Columbia, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes (13-9, 5-4) needed a fourth-quarter comeback to complete the season sweep over Spring Hill (6-18, 1-8) and clinch the 3-seed in the upcoming District 9-AAAA Tournament. 

On a night when leading scorer Lanaya Young was held to just four points by the Raiderettes after she put in a game-high 16 in the first matchup on January 24, Yasmine McFarland and Janiya Leslie picked up their teammate, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Eaglettes also relied heavily on their defense, forcing 26 Spring Hill turnovers. Morgan Pridemore chipped in with eight points of her own

Alayzia Harrison and Emma Sharp led Spring Hill with 12 and 11 points respectively. After falling to Shelbyville three weeks ago by 23 points, the Raiderettes came out inspired, controlling the tempo for the first three quarters of play.

Shelbyville had plenty of chances to blow things open offensively, but the Eaglettes shot just 12-26 at the free-throw line for the game as a team. 

To start off, Spring Hill’s Harrison and Sharp combined for 10 of the Raiderettes 13 first-quarter points. Leslie scored five of Shelbyville’s nine points in the opening period as Spring Hill took a 13-9 lead.

In the second quarter, the Eaglettes’ McFarland scored seven of her 11 total points to match Harrison’s seven points, mirroring the two teams as a whole. Both scored 13 points in the period, and Spring Hill took a 23-19 lead into the halftime locker room. Shelbyville went just 3-8 from the charity stripe in the second quarter.

Coming out of halftime, Shelbyville picked up the defensive intensity, holding Spring Hill to just five points in the third quarter. However, the Eaglettes could only muster up seven points themselves, shooting 5-9 from the FT line as a Leslie layup was the only made field goal in the period for the visitors. Sharp connected on a three-pointer to keep Shelbyville at bay, 31-29, going into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, Pridemore led six different Eaglettes in scoring with four points. The other five Eaglettes scored two points apiece, including McFarland and Gray going a perfect 2-2 from the charity stripe. McFarland finished 5-6 overall at the line. For Spring Hill, Sharp connected on her third triple of the night, but the Raiderettes were only able to muster up four more points in the period to allow Shelbyville to escape Columbia with a 43-38 win.

Spring Hill falls to 6-18 (1-8). 

Shelbyville locks up the 3-seed for the District 9-AAAA Tournament, but first returns home for Senior Night against Columbia Central on Thursday to wrap up the regular season, LIVE on WLIJ 98.7 and AM 1580 starting at 5:45 p.m.