While Shelby County is not known to produce star basketball talent, you would not have known judging by the brimming weekend of basketball at Waldron Jr.-Sr. High School. Waldron held the 96th annual “Men’s Shelby County Tournament” in which 4 rivals with a fierce history dueled it out on the court in hopes of earning the “Victory Bell.” With Triton Central climbing to the top of the ladder and edging out a win in the 2020 Shelby County Championship, all intentions were to dethrone the Tigers. 

Final Score:

Waldron- 60

Southwestern (Shelbyville)- 47

Leading Scorers:

Aiden Hartsell / 19 pts. / Southwestern

Lucas Mitchell / 21 pts. / Waldron

The 2021 Shelby County Tournament tipped off with a matchup between Waldron and Southwestern!

Waldron held a secure 25-14 lead through the first half with the help of Bryce Yarling, Lucas Mitchell, and Lucas Shaw!

Southwestern made a strong push to come back in the second half with multiple three-pointers from Aiden Hartsell and Jordan Jones! Waldron still held on to the lead through three quarters though it dwindled to a more modest 39-32 score. 

Bryce Yarling knocked down a three midway through the fourth quarter! It was smooth sailing for the Mohawks from then. 

Waldron catches a 60-47 win over Southwestern leading them to the championship round of the 2021 Shelby County Tournament!

Final Score:

Triton Central- 59

Morristown- 38

Leading Scorers:

Alex Crouse / 18 pts. / Triton Central

Nolan Laster / 20 pts. / Morristown

The second matchup of the weekend consisted of defending Shelby County Champions Triton Central and Morristown who had struggled throughout the first half of the season with just one win to their record. 

Triton Central started hot with a 13-5 lead early in the contest. Alex Crouse knocked down the three to put the Tigers up by 8!

Morristown held a bit of their ground through the first half thanks to Nolan Laster and Nick Stidham knocking down multiple threes. 

The second half was Triton Central’s ballgame as they rolled to a nearly 20-point lead with just over 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter!

Triton Central advanced to the Shelby County Championship game after a dominating second half against Morristown!

Final Score:

Waldron- 51

Triton Central- 50 

Leading Scorers:

(MVP) Bryce Yarling / 22 pts. / Waldron

Isaac Morgan / 21 pts. / Triton Central

The Shelby County Championship came down to a nail-biter with 4 different lead changes within the last 1:01 of the matchup! Bryce Yarling fittingly won MVP after leading Waldron with 22 points including a game-winner with 1.9 seconds left! Other standout athletes included Alex Crouse, Josiah Blair, Jace Stuckey, and Isaac Morgan of Triton Central and Lucas Mitchell, Caden Sheaffer, and Bryant Becker of Waldron.

Waldron led early, going up 7-2 after the fast-break layup from Bryce Yarling!

Triton Central kept themselves in the game and went into halftime down 22-30 following a quick fast-break score for Alex Crouse. 

Caleb Miller hit the three for Triton Central to make it a 2-point game late in the 3rd quarter!

Caleb Miller knocked down the free throw to give Triton Central their first lead of the night with 1:01 left!

Bryce Yarling hit both free throws on a 1 and 1 giving Waldron the lead with 0:32 left to go!

An acrobatic layup by Isaac Morgan gives Triton Central a one-point lead with just 0:14 left!

Bryce Yarling drove into the hoop making the free throw and sealing the contest with just one second left in the game!

Waldron dethroned Triton Central in a revenge game from the 2020 Shelby County Championship! The Victory Bell goes to the Mohawks!