By RICKEY CLARDY - Sports Writer
SHELBYVILLE – Coach Kyle Turnham and the Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes might have wondered if there was a lid on the basket after the Eaglettes could only manage seven points in the first half of their game against the Community Viqueens Saturday night.
It turned out to be a completely different second half as the Eaglettes scorched the nets for 33 points, including 19 points from Jaleigha Harris as Shelbyville used a 14-0 run to start the third quarter and defeat the Viqueens 40-32.
“Oddly enough, that’s been us a lot this year,” Turnham said. “For whatever reason, we come out of the gates slow offensively. We typically get into some foul trouble and have to go to some makeshift lineups.”
It was a low-scoring first quarter as both teams struggled to find the basket. M. J. Simmons scored four points as Community (6-3) finished with the final five points and took a 7-2 lead to the second quarter.
A Haley Mitchell three-pointer gave the Viqueens their biggest lead at 10-2 before a trey by Paige Blackburn stopped an 8-minute scoring drought and brought Shelbyville (7-2) to within “We did a great job defensively,” Coach Cody Pierce of the Viqueens said. “We missed a bunch of easy shots that would have helped if we would have hit them.”
“We as a team like to press,” Turnham said. “That’s who we are. When you can’t score, you can’t press.”
The Eaglettes came out strong to start the second half with the help of seven points from Harris and six points from Lanaya Young. A free throw by Harris gave the Eaglettes their first lead at 16-15 with 5:14 left before Shelbyville completed their run with a basket by Young to go up 21-15. The Viqueens broke the ice on a basket by Mitchell with 3:47 remaining and used four points from Simmons to cut the Eaglette advantage to 24-23 heading to the final quarter.
Simmons scored 14 seconds into the quarter to give Community its last lead at 25-24. The Eaglettes led 28-27 with 5:14 to play before Harris took over.
Harris scored the final 12 Eaglette points as Shelbyville increased its lead. Harris used two treys and a 6-of-7 performance at the free throw line to propel the Eaglettes to their biggest lead at 38-29 with 1:21 remaining.
A three-point play by Zoey Dixon moved the Viqueens within six, but it was close as Community would get as Shelbyville pulled away for the win.
Harris led the Eaglettes with her 19 points.
Simmons led Community with 17 points.
The Eaglettes, who played their fourth game in five days, were 13-of-21 at the foul line while the Viqueens were 3-of-7.
“Turnovers are what got us,” Pierce said. “Too many of them led to easy baskets for them and that’s what cost us the game.”
“I didn’t feel like we were very aggressive offensively in the first half and we weren’t moving the basketball,” Turnham said. “We weren’t getting the ball inside. I thought one of the big keys for us was when we got Jaleigha Harris in the middle of the zone. I thought she changed the complexion of the game.”
Shelbyville travels to Cascade Tuesday night while Community is also on the road Tuesday at Richland. Both games begin at 6 p.m.
Shelbyville 7 8 8 9 - 32
Community 2 5 17 16 - 40
Community: M. J. Simmons 17, Zoey Dixon 8, Haley Mitchell 5, Breanna Whitaker, Addison Brothers, Shelby Cawthon 2, Izzy Martinez.
Shelbyville: Jaleigha Harris 19, Paige Blackburn 7, Lanaya Young 6, Sammie Brown 4, Lilly Brown 2, Jaz Western 2, Taylar Wessner, Lilly Gray, Kyra Elsbree, Zoe Reed.
3-Point goals: Community (1): Mitchell; Shelbyville (3): Harris 2, Blackburn.
Halftime score: Community 15, Shelbyville 7.
