Eaglette upset bid fall short

MURFREESBORO -- Shelbyville Central entered with the vision of an upset at third-ranked Riverdale but the Golden Eaglettes were outscored 17-10 in the fourth quarter and lost 60-48 in the regular season finale for both teams Tuesday night.

"If we're climbing a mountain, we're just a short distance from the top," Shelbyville coach Lynn Burkey said. "This team has improved throughout the regular season, and I think they will make it to the top at tournament time when it's most important."

Callisha Johnson nailed the first of her four 3-pointers at the end of the first quarter to put the Eaglettes up 14-13.

Shelbyville (14-11) increased the lead to 21-14 after scoring eight unanswered points at the start of the second stanza but the Lady Warriors (22-2) closed out the half with an 11-2 run to hold a 25-23 advantage at intermission.

Kelsie Smith scored at the 3:02 mark of the third to give the Eaglettes a 38-36 lead before Riverdale responded with the next seven points to post a 43-38 advantage after three periods.

The Lady Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter scoring a number of points in transition.

"Things just didn't go well for us in the fourth quarter," Burkey said. "They scored some transition buckets and that's what opened the game up. I though we really played well on defense until the fourth quarter."

Riverdale's depth played a role in this game as its bench outscored Shelbyville's 24-0.

Shacobia Barbee had a double-double for the winners with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Tyisha Petty followed with 12 and Olivia Jones 10.

Johnson led the Eaglettes with 17 points with Janie Graves adding 10.

Shelbyville faces the Lincoln County/Tullahoma winner in the semifinals of the District 8-AAA tournament Saturday in Columbia.