SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – In the first ‘Battle of Highway 41-A’ on the hardwood this season, the Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes (2-5) came up short against Tullahoma (3-2), 52-40, at home on Tuesday night.

Dara Frazier put on a show for Shelbyville Central, tying for the game-high in scoring with 19 points to lead the way for the Eaglettes. 

“Dara [Frazier] is a great asset to our team, and despite being just a freshman, she doesn’t look like a freshman out there,” Eaglettes’ Head Coach Keshia Jarrett said postgame, “She gives us what we need on both ends of the floor, she’s a great leader, and she knows how to set everyone else up while also knowing that when we need a bucket, she can go and get hers as well.”

For Tullahoma, McLayne Bobo matched Frazier with 19 points of her own, with 15 of them coming in the second half. Lizzy Sharpton was the only other player from either team to reach double-figures with 11 points.

The biggest difference in the game was free throw shooting, most notably Tullahoma’s ability to get to the charity stripe at a high rate. This also helped put Shelbyville in foul trouble, as Yasmine McFarland, Kenley Patton, and Jayda Frazier all fouled out while Jada Berry and Dara Frazier both finished with four fouls. In total, the Lady Wildcats shot 30 free throws, but they allowed Shelbyville to hang around by making just 14 of them. Similarly, the Eaglettes finished a measly 9/18 from the charity stripe on the night.

Early on, the Eaglettes jumped out to an early 14-13 lead at the end of the opening period of play. Dara Frazier led the hosts with eight seven points while Janiya Leslie chipped in with four points and Jada Berry converted an old-fashioned three-point-play. Meanwhile, Sharpton scored seven of her 11 points in the first quarter to keep Tullahoma attached.

Tullahoma turned up the defensive intensity in the second quarter, holding the Eaglettes to just one made field goal as the visitors took a marginal 22-16 lead heading into the halftime locker room.

In the third quarter, Bobo took over for Tullahoma, scoring seven of the Lady Wildcats’ 12 total points in the period to extend the visitors’ lead to 34-25 heading into the final frame.

Tullahoma ended up outscoring Shelbyville, 18-15, in the fourth quarter to reach the final margin of 52-40.

“I felt like they never gave up,” Jarrett said, ”We definitely came out with an intense start, but I feel like we started the second quarter a little flat. That seemed to carry over into the third quarter a little bit, but then in the fourth quarter I just feel like time ran out on us and it was just a little bit too late.”

Shelbyville falls to 2-5 but is scheduled to host Centennial on Friday night at 6:00 p.m.