The Golden Eagles fell behind early then battled back but McMinn County proved to be too strong in the end as Shelbyville Central fell 73-57 in the Region 3-AAAA opening round action on Saturday night in the Rick Insell Gymnasium in a season-ending loss.
“Give a lot of credit to McMinn County, their guys stepped up and made a lot of shots tonight,” Shelbyville Central coach Kody Howard said.
“I’m super proud of my guys for accomplishing two things this season that hasn’t been accomplished in 11 years—playing for a district championship and hosting a region game. Not many would have thought that back in August. What these kids have done in our first year together is just amazing.”
McMinn County led 22-11 at the close of the first quarter, held a 41-27 advantage at halftime and posted a 52-45 lead after three periods.
Ty Runyan led the winners with 19 points while Caden Hester contributed 16 followed by Tucker Monroe with 13.
McMinn County connected on an impressive 20-of-23 free throw attempts with Runyan making 12-of-12.
Jayshon Jones paced the Eagles with 19 points with Devyn Heath adding 10.
“A lot of credit to our seniors, if they didn’t buy into what we were trying to do this could have been a real disaster,” Howard said.

McMinn County 22 19 11 21 — 73
Shelbyville Central 11 16 18 12 — 57

McMinn County: Hayden Smith 4, Darion Evans 4, Ty Runyan 19, Carson Black 6, Trent Peak 4, Caden Hester 16, Brady Mullins 1, Will Benton 6, Tucker Monroe 13.
Shelbyville Central: Tim Parsons 2, Jayshon Jones 19, Zay Reese 4, Devyn Heath 10, Zay Alexander 2, Jason Ragland 7, Joe Harris 6, Mari Draper 2, Kyler Trice 5.
3-Point goals: McMinn County (6): Hester 4, Runyan, Monroe; Shelbyville Central (3): Harris 2, Jones.
Halftime score: McMinn County 41, Shelbyville Central 27.