Lionettes hand Lady Pioneers second defeat
WOODBURY — Cannon County High School’s girls pulled away in the second half Thursday night, and handed the visiting Lady Pioneers a 53-42 loss in a Hall of Fame Classic contest at the Robert A. Harris Gym.
Led by 10 second-half points from Erin Todd, who finished with a game-high 19, the Lionettes bounced back from a 23-19 halftime deficit to win the preseason contest, the Lady Pioneers’ final Hall of Fame Game before the official opening their season, which is set for Tuesday night at Smithville.
Both teams got off to a slow start Thursday. Nikki Griffith posted the Lady Pioneers’ first field goal at the 3:42 mark of the first quarter, and a Leah Cunningham buried a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining in the period to cut the CCHS lead to 10-9.
Warren County got hot from the outside in the second period, with Cunningham and Whitney Pelham both nailing 3-pointers to help their team to 14 points in the quarter and the four-point lead at intermission.
Todd took over in the second, with seven points, while WCHS managed just two field goals — a McKenna Rhea 3-pointer and a basket from Griffith — and fell behind 34-28 heading into the fourth.
Vanessa Cornelius scored a pair of baskets early in the game’s final period, and Pelham added another 3-pointer and finished with eight in the quarter, but the Lionettes got the job done at the free-throw line, hitting 15 of their 23 attempts over the final eight minutes to seal the victory.
In addition to Todd’s 19, the Lionettes got 12 from Felicia Francis, eight points from Lana Spry and five — all in the fourth quarter — from Casey Hindman.
Pelham’s 17 led WCHS, while all 10 of Cunningham’s points came in the first half. Rhea had five, Cornelius scored four and Elizabeth Lavoie had two points.
Tipoff Tuesday night at DeKalb County is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.