CLEVELAND, Tenn. – After going into halftime with a slim 38-32 lead, the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (1-0) came out of the locker room on a mission, outscoring the hometown Cleveland Blue Raiders (0-1) by 20 points in the second half, taking home the season-opening victory in dominant fashion, 78-52.

Shelbyville’s Tae’Shawn Shelton scored a team-high 20 points, Jevon Lee continued right where he ended his freshman year with 15 points, and Malek Johnson chipped in with 14 points of his own in the blowout win.

Cleveland was led by Brayden Beavers who put in a game-high 22 points on the night on five threes, but he was the only Blue Raider to reach double-figures. 

Early on, Beavers and Ben DeLoach connected on a pair or triples each, both tallying eight points in the first quarter to give Cleveland an early 18-16 lead. However, in the second quarter, the Golden Eagles’ offense came to life with six different players scoring en route to a 22-point quarter. Shelton led the way with seven points to put Shelbyville in front for good. 

In the third quarter, the Shelbyville defense continued to stay locked in, holding Cleveland to just nine points in the period to take a commanding 60-41 lead going into the final frame. From there, the Golden Eagles could coast to an impressive season-opening victory on the road, 78-52.

Cleveland travels to take on Chattanooga Central on Friday night.

Shelbyville travels to Murfreesboro to take on Siegel on Thursday night, LIVE on WLIJ 98.7 and AM 1580 starting at 5:45 p.m.