Lady Pioneers come up short in 7-AAA tilt

LEBANON ? The Lady Pioneers turned in another strong effort against a District 7-AAA opponent Friday night, but once again fell short of their first league win, losing to the Lebanon Blue Devilettes 56-45.

Brittany Frazier led the Lady Pioneers? efforts with 21 points, as they dropped to 3-12 overall and 0-6 in league play. Lebanon, which snapped a five-game losing streak, upped its overall mark to 6-13 and picked up its second district win.

A solid first quarter kept the Lady Pioneers in Friday?s game, and they led by as many as seven points (15-8) thanks to eight points in the period by Frazier. But Lebanon closed the first with back-to-back 3-pointers, trimming the gap to a point at 15-14.

Momentum stayed with the home team in the second, as they scored nine straight to open the period before being called for a technical foul for delay of game. WCHS hit 8-of-9 attempts from the charity stripe over the course of the second period, but three Lebanon 3-pointers, including a pair from Kelsey Blackburn, as well as 14 Lady Pioneer turnovers helped the Devilettes to a 35-27 lead by halftime.

Warren County kept fighting, and pulled within seven on a Tessa King 3-pointer midway through the third, but Lebanon answered with four straight points of its own and went into the fourth ahead 44-38.

Early in the game?s final stanza, a pair of Frazier free throws allowed her team to trim its deficit to just four points, but WCHS hit just one of three from the line and missed three field goal attempts down the stretch, allowing LHS to seal the win at the stripe.

King finished with 13 points to help the WCHS effort, while Taylor Nunley had six. Lebanon was paced by Crystal Howse, who had 17 points, while Ebony Marshall had 11 and Blackburn scored nine.

The Lady Pioneers were back in action Saturday night, on the road against Tullahoma. They?ll play host to Oakland Tuesday night.