MANCHESTER, Tenn. – Despite coming in on a three-game losing streak in the district, the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (17-11, 5-3) managed to dig deep and find a way to eke out a win at Coffee County (14-12, 4-4), 45-43, on Friday night.

With the No. 1 seed in District 6-4A on the line, the Golden Eagles laid an egg early on, getting out of the blocks extremely slow and eventually ending the opening period trailing by 13 points, 18-5. MJ Rollman and Luke Campbell combined for 15 of the 18 points, and the Red Raiders hit on a total of four triples in the first. 

Fortunately for the visiting crowd, Shelbyville settled down in the second stanza, outscoring Coffee County, 14-4, behind eight points from All-District performer, Jevon Lee. Tommie Cannon added four points in the period while the Golden Eagles held Rollman to just two points while shutting out Campbell, allowing the Golden Eagles to head to the halftime locker room down by just three points, 22-19.

Coming out for the second half, Jasiah Berry was unstoppable. The Golden Eagles center scored eight of his 10 points in the third quarter alone, leading Shelbyville to outscore the Red Raiders by three, 17-14, and draw level at 36 heading into the final frame. Cannon also connected on Shelbyville’s second and final three-pointer of the night in the period.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles found a way to win, holding Coffee County to just seven points in the frame. After the strong start from outside, the Red Raiders managed to knock down just three more treys in the final three quarters thanks to a feisty Shelbyville defense. The visitors also finally corrected their season-long struggles at the free throw line, finishing 9-of-10 at the stripe on the night after Cannon split a pair in the fourth. The Golden Eagles point guard finished with five of his 12 points coming in the final frame to lock in the top seed for the district tournament.

Shelbyville’s Jevon Lee tied for the game-high with 14 points, Tommie Cannon came up with eight of his 12 points in the second half, and Jasiah Berry scored eight of his 10 points in the third quarter alone to complete the comeback win.

Meanwhile, for Coffee County, Rollman finished with 14 points while Campbell scored eight of his 12 points in the first quarter.

Shelbyville Central improves to 17-11 overall. With the win, the Golden Eagles are the No. 1 seed for the upcoming District 6-4A Tournament following Lincoln County’s 63-52 loss at Cookeville. Dates and times will be announced at a later date.

SHELBYVILLE: J. Lee 14, T. Cannon 12 (1), J. Berry 10, M. Johnson 5 (1), J. Conditt 2, T. Shelton 2.

COFFEE CO.: M. Rollman 14 (2), L. Campbell 12 (3), K. Lowery 8 (1), J. Morgan 7 (1), B. Sizemore 2.