Adams scores 17 to lead Lady Pioneers to victory
After a close first half, Warren County Middle School’s Alex Adams took command in the third quarter Monday, and lifted her team to a 37-25 win over Dibrell in fifth- and sixth-grade basketball action.
Adams finished with 17 points on the night, with 13 of those coming in the second half and nine in the third quarter alone.
Monday’s contest was close for much of the first two periods, as both teams swapped baskets early. After giving up four points to open the game, Dibrell came back to tie the score at 4-4 before Adams scored late to end the period with the Lady Pioneers on top by a bucket.
Momentum stayed in the Lady Pioneers’ favor early in the second, with back-to-back baskets putting WCMS up 10-4 for its largest margin of the half. But WCMS went without a field goal for the final four minutes of the quarter, and Dibrell came back to cut the lead to 10-8 before going into intermission trailing just 13-9.
The Lady Pioneers came out of their halftime break with a plan, however, and began feeding the ball inside to Adams, who scored three straight buckets in the opening minutes of the third to increase Warren County’s lead. Along with baskets from Tiffany Long and Tessla Key, as well as a free throw by Jessica Mullican, the Lady Pioneers continued to widen the gap, and held Dibrell to just two points to take a 27-11 lead into the game’s final stanza.
Dibrell’s Virginia Prater tried to lead the Lady Wildcats almost single-handedly in the fourth, scoring 12 points in the period including eight in the final two minutes. But the inside presence of Adams and Long kept Prater and the Lady ‘Cats at bay long enough to hold on for the 12-point win.
Prater finished with 18 to lead all scorers, while Chelsea Bunn had five and Ashley Welcome added two to Dibrell’s effort.
In addition to Adams’ 17, the Lady Pioneers got six points from Long, five from Mullican, four from Macy Broom, three from Key, and two from Rachel Walker.