Wildcats rally over Warren County
Tullahoma’s girls prevailed over the Lady Pioneers in a see-saw battle Saturday night.
After WCHS (12-8) rallied back from an early deficit, the visiting Lady Wildcats clawed their way back to tie the game by the end of the third quarter, and cruised in the fourth to take a 53-41 win.
Behind red-hot 3-point shooting, the Lady Wildcats amassed a 17-9 lead by the end of the third quarter. But Warren County’s defense held their guests in check in the second, and the Lady Pioneers turned up the offensive heat, as Jasmine Ware scored all nine of her points in the second to help WCHS to an early 7-0 run and a 24-21 lead by intermission.
Warren County opened the third with a 5-0 scoring run, but Tullahoma came right back, out-scoring their hosts 13-5 over the final four minutes of the third quarter to knot the score at 34-34 heading into the fourth.
Offense proved hard to come by for the Lady Pioneers in the game’s final period, as Linsey Cornelius and Tia Williams provided the team’s only two field goals over the first seven minutes of the frame.
Tullahoma, on the other hand, found its offensive fires suddenly rekindled, and picked up a pair of 3-pointers from Whitney Darlington to build a lead that continued to grow for much of the quarter.
Forced to foul to conserve clock, the Lady Pioneers gave up free throws on the Tullahoma end of the floor then came up empty on their own, missing seven straight 3-pointers down the stretch before Whitney Pelham connected for the final points of the game.
Pelham’s 11 points led Warren County, which got nine each from Williams and Ware and eight from Cornelius. Katie Simpson and Amanda Locke each added two.
Dani Pettay scored 20 to lead Tullahoma to the win, while Darlington had 13 and Nikki Morris had 12. Lauran Hudgins scored four, and Toniya Cannon and Hope Hickerson had two each.
The Lady Pioneers faced Riverdale last night, and play host to Cookeville Friday at 6:30 p.m.