Eaglettes reach end of line

All good things must come to an end.

Shelbyville Central's postseason run was halted with a 46-39 loss to Blackman in a Region 4-AAA tournament semifinal on Monday night.

Blackman (22-6) will face Riverdale for the region championship at SCHS on Wednesday night at 7. The Lady Warriors rolled past La Vergne 77-50 in the other semifinal.

Despite the loss it was a very successful season for the Golden Eaglettes (17-12), who played their best basketball in February.

"We're very disappointed and I'd go as far to say as we're heartbroken because we felt like we were going to win this game," Shelbyville coach Lynn Burkey said. "However, when I put this all into perspective, from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, this is one of the most improved teams I've ever coached.

"Every coach wants his basketball team to play their best basketball down the stretch at tournament time and that's what this team did. By the end of the season this team had learned to believe in themselves, this system and this program."

The Eaglettes trailed 13-9 at the end of the first quarter and 25-19 at the midway point, despite being down 25-14 at the 2:18 mark of the second period.

Shelbyville closed the first half with a 5-0 run and added a pair of unanswered baskets at the start of the third quarter to cut the lead to 25-23.

Senior point guard Callisha Johnson canned a pair of free throws to give the Eaglettes a 30-29 advantage with 3:22 left in the third. But guard Shelby Campbell, a Samford signee, converted a 3-point play to give the Lady Blaze a 32-20 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Johnson drilled a 3-pointer with 5:48 left to even the score at 36-all but Blackman outscored the Eaglettes 10-3 from that point.

"We just didn't shoot the ball well and they really hurt us on the boards also," Burkey said.

Shelbyville only shot 31.7 percent from the field and Blackman struggled as well at 32.7 percent.

The Lady Blaze held a 35-30 advantage on the boards, including 14 off the offensive glass.

Sophomore Kelsie Smith led the Eaglettes with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Kortnay Cox pitched in 20 points and hauled in nine rebounds to pace Blackman while Campbell added 13 tallies.

The loss was especially tough for Eaglette seniors Johnson, Janie Graves, Katlin Buchanan, Robbie Mahaffey and Jesse Calvert.

"This group of seniors have a lot of heart," Burkey said. "They battled, fought and did their best at leadership and I'm very proud of my five seniors. Each one in their own way has contributed to this basketball team and they will be extremely missed. Once an Eaglette, always an Eaglette and wherever they go or whatever they do in life they can take that Eaglette spirit with them. They will truly be missed here."