Pioneers’ 7-AAA skid snapped: Bishop leads WCHS to win over Riverdale
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Bishop scored 34 points to pace Warren County (13-9, 1-6 district), which led by as many as 16 points before the Warriors rallied to take a lead into the fourth quarter.
“We came out hard,” Bishop said of his team’s effort, which helped them to a 27-16 lead by the end of the first quarter and a 10-point halftime edge.
“We’ve been practicing real hard the last three or four days, ever since we lost the last game, and we decided to turn it around.”
The Warriors were the ones pulling the turnaround in Tuesday’s second half, however. Trailing 42-32 at intermission, Riverdale fell behind 50-34 through the opening minutes of the third quarter, but out-scored the Pioneers 12-2 over a four-minute span. The Warriors continued to chip away at Warren County’s lead throughout the quarter, tying the game at 55-55 on a Labrian Lyons layup and taking the lead when Chris Perkins scored with one second to play.
Kyle Thompson tied the game back at 59-59 early in the fourth, however, and sparked a 15-4 Pioneer run that put Warren County back on top for good. Although Riverdale freshman Gaston Miller kept his team’s hopes of a comeback alive late, nailing three 3-pointers through the final 2-1/2 minutes, WCHS connected on 8-of-12 attempts from the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.
Bishop said hustle and tough defense were the keys to his team’s victory.
“We haven’t been playing with any emotion the last couple of games, so we’ve had to pick it up in practice,” he said. “People hadn’t been sprinting to spots, that’s why we haven’t been hurting anybody in our press. But tonight we were sprinting to spots, and anticipating stuff, and it caused turnovers.”
Head coach Doug Keil was proud of the way his team battled back after seeing their early lead dwindle away late in Tuesday’s game.
“It’s great to get that first win in district play, especially after being close so many times,” he said. “We played our style of basketball, and we went through some adversity in the third quarter and going into the fourth, but we fought back and pulled out a victory.
“That’s just so exciting. I’m so proud for those guys, and so excited for the young men that work so hard every day.”
In addition to Bishop’s 34, the Pioneers’ Randal Harrell scored 16, with 10 of his points coming in the fourth quarter. Cody Hillis had nine, Thompson finished with seven, and Todd Gilley had six. Josh Nunley and Brooks Majors each finished with five, and Tommy Jones and Ross Marlowe had two each.
Miller led the Warriors with 27 points, while Perkins had 16 and Josh England had 10.
The Pioneers face Cookeville tonight at the Charlie Dalton Gym.