Second-half collapse costs WCMS girls
Monday night in the Warren County Middle School gym, the varsity Lady Pioneers gave a solid performance in the first half. But Warren County?s offense struggled in the second half, causing the Lady Pioneers to fall to Coffee County Middle 25-16.
Warren County took the opening tip and Katie Wanamaker drove the paint to put the Lady Pioneers on the board. Bree Smith followed with a steal and basket as Warren County took a 4-0 lead. But the Lady Raiders answered with nine unanswered points to close out the period with a 9-4 lead.
The Lady Pioneers tied the game at 9-9 after hitting five-of-six from the free-throw line during the first three minutes of the period. Warren County? defense held Coffee County to four points in the period as Kaitlyn Thorton hit two-of-three from the line and Veronica Blackburn added a basket. Laura Beth McKinley hit from the paint at the 1:42 mark and added another basket just before the half ended as Warren County took a 14-13 lead at the break.
Pressure defense by both teams played a major role in the third quarter. Kaley Rogers hit a bucket from the baseline for the Lady Raiders to open the period that would be Coffee County?s only basket of the period. On the other end of the court Warren County also struggled on offense with the Lady Pioneers? only basket coming from Christian Johnson with 1:42 left in the period. At the end of the quarter Warren County still held a one-point lead.
In the final period all but two of Coffee County?s points came from the charity stripe. The Lady Raiders hit eight-of-10 from the line to seal the game. The Lady Pioneers failed to find the bottom of the basket in the fourth period as Warren County fell by nine.
For the Lady Pioneers, McKinley had four points. Christian Johnson and Bree Smith had three points each. Kailey Kominos and Wanamaker had two points each. Taylor Johnson and Shelby Hillis added one point apiece.
For the Lady Raiders, Kaitlyn Thorton had eight points. Rogers and Blackburn added six points each. Niki Campbell had three and Chelsea Howell had two points each.