Fayetteville, Tenn. – If not for fellow District 9-AAAA foe, Coffee County, the Lincoln County Lady Falcons (20-4, 7-1) would be widely-regarded as one of the most dangerous contenders to make the State Tournament this season. On Friday night, the Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes (12-9, 4-4) allowed the Lady Falcons to soar for 42 points combined across the second and third quarters in a 24-point road loss, 66-42.

Shelbyville now sits just a half-game ahead of fourth-place Warren County. Both teams have four district wins, but the Lady Pioneers have played an extra game, and sit at 4-5.

Abby Bryan led all scorers with a game-high 25 points for Lincoln County, including 20 in the first half. Molly Brown finished with 16 points of her own while Alyssa Petty chipped in with 10 of her 13 points coming in the second half. 

For Shelbyville, Lanaya Young was the team’s leading scorer, finishing with 23 points, and was really the only source of offense the Eaglettes had for the majority of the night. She was the only Eaglette to score more than five points total. Young scored 19 in the second half.

To start, Lincoln County got to the free throw line early and often, shooting 6/9 at the charity stripe in the opening period. Bryan led all scorers with seven points, matching Shelbyville’s team total as the Lady Falcons led by ten, 17-7, at the end of the first quarter.

In the second period, Bryan took over, scoring 13 points and even connecting on a three-pointer. Young scored both of her first half field goals in the second, but the Eaglettes only managed to score 10 points in the quarter and went into the halftime locker room trailing by 18 points, 35-17.

Coming out of the half, Young began to take over for Shelbyville. She started by finding the range from downtown, then connected on four two-point field goals along with a pair of free throws to finish with 13 of the Eaglettes’ 15 total points in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Lincoln County’s Petty scored a team-high nine points in the frame as Lincoln County scored 21 points in the period to take a 56-32 lead into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, Young scored six more points as both teams scored just 10 points total with the game already out of reach. The Lady Falcons locked up at least the second seed for the upcoming District 9-4A Tournament with the 24-point win, 66-42, and will play Coffee County this week to determine the top-two seeding. 

Shelbyville falls to 12-9 (4-4) and will travel to Spring Hill on Monday, starting at 5:45 p.m.