Fourth-quarter collapse spells doom for WCHS

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard

LEBANON — After three quarters Tuesday night, the Pioneers and Lebanon hadn’t settled a thing.

But as the fourth quarter began, with the two District 7-AAA rivals knotted at 52-52, the homestanding Blue Devils took command, out-scoring the Pioneers 28-10 down the stretch on the way to a 80-62 victory.

With the loss, the Pioneers fell to 11-7 overall, and dropped to 0-4 in district play. Lebanon improved to 9-6 overall, and now stands 3-1 in the league standings.

Reese Bishop, who led the way for the Pioneers with 21 points, scored to open the fourth quarter and give WCHS a brief lead. Jon Boyce then answered with a 3-pointer for the Blue Devils, but Bishop scored again to put WCHS on top 56-55 with just over seven minutes to play.

That would prove to be the Pioneers’ only field goals of the game’s final stanza, however, while Lebanon posted 18 more points while holding Warren County to just four free throws through the remainder of the game.

Lebanon’s Jeff Dixon scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the pivotal fourth quarter, while Boyce turned in seven on his way to an 18-point night.

With the exception of the fourth quarter, Tuesday’s game was a back-and-forth, fast-paced battle from the opening tip as Lebanon carried a 15-14 lead out of the first quarter and Warren County bounced back to take a 34-31 advantage into intermission.

The Pioneers built a five-point lead (42-37) midway through the third quarter, but a 3-pointer from Dixon started a 10-4 Lebanon run that brought the Blue Devils back into the game. Randal Harrell hit four free throws in the final minute of the period to tie the contest at 52-52 entering the fourth.

Harrell finished with 14 points, while Kyle Thompson had 12 and Cody Hillis — making his return after missing two weeks with a sprained knee — posted six. Brooks Majors had three, and Tommy Jones, Breu Bonner and Todd Gilley had two each.

Arkee Grooms had 14 for Lebanon, while Todd Cross scored 10 and the duo of Vern Dockins and Andrew Donald had six each. Jeremy Moore scored four, and Justin Johnson rounded out the Blue Devils’ winning effort with two.