Warriors whip WCHS 72-49

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

Reese Bishop of the WCHS basketball team gets horizontal while he is sandwiched between Riverdale defenders Jerry Onwu, left, and Labrian Lyons (35) during first-half action at the District 7-AAA Tournament Tuesday. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

SPARTA — After finishing their regular season as District 7-AAA’s “David,” the challenge of “Goliath” embodied by the Riverdale Warriors proved too much to overcome for the Pioneer basketball team Tuesday afternoon.

Facing the top-seeded Warriors in the opening round of the league’s championship tournament, the Pioneers found themselves overmatched from the onset. And although a few scattered surges of offense showed a never-say-die spirit from the WCHS squad, Riverdale’s early production helped them keep a double-digit lead throughout an eventually 72-49 victory.

With the win, Riverdale moved on to Thursday night’s district semifinals, while the loss ended the Pioneers season at 7-20. It also marked the end of the high school playing careers of Jeremiah Hodges, Ross Marlowe, Kyle Thompson and Reese Bishop.

The Warriors proved from the early going they weren’t going to take the No. 8-seeded Pioneers lightly.

Terrence Savannah streaked to the basket after receiving the opening tip, sparking a 10-0 run that was broken midway through the period when Brandon Adcock put the Pioneers on the board. Reese Bishop added two free throws and a layup later in the period, but Riverdale posted 11 more points in the frame to go up 21-6.

Brooks Majors opened the Pioneer second quarter with a 3-pointer, and Bishop added five points in the frame, but a 16-point second from Riverdale helped them boost their lead to as many as 19 points as they took a 37-18 edge into halftime.

Warren County trailed by as many as 31 points in the third quarter, and stared at a 58-30 deficit heading into the game’s final stanza.

The lofty Riverdale lead prompted both coaches the opportunity to bring in some of their younger talent late, and Warren County’s Jordan Underhill took advantage of the chance, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter on the way to his first double-digit night as a varsity player.

They Pioneers scored eight of the game’s final 11 points, but were never able to make a significant dent in Riverdale’s lead down the stretch.

While Bishop led the way with 13 points in his Pioneer finale, it was the team’s reserves that carried the bulk of the scoring load. Underhill finished with 12 points in the losing effort, and non-starters accounted for 29 of the team’s 49-point total.

Andrew Deason scored eight, all in the second half, and Todd Gilley posted four points on the night. Majors and Adcock had three each, while Josh Nunley, Marlowe and Warren Swann each chipped in two points.

Labrian Lyons tossed in 18 for Riverdale, despite sitting out much of the fourth quarter. Lavender had 11 and Jerry Onwu tossed in 10 points on a night when a dozen different Warriors cracked the scoring column.