8th-grade Pioneers clip Franklin North

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard

Lucas Majors, shown in this file photo from earlier this season, scored nine points — including a halftime buzzer-beater — to help WCMS to a four-point victory Monday. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

Warren County Middle’s eighth-grade boys had to hold on for dear life Monday night, but were able to escape with a narrow win over a Central Tennessee Conference foe.

After shutting out Franklin County North through the entire third quarter, building a nine-point lead in the process, the Pioneers (7-3, 6-2 in CTC play) were out-scored 25-20 in the fourth, but managed to come away with a 42-38 victory.

Monday’s contest, which was originally scheduled for last month but postponed due to inclement weather, got off to a slow start, with Franklin County taking a 5-4 lead by the end of the first period.

North continued to lead through the second, but at the halftime horn the Pioneers’ Lucas Majors nailed a basket, sending his team into intermission with a 14-13 lead.

The Pioneers kept their momentum through the game’s third quarter, scoring eight points in the period while keeping North off the board to take a 22-13 lead heading into the game’s final stanza.

Both teams put their slow starts behind them in the fourth, burning the nets for a combined total of 45 points. And although the Pioneers were 8-for-19 from the free-throw line during the fourth, and 12-for 31 for the game, their 20 points in the period were enough to come away with the victory.

P.L. Prater finished with nine points and four rebounds to lead the Pioneers to the victory, while Majors had a nine-point night.

Carlzell Robinson had six points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while Casey Myers finished with five points. Cameron Smith scored four, including two key free throws with just under a minute to play in the game, while Coty Keel had three points. Kyrie Harris and Ridge Nunley rounded out the winning effort with two points each.

North was led by Josh Cannon and Matt Cisco, who scored nine each, while Landon Tipps had eight. The trio of Matt Arnold, Houston Heatherly and Kyle Baker scored four apiece.