Eaglettes stumble through first district win

Shelbyville's Keely Sale applies some full-court pressure defense on Franklin County's Ashley Carson. (T-G Photo by Gary Johnson) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

WINCHESTER -- Any time you can get a win and not really play that well, it's a positive. When it's a district win on the road, that makes it even better.

Such was the case Friday night as Shelbyville Central claimed a 46-40 win over Franklin County in its District 8-AAA opener.

Eaglette senior Janie Graves finds an opening in the lane as she drives past Franklin County defender Brittney Trussell for two of her game-high 17 points. (T-G Photo by Gary Johnson) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"We just didn't play very well tonight and I don't have any explanation because I thought we had good practices leading into this game and I know the kids really wanted to win," Eaglette coach Lynn Burkey said. "Our kids just found a way to win. This was an ugly game. We had breakdowns and made a number of mistakes, but we really played hard. We may not have played very smart but at least we played hard."

Shelbyville (6-2, 1-0 8-AAA) posted a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter off a 3-point shot by Katlin Buchanan, then held a 21-20 advantage at intermission.

The Eaglettes took control in the third quarter and went up 36-25 at the 4:38 mark but the Rebelettes (3-3, 0-2) battled back to cut their deficit to 37-33 going into the fourth quarter.

Janie Graves scored four points for Shelbyville at the start of the fourth, but Paige Lowe followed with seven for Franklin County to cut the lead to 41-40 with 3:14 remaining. The Eaglettes held the Rebelettes scoreless from that point and made 5-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win.

"We've got a lot of work to do but it's still early and I'm very proud of how this team battled tonight," Burkey said.

Graves scored a game-high 17 points, while Kelsie Smith joined in double figures with 10 to lead Shelbyville offensively.

Devon Gunn netted 10 for Franklin County.

The Eaglettes had a huge advantage on the boards, outrebounding their opponent 33-16, including 16 off the offensive glass.

Both teams struggled from the field as Shelbyville shot 36.8 percent, while the Rebelettes shot 35 percent.

The Eaglettes play at Blackman on Tuesday night at 6:00.