The Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes knew they had a tough challenge ahead and Warren County lived up to its billing. 
The Eaglettes battled till the end but came up on the short end in a 64-51 loss to state the state ranked Lady Pioneers in a District 6 4-A contest at the Rick Insell Gymnasium on Tuesday evening.
“Warren County is a really good basketball team. They’re ranked in the state for a reason,” Shelbyville Central coach Kyle Turnham said.
“They’re well-coached, play extremely hard, and are very skilled.”
After trailing 15-10 at the end of the opening frame and 39-24 at halftime, the Eaglettes regrouped and outscored their opponent 27-25 in the second half but the damage was done early.
“Warren County shot the ball well. It seemed like every time we would make a run in the second half, they had an answer,” Turnham said.
“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. We were 6-of-15 from the free throw line, missed a dozen layups and had too many turnovers to defeat a team that good. Despite all that, we fought the entire game and made a few runs in the second half to give ourselves a chance.”
Kyra Perkins led the winners with 15 points while Shelby Smart netted 14 followed by Mia Hobbs with 11.
Shelbyville Central sophomore Paige Blackburn pitched in a game-high 18 points, including an impressive 5-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc.
Lilly Brown contributed a dozen points with Lanaya Young adding 10.
Shelbyville Central (10-6, 0-1) plays at Franklin County in a district clash on  Friday evening at 6.
 
Warren County              15   24     9   16 — 64
Shelbyville Central        10   14   12   15 — 51

Warren County: Kyra Perkins 15, Brienne Kelsey 8, Jaden Smart 5, Sable Winfree 4, Mia Hobbs 11, Savannah Winfree 2, Rudy DeArmond 5, Shelby Smartt 14.
Shelbyville Central: Jaz Western 5, Paige Blackburn 18, Lilly Brown 12, Sammie Brown 6, Lanaya Young 10.
3-Point goals: Warren County (7): Smartt 4, Perkins, Hobbs, DeArmond; Shelbyville Central (7): Blackburn 5, S. Brown 2.
Halftime score: Warren County 39, Shelbyville Central 24.