SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (16-8, 4-0) saw 11 players register at least one point in a dominant team win over Warren County (14-6, 2-2), 60-39, on Friday night.

Maleek Johnson and Jack Conditt led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 11 points apiece off the bench. Jevon Lee also reached double-figures, finishing with 10 points that all came in the second half. 

Jack Conditt (10) attempts to slam down two of his 11 points in the fourth quarter of Friday's win over Warren County while teammate Jordan Taylor (1) jumps in unison.

T-G Staff Photo - Noah Maddox

Meanwhile, Shelbyville’s defense shut down Warren County for the most part, allowing just one Pioneer to score in double-figures. Devin Fish finished with 10 points, but seven of those came in the first quarter alone. As a team, Warren County finished with 12 turnovers compared to just six for the hosts, and Shelbyville also held the visitors to just one made three-pointer all night compared to five connections for the Golden Eagles.

Shelbyville struggled to get going in the opening stages, quickly falling down by seven points, 8-1, in the first couple minutes. Pair that with early foul trouble, and Shane Young was forced to make a full-on hockey line change, subbing in a new five to try and find a spark. 

“That kind of early start can definitely mess up your mind and your mojo, but I thought these guys did a really good job fighting back,” Golden Eagles Head Coach Shane Young said postgame, “Getting the early technical and being down 8 to 1 before fighting back, I thought we responded really well to find a formula that worked tonight.”

The hosts figured out that formula quickly, closing the opening period on a 10-3 run to tie the game at 11 heading into the second quarter. In that second stanza, Shelbyville outscored the Pioneers, 14-8, to take a 25-19 lead heading into the halftime locker room.

“We got the first tech, starting out kind of slow, and we had six guys with two fouls in the first half,” said Young, “Shoutout to our bench, because they were ready for this. That’s the reason why we have played as many of our guys as we have so far this season to get to this point. We can put in guys that we trust. When we made the hockey line change, that group actually changed the pace of the game where we were able to go into a little press-zone look. They were able to get downhill and play the way we want to play, then we were able to re-incorporate some of our starters back into the flow. Josiah [Berry], Jack [Conditt], Mook [Maleek Johnson], and Braylon [Johnson] gave some valuable minutes. Everybody has had a moment, and most of the guys that we put in have experience and we have trust in them to make big plays.”

Coming out for the second half, Shelbyville outscored Warren County, 20-11, to take a 45-30 heading into the final frame. In that third quarter, Jordan Taylor nailed a pair of triples, Conditt and Tae’Shawn Shelton each connected on a couple of two-point field goals, and Lee tacked on six points around the basket.

From there, the rout was on as the Golden Eagles held Warren County to just five points in the fourth quarter while Young emptied his bench with a few minutes remaining. Ultimately, the Golden Eagles outscored the Pioneers, 15-5, in the fourth en route to the 21-point victory. 

Friday’s win moves Shelbyville into sole possession of first place through the first half of the district slate, but Young is ensuring that his team is focused on the rematches with all four district foes. Of the four remaining games on the schedule, three of them are away from home with the lone home game being against Cookeville.

“At the end of the day, everybody still has to play everybody again, and our district is really good as a whole,” Young said, “We’re in a good spot right now, but we can’t stop here. We have to keep moving forward.”

The Golden Eagles improve to 16-8 overall. Shelbyville is tentatively scheduled to travel to Coffee County on Tuesday, weather permitting. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

SHELBYVILLE: Conditt 11 (1), M. Johnson 11 (1), Lee 10, Taylor 7 (2), Berry 6 (1), Shelton 6, Cannon 3, B. Johnson 2, Sparrow 2, Bean 1, Minter 1.

WARREN COUNTY: Fish 10, Adams 8, Felton 6 (1), Reno 4, Whitlock 4, Baker 3, Perez 2, Robledo 2.