Fayetteville, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (10-13, 5-3) held an eight-point halftime lead over the hometown Lincoln County Falcons (9-12, 5-3), but in the end it wasn’t enough in a five-point loss, 62-57.

After Shelbyville beat the Falcons by 18 points, 66-48, back on January 21, many expected the rematch to look similar and for the Golden Eagles to lock up the second seed in the upcoming District 9-AAAA Tournament. Early on, it certainly seemed like Shelbyville was on track for just that, taking a 30-22 lead into halftime. Jordan Taylor tied for the game-high with 17 points, including 10 coming in the opening period. Tae’Shawn Shelton connected on a pair of three-pointers, finishing with 14 points, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Jack Conditt also hit on two threes, and he chipped in with 12 points.

The Falcons started slowly, scoring just 10 points in the opening period, but once Reese Smith got going, so did Lincoln County. Smith finished with 17 points, all coming after the first quarter and with 12 coming in the second half. Maddox Franklin and Elijah Parks each scored 14 points for the Falcons while Carson Thompson chipped in with 10 points on the night.

To start, Shelbyville took a 19-10 lead after the opening eight minutes. Taylor’s 10 first-quarter points led the way while the Golden Eagles came out locked in defensively as well.

The visitors' strong play continued into the second quarter, and despite Taylor not scoring a single point in the period, Shelbyville was still able to scrounge up 11 points, to match the Falcons’ 12. Conditt connected for five while Shelton scored a pair of two-pointers to give the Golden Eagles an eight-point halftime lead, 30-22. 

However, something flipped coming out of the halftime locker room, and all of a sudden Lincoln County could not be stopped on the offensive end. Parks connected on his third and fourth three-pointers in the period while Smith scored eight and Thompson chipped in with six of his own. When the dust had settled, the Falcons took a 45-40 lead into the final frame after outscoring Shelbyville by 13 points, 23-10.

In the fourth quarter, Jevon Lee, who was held to just two points through the first three quarters, tried to spark the Golden Eagles with six points in the period, but a trio of triples from the Falcons managed to keep Shelbyville at an arm’s distance. In the end, Shelbyville’s late rally came up short with both teams scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter and the Falcons coming through with the minor upset home win, 62-57.

Lincoln County and Shelbyville are now tied at 5-3 in the District 9-AAAA standings, but since SCHS beat the Falcons by 18 points initially, they hold the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same district record after their final two games. The Falcons host Coffee County on Tuesday but then travel to district leaders, Warren County, on Friday. Meanwhile, Shelbyville travels to Spring Hill on Monday and then returns home for Senior Night on Thursday against Columbia.