Lady Pioneers downed in semis
COOKEVILLE — The Lady Pioneers fell behind early on their way to a 49-30 loss against Riverdale in district semifinal action Saturday.
The Lady Warriors took control in the first period of the both the offensive and defensive glass. Lady Pioneer Kara Youngblood tried to keep Warren close, as she hit for four of the Lady Pioneers’ eight points in the period. Riverdale’s Brittany Steen did her job on the glass with four points as the Lady Warriors’ Autumn Haynes hit from 3-point land to give Riverdale the five-point lead by the end of the quarter.
In the second five Lady Pioneers turned their game up a notch as each one scored to give Warren County 10 points in the period. Solid defense by the Lady Pioneers shut the offensive rebounding down by Riverdale and held them to 11 points in the period. Warren County was down by only six at the break 24-18.
In the third, Riverdale stretched their lead as once again the Lady Warriors hit the boards. Riverdale added 16 points in the period while pressure defense stumped the Lady Pioneers and held them to eight points in the period, trailing 40-26.
In the final period both teams went to their benches with just under four minutes to play. The Lady Pioneers never could get any rhythm going on offense and Riverdale kept working the ball inside. The Lady Pioneers managed only four points in the quarter while Riverdale added eight to take the victory and move on to the finals to face White County on Monday.
For the Lady Pioneers, Nikki Griffith, McKenna Rhea and Youngblood had six points each. Trista Dillard and Heather Frazier added four each. Sam Heitger and Alysa Lankford put in two points each.
The Lady Warriors, Haynes led with 12 points. Devin Thompson had nine, Brittany Steen seven, Kendra Sanders six, Erica Collier and Chelsie Alsyp added four points each and Jasmine Davis had two points.