WCMS reaches state tourney finals: Pioneers to face White County Saturday
In semifinal action last Saturday in the James C. Haile State Tournament held at Middle Tennessee Christian in Murfreesboro, Warren County Middle School’s eighth-grade boys advanced to the state finals with a 38-36 win over undefeated Harris Middle School.
Harris Middle entered the game carrying an undefeated record, thanks largely to 6-8 center Chandler Gross, who had been dominating the paint. But the Pioneers had the answer as they used a 3-2 zone and Chris Weitzel and Justin Bouldin to keep the big man in check.
Harris got off to a fast start by out-scoring the Pioneers 17-12 in the first period. But the second quarter belonged to the Pioneers as they used their pressure defense to create turnovers by Harris. Warren County held Harris Middle to four points in the period as the Pioneers posted 12 points to hold a 24-21 lead at the break.
Harris Middle liked to run the court and keep things at a fast pace, but Warren County countered that with a zone-press in the second half. The Pioneers did a good job on the offensive glass which helped them out-score Harris 10-8 in the third period and hold on to a five point lead 34-29.
Things got interesting in the final period as Harris Middle came up with some pressure defense of its own. The Pioneers trailed by one with 23 seconds left in the game. Harris missed a shot with Josh Moore pulling down the rebound for the Pioneers.
Kyle Mullican took the outlet pass and drove the floor passing to Moore as he went in for the lay-up. The basket was good and Moore was fouled as he went to the line to try for the three-point conversion with 14 ticks left in the clock. The conversion put the Pioneers up by two. Harris brought the ball downcourt and got a shot off at the buzzer, but the basket was no good as time expired.
For the Pioneers, Weitzel had 10 points and six rebounds. Mullican had nine points, Moore hit for seven, Bouldin and Lane McCoy had six points each. For Harris Middle, Stephan Ransom led with 15 points and Gross had nine.
The Pioneers will take on White County in the Championship game Saturday at 1:45 p.m. at Middle Tennessee Christian.