CHILDERSBURG – The Lady Aggies of Sylacauga are returning to the County Tournament Championship Game after an absence of three years.

Sylacauga defeated Fayetteville, 57-47 in the semifinals of the tournament on Thursday. The Lady Wolves of Fayetteville, seeded second in the tournament, proved to be a tough challenge for the Lady Aggies.

“We had an opportunity to come over here and watch them (on Monday) and we knew we would have a challenge,” Sylacauga coach Derrick Crawford said of Fayetteville. “We knew we were going to have to work.”

Fayetteville knocked down a couple of three-pointers to help the Lady Wolves get the lead in the first quarter. The Lady Aggies responded with shots by Shakayla Thomas and Maliya Patton, but trailed 11-9 at the end of the opening period.

Thomas and Patton were the two players Fayetteville wanted to stop coming into the game.

“We were trying to find a way to deny number 20 (Shakayla Thomas) the ball as much as possible and keep them from swinging it to number 12 (Maliya Patton),” Fayetteville coach Mike Patterson said. “Their other players stepped up and played really well. We were just thinking if we could deny 20 – we knew we couldn’t shut her out. That was the key to the game, the rest of Sylacauga’s team stepped up.”

Sylacauga stepped up its defense in the second quarter and Fayetteville had problems getting shots to fall. The Lady Wolves scored just six points in the stanza, which allowed Sylacauga to take the lead, 23-17 at halftime.

The Lady Aggies pulled away by as many as 15 points in the third period, but Fayetteville fought back with strong play from point guard Shelby King. The senior had nine points in the quarter.

“We just had to step it up defensively,” Crawford said he told the girls at halftime. “We didn’t play with any energy. I really think our girls thought they could just come out here and play and Fayetteville wasn’t going to show up, but I warned them. I warned them in practice that it was going to be a battle and it was a battle. We’re going to live and die by defense. We’re not a great shooting team, but if we rebound well and we play great defense we have a chance every night.”

Despite Sylacauga leading by double-digits in the third, the Lady Wolves cut that advantage to nine by the end of the period.

King put in another strong performance in the fourth period as the Lady Wolves tried to claw their way back into contention. Fayetteville cut the Lady Aggies’ advantage to seven before Sylacauga started hitting free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

King led Fayetteville in scoring with 22 points. Anna Watkins had seven while Jenni Mizzell and Olivia Brasher both added six for the Lady Wolves.

“Shelby has been playing since the eight grade, so she’s learned at the varsity level,” Patterson said of his leading scorer. “She’s been thrown into the fire many times. She’s a good, steady ball player. She’s smart; she’s intelligent. She has a heart as big as anything. She loves to win and it kills her to lose.”

King’s play impressed Sylacauga’s coach as well.

“(Shelby) King is an exceptional player,” Crawford said. “She could play for anybody in the county. The rest of the girls did a great job of playing their role. I tip my hat off to them because they played a great ballgame.”

Sylacauga’s Thomas led all scorers with 29 points. Danyell Garrett added seven while Montoria Stone chipped in six for the Lady Aggies.

Sylacauga will face defending champs and top-seeded Talladega Lady Tigers, who defeated Childersburg on Thursday, on Saturday. The two teams also met up the last time Sylacauga was in the finals with the Lady Aggies winning that game.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the finals,” Crawford said. “We played Jannie (Keith, Talladega’s head coach) that year and we won the county tournament. Whoever we play, we’ve got a great challenge ahead of us.”

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from Childersburg on Saturday.