The Macon varsity basketball teams traveled to Shelbina Tuesday for another chapter in the vicious rivalry that is Macon and South Shelby.
The No. 7 Tigerettes and No. 6 Lady Birds were meeting for the third time this season, with South winning round one, and Macon taking round two.
Things started slowly for both teams. Emily Rudkin buried a 3-pointer to begin the scoring, but South rattled off six straight to go up 6-3.
Audrey Thrasher ended the drought with a pair of foul-shots, but the Lady Birds would outscore the Tigerettes by three to take a 10-7 first quarter lead.
It was a back-and-forth battle in the second frame. South built as much as a 7-point lead, but the Tigerettes had answers.
With :08 left in the half, and the Lady Birds up 26-24, Jill Rowland buried a 3-pointer to give Macon a slim 27-26 halftime lead.
South opened the third period with a pair of foul-shots, but Rowland buried another three to give Macon a 30-28 lead.
Every time South got points, Macon would answer. But, with about :30 to go in the third, South rattled off four straight to go up 38-34 after three periods.
It was downhill from there. The Lady Birds continued their run, which ended at 10 with a Thrasher bucket. Rowland hit another shot to cut the lead to 44-38, but South dropped another six points to go back up 50-38.
Macon tried to come back, but South Shelby went 18-18 from the free-throw line to clinch a big 66-49 win.
“We played well for 3 quarters,” Tigerette coach Dan Halley said.
“We allowed their press to be effective and they hit their FT's down the stretch. We will have to improve our defense to win against teams of their caliber.”
Rachelle Butner led the Tigerettes with 12 points. Emily Rudkin, Jill Rowland and Audrey Thrasher followed with 10 points each.
Chelsea Hayden cashed in 4 points. Kari Truitt tallied 2 points, and Shelby Arnold added 1 point.
The Tigerettes drop to 14-4 overall and are 0-1 in the CCC.
 Things started just as slow for the Tiger and Cardinal men. South scored the first two points, but Jesse Halley and Tucker Oliver answered to give Macon the 4-2 lead.
Cody Tate scored the next five Macon points, before Austin Clapp hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 12-8 after a period.
The Cardinals cut the Macon lead to 14-12 with 6:06 to go in the half. Josh Bailey and Austin Clapp rattled off the next seven Tiger points to put Macon up 21-12.
Zach Smith knocked down a couple of shots, and Cody Tate hit his foul-shots to put the Tigers ahead 32-21 at halftime.
Even though the Tigers held a double-digit lead in the third period, the Cardinals would not go away. Macon built a lead of 48-31, but South knocked down back-to-back three’s to cut the lead to 48-37.
The Tigers would still take a 55-40 lead into the final frame.
Tigers coach Doug Hawkins sat his starters down at the start of the fourth quarter. Andrew Helton scored the first points of the period; Keegan Kindle and Jakeb Linear also scored two.
With just under 5:00 to go in the game, the Tigers held a commanding 65-49 advantage, but they wanted more.
Tate scored the next six Tiger points in three different ways: free-throw, 2-pointer and 3-pointer. Macon went up 71-49 with 4:26 to go.
Just over three minutes later, the Tigers had built a lead of 77-57, but they still wanted more. Jacob Klingsmith buried back-to back 3-pointers, and Dade Douglas hit one as well. Macon rattled off nine points in under :30, capping a 54-point second half, making the final score 86-57.
Cody Tate led the Tiger attack with 22 points. Jesse Halley had an outstanding night, scoring a career-high 14 points.
Josh Bailey, wrist and all, chalked up 13 points. Austin Clapp dropped in 10 points.
Zach Smith and Jacob Klingsmith each scored 6 points. Robert Freeman had a quiet night, scoring only 4 points.
Dade Douglas tallied 3 points. Jakeb Linear, Tucker Oliver, Keegan Kindle and Andrew Helton each added 2 points.
The Tiger men improve to 14-2 overall and are now 1-0 in the CCC.
The Tigerettes will look to right the ship, while the Tigers look for their next victim. Macon will play a doubleheader Friday night way down in Louisiana.