McMINNVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes (9-6, 1-1) picked up their first District 9-AAAA win of the season on Friday night against the Warren County Lady Pioneers (5-13, 2-1) on the road, 50-43. 

Under first-year head coach, Keshia Jarrett, the Eaglettes faced off against former coach, Kyle Turnham, who left Shelbyville for Warren County after leading the Eaglettes to the Region 5-AAAA semifinals a season ago.

Lanaya Young led the way for Shelbyville Central with a game-high 24 points, including 17 in the second half, and was the only Eaglette to finish in double-figures. Jaz Western chipped in with nine points. The Eaglettes found a way to win despite struggling at the free-throw line again, finishing 10/24 at the charity stripe as a team.

For Warren County, Zoie Verge was the only Lady Pioneer to finish in double-figures with 10 points while Aubrey Oleksik and Trinity Reynolds scored nine points apiece. As a team, Warren County shot a mind-boggling 36 free throws, converting on 24 of them to maintain their narrow advantage over the Eaglettes for three quarters.

To start, Warren County was aggressively attacking the basket, setting the tone for the remainder of the game. Of their 11 first-quarter points, nine of them came at the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Shelbyville connected on four field goals to end the opening period trailing by just two points, 11-9.

In the second quarter, both teams’ defenses began to tighten the screws, allowing the Eaglettes to outscore Warren County, 7-6, to cut the lead to one point, 17-16, going into the halftime locker room.

Coming out of halftime, both teams’ offenses seemed to find their rhythm again. Young, after scoring seven points in the first half, began to relentlessly attack the basket, finishing with a pair of and-one layups as part of a nine-point period. Both teams scored 17 points in the period, so the Lady Pioneers took a 34-33 lead into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, Shelbyville’s defense completely took over, holding Warren County without a made field-goal for the full eight minutes. Young finished with eight points in the period, nearly matching the Lady Pioneers’ nine points – all coming from the FT line – as a team. Five different Eaglettes registered at least a single point in the fourth quarter, outscoring Warren County, 17-9, to take home the seven-point victory, 50-43.

Warren County falls to 5-13 (2-1).

Shelbyville Central improves to 9-6 (1-1) and they are scheduled to return home to continue district play on Tuesday against Lincoln County, LIVE on WLIJ 98.7 starting at 5:45 p.m.