The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles struggled to score early on Friday night, falling to the visiting Warren County Pioneers, 71-46. 

Alex Van Vauren finished with a game-high 28 points for Warren County, and Shelbyville Central had no answers offensively until later in the second half. Terrance Johnson and Tae’ Shawn Shelton combined for 33 points to lead the Eagles, with 19 and 14 points respectively. 

For the entirety of the first quarter, it was the Warren County defense that caused the most problems for the Eagles as they took an 18-3 advantage after the first eight minutes of play. The Pioneer’s active zone defense didn’t allow a single clean look, forcing rushed shots and turnovers which led to some easy points in transition.

In the second quarter, Shelbyville’s defense forced a handful of missed shots, holding Warren County to 14 points in the quarter, but they could only put up ten in response, going into the locker room trailing 32-13.

In the second half, Van Vauren took over to ensure that there would be no comeback for the home side. He nailed three triples in an 11-point third quarter as Warren County extended their lead to 52-26 heading into the final frame.

Shelton and Johnson started to get going in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late as the Eagles fell to 0-3 in district play.

Warren County improves to 9-9 (3-0) and they are scheduled to travel to Coffee County on Tuesday to continue district play, weather permitting.

Shelbyville Central falls to 4-14 (0-2) as they head to Lincoln County on Tuesday night, weather permitting, LIVE on WLIJ 98.7 and AM 1580 starting at 5:45 p.m.