Lady Pioneers pounded 70-26
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The Warriorettes proved to be a dominant force after a slow start, eventually rolling to a 70-26 victory over the Lady Pioneers.
“I thought the first half we played pretty well, outside of a few breakdowns,” said Lady Pioneer coach Ann Eades. “In the second half, though, Sparta took it up a notch, and we didn’t.”
With the loss, the Lady Pioneers fell to 12-13 overall, and dropped to 1-9 in the District 7-AAA standings. White County upped its overall record to 22-5, and stands at 6-4 in league play.
Warren County came out impressively on both ends of the court early, dominating the defensive boards and matching the Warriorettes basket-for-basket through the opening minutes of the period.
A Whitney Pelham 3-pointer midway through the first half gave the Lady Pioneers a brief 9-5 lead, but White County reacted with a vengeance, out-scoring their guests 15-0 over a span stretching into the opening minutes of the second quarter to take command.
Turning a 13-9 first-quarter edge into a 28-18 halftime lead, the Warriorettes never looked back in the second half, posting 19 third-quarter points while holding Warren County to just four.
“We got where we didn’t even want to shoot the ball, and that’s the thing that worries me about this team,” Eades said of the Lady Pioneers’ second-half performance, which consisted of just four field goals. “Right now we don’t have people that want to take control and shoot the basketball.
“We can’t score unless we shoot, and we were back to that frame of mind tonight for some reason.”
Sparta cleared its bench in the fourth quarter, but continued to dominate the game offensively. Former Morrison Elementary standout Molly McFadden — now a freshman with the Warriorettes — patrolled the paint in the fourth, picking up six points.
“We know what Molly can do, and Sparta got themselves a player when she transferred down here,” Eades said of her former Lady Eagle post. “Molly loves the game, plays hard, runs the floor real well and she’s going to be a great one before she gets through.
“I wish her the best, because she’s worked very hard to get where she is.”
White County was led by Natalee Anderson and Amanda Lewis, who each finished with 13 points, while April Hickock had 11 and Hannah Hacker had eight.
McFadden finished with six, Keela Henry, Brooke Sunday and Brittany Farley had four each, Brittany King scored three and the duo of Shauna Haley and Allison Cole each had two.
Pelham’s 12 points led Warren County, while Vanessa Cornelius had six. Linsey Cornelius scored four, with Brittany Brewer and Jasmine Ware picking up two each.
The Lady Pioneers hit the road tonight, as they’ll travel to Murfreesboro to face Blackman High School at 6:30.