Pioneers burnt by Blaze – Strong start not enough for WC boys

After holding their own for a quarter against one of District 7-AAA?s top programs, the Pioneers cooled off in the second Tuesday night, and couldn?t recover on the way to a 56-33 loss to Blackman.

The Pioneers, who travel to Lebanon tonight for a matchup with former head coach Doug Keil?s Blue Devils, fell to 2-9 on the year with the loss, and remained winless in 7-AAA play at 0-5. Blackman left Dalton Gym with a record of 10-5, and improved to 4-1 in the league standings.

WCHS came out firing against the heavily favored Blaze, building a 6-3 lead when Donta Weir knocked down a 3-pointer three minutes into the game. The Pioneers led 11-7 on a Brett Simmons layup late in the period, but Paul Stephens and Alex Carter scored four unanswered points to knot the score at 11-each by the period?s end.

Blackman kept momentum in the second quarter, while the Pioneers struggled to find the net, hitting just one field goal in 11 attempts and sinking 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. Chris Weitzel scored Warren County?s only field goal in the game, hitting from the inside with 3:06 to play in the half, but Blackman rode a 5-0 run into intermission, taking a 25-17 halftime lead.

Tough defensive pressure by the visiting club cause the Pioneers to fall even further behind in the third quarter. Warren County turned the ball over a dozen times during the eight-minute stanza, and Blackman responded with a 15-0 scoring run, going up by as many as 23 points before another Weir 3-pointer stopped the bleeding.

Ahead 46-25 at the period?s end, Blackman held the Pioneers to just one field goal in the fourth, as well. Tight defense applied by the Blaze sent WCHS to the charity stripe four 15 fourth-quarter attempts, but the Pioneers hit just six of their free throws, finishing with eight points in the period while allowing 10 to their guests.

For the game, the Pioneers shot just over 30 percent from the field, hitting two of six from behind the 3-point arc. They connected on almost half of their free throws (13-of-28) and turned the ball over 24 times.

Weir led the team?s effort with 13 points, while Weitzel had 10 and Simmons finished with five.

Blackman, which hit 23 of its 46 shots from the field for an even 50 percent, was led by Alex Carter?s 11-point night, while David Barnes had 10 and Blake Bragg scored eight.