MURFREESBORO -- Shelbyville Central's bid for another TSSAA Class AAA state championship slipped away in the fourth quarter as Wilson Central claimed the title with a come-from-behind 44-38 win over the Golden Eaglettes on Saturday night in MTSU's Murphy Center.

Wilson Central's Tierney Jenkins fights for a rebound with Janay Armstrong. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

The Eaglettes (29-7), owners of 12 state titles, overcame as much adversity as any team should ever face in a season and the fact that they were in a position to win another state crown show the heart this team possessed.

"I'm very, very proud of these girls," Shelbyville coach Lynn Burkey said. "For what they've been through the last year, with Coach (Rick Insell) leaving and me coming in and all the injuries we've had. We've just had a lot of adversity. Through that adversity, we've gotten stronger and better.

"I think the fact that we finished so strong and did so well at tournament time is because we sat that from day one as our goal and second, because no matter what was thrown and what struggles we had to go through we made something positive of it and we kept on persevering. That's the story of this team and why we were so successful down the stretch."

The Eaglettes closed out the season winning 15 of their last 16 games.

Wilson Central (32-7) won three of the four meetings between the two teams this year.

The Lady Wildcats scored the opening basket of the game then Shelbyville went on a 10-1 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Sha'Para Johnson and Janay Armstrong.

Kayla Bryant connected on a trey in the closing seconds of the first period to give Shelbyville a 13-7 advantage.

Defenses dominated early in the second stanza but Wilson Central scored nine unanswered points midway through the quarter to go up 19-17.

Armstrong closed out the half with a pair of baskets to give the Eaglettes a 21-19 lead.

"You've always got a case of nerves when you get in that championship game but once we settled down we were a little more patient offensively," Burkey said. "We finally got it to where we wanted to go but it took a while for us to get there."

Shelbyville continued to lead throughout the third quarter until Wilson Central sophomore guard Cameryn Calhoun nailed an approximate 30-footer at the buzzer. The shot gave the Lady Wildcats their first lead at 30-28 since their opening basket.

That was a lead they would never relinquish over the final eight minutes.

"Sure, that was a huge basket at the end of the third quarter," Burkey said. "But it wasn't the difference in the game."

Wilson Central outscored the Eaglettes 14-10 in the fourth quarter, cashing in on 7-of-10 free throws, including six straight over the final 44 seconds of the game.

Tournament MVP Tierney Jenkins led the winners with 15 points and a dozen rebounds while Calhoun added 11.

Armstrong paced Shelbyville with a game-high 17 while Johnson added nine.

On the stat sheet, the game was virtually even.

Wilson Central shot 38.8 percent from the field compared to Shelbyville's 37.1 percent.

The Eaglettes connected on 4-of-13 shots from behind the arc, while the Lady Wildcats made 4-of-15.

Rebounds were close as well as Wilson Central held a 26-24 advantage.

Both teams collected six steals apiece while Shelbyville only committed a dozen turnovers compared to Wilson Central's 11.

"Even in the face of a difficult loss, I'm very excited about the future of Eaglette basketball," Burkey said. "We've got some wonderful and talented young ladies returning next year and now we've got the offseason to work, get better and get closer together.

"We've got an excellent, talented and athletic group of freshman coming in from both Harris Middle School and Liberty School. We're getting some quality players from both places, and I think the future of Eaglette basketball is bright.

"I can tell you what our goal for next year and the year after and the year after will be. To win a state championship."