” Hess said. “I know it was an afternoon game and you can make any excuses that you want, but when the lights are on you have to show up to play.”
