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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County Wildcats are rolling at the right time after taking down a local rival and finishing out area play in victorious fashion.

Shelby County defeated the Sylacauga Aggies 47-43 at Shelby County High School in its final area game of the regular season.

Fresh off a 63-17 win over Montevallo, the Wildcats took early control of the game thanks to big offensive contributions from Morgan Arnold and Kenna’d Buie. Both Shelby County players finished the first quarter with seven points apiece to fuel the early offense.

The Wildcats surrendered just six points on the other end of the court, including just one field goal, to take a 14-6 lead into the second quarter.

However, Sylacauga brushed off the slow offensive start and surged back in the second quarter. The Aggies scored 17 points in the second to force Shelby County to respond to the swing in momentum.

Arnold and Buie continued to lead the offense and kept Sylacauga from getting a foothold in the game. As a result, the teams went to the locker room tied at 23-23.

With the momentum hanging in the balance, Buie took over once again, scoring seven points from the field to continue her dominant scoring night. Griffin also hit a crucial 3-pointer while Arnold went 3-for-4 from the free throw line.

Crucially though, the Wildcats held the Aggies to seven points in the third quarter and went up 36-32 going into the fourth and final quarter.

Sylacauga hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to outpace Buie and the Shelby County offense. Buie scored eight of her team’s 11 points in the fourth quarter to see out the four-point victory to finish out area play.

Buie led all scorers with a game-high 26 points, and Arnold joined her in double figures with 15 points.

The Wildcats improved to 14-6 overall and 2-4 in area play. They will face the Central Volunteers of Clay County in the area tournament semifinals on Monday, Feb. 3 at 4:30 p.m. at Briarwood Christian School with a spot in sub-regionals on the line.