SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (8-4) bounced back from a pair of touch overtime losses on the Eagles’ Nest on Thursday night with a businesslike victory over the visiting Summit Spartans (7-2).

Jevon Lee was a force all night long for the Golden Eagles, finishing with a game-high 22 points as Shelbyville pulled away to lead by as many as 21 points late in the third quarter. 

“When we’re clicking, we can be really, really good,” Golden Eagles’ Head Coach Shane Young said postgame. “I thought tonight was a good game for us because Summit tried to slow us down with that zone in the first half, but we were still able to play at a good pace and we put up 73 points. We’ve struggled with zone teams in the past, but I thought tonight we did a really good job making them have to come out of the zone in the second half and play man-to-man. That 3-2 zone is their staple, and tonight just gives you a glimpse of how special we can be.” 

After missing Monday’s contest against MBA, Tommie Cannon made his presence known against the Spartans, finishing with 19 points and a pair of three-pointers.

Tommie Cannon (2) lays in two of his 19 points on Thursday night.

T-G Staff Photo - Noah Maddox

Jordan Taylor added 15 points while Tay’Shawn Shelton chipped in with 12 points of his own. 

Jordan Taylor (1) fires away from downtown against Summit. The senior finished with 15 points in Thursday's win and connected on a pair of three-pointers.

T-G Staff Photo - Noah Maddox

After trailing by one point, 17-16, to end the opening period, the Golden Eagles found a rhythm playing against that 3-2 zone offensively as well as turning up the intensity on the defensive end of the court.

Senior Tae'Shawn Shelton (3) dunks home two of his 12 points in the win over Summit.

T-G Staff Photo - Noah Maddox

With the game tied at 21 in the early stages of the second quarter, Shelbyville went on a 14-3 run over the next three minutes or so, and eventually took a 37-28 lead heading into the halftime locker room.

“Specifically, I thought we moved the ball pretty well against the zone,” said Young, “We hit some shots in the places we wanted to get the ball against it. The transition stuff came when we started to turn them over, but we were able to do a good job of attacking and then either kicking out for an open three or hitting the high post to get an and-one. I thought they did a good job of being patient against it and finding the right shots.”

To start the second half, Shelbyville kept up the pressure as its lead ballooned to 53-32 with 2:30 left in the period after senior Jordan Taylor capped off a runout with a high-flying dunk.

“The mindset we have is our defense is going to create our opportunities; we score off of our defense, and we want to be an elite defensive team that creates havoc. For the most part, I’m really proud of how we’ve played defensively so far this season, including tonight when we were able to force runouts off of their turnovers.”

In total, Shelbyville forced 25 turnovers by the Spartans in an impressive display overall.

The Golden Eagles took a 57-40 lead heading into the final frame, but a momentary lapse in concentration on the defensive end led to a trio of Summit three-pointers that trimmed the lead down to nine points with more than six minutes left to go. Young took a timeout to refocus his team, and Shelbyville closed things out with relative ease to take home the 11-point victory.

Summit’s Ford DeShazo scored eight of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of three-pointers to open the period, but he was the only Spartan to reach double-figures as the Golden Eagles handed the visitors their second-consecutive defeat.

Shelbyville improves to 8-4 overall, and is scheduled to host Siegel on Monday night before traveling down Highway 41-A to rematch with Tullahoma on Tuesday. Both games are scheduled to tip-off at roughly 7:30 p.m.