White County sweeps series with WC girls
In their first meeting, the Lady Pioneer basketball team suffered a loss thanks to White County’s post play.
But in Tuesday night’s rematch at the Charlie Dalton Gym, Warren County’s girls effectively shut down the Warriorettes’ inside game.
Unfortunately, in doing so, they opened up the perimeter game.
White County buried seven 3-pointers, including three each from Allison Cole and Brooke Yates, to sweep the season series against the Lady Pioneers with a 50-40 win.
Warren County, which fell to 9-11 on the year and 2-7 in District 7-AAA play, controlled the action early, using a seven-point run to take a 12-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Warriorettes came back with a scoring surge of their own, sparked by a defensive press which resulted in several Lady Pioneer turnovers. Scoring eight unanswered points, White County took an 18-15 lead, before three free throws from Nikki Griffith once again knotted the score.
White County retook command down the stretch, however, and carried a 25-21 lead into halftime.
A 6-0 run midway through the third quarter put Sparta on top for good, and a Cole 3-pointer gave them a 34-29 lead. Whitney Pelham converted a three-point play in the closing minute of the period, but the Lady Pioneers still trailed by four — 36-32, heading into the fourth.
Yates opened the fourth quarter with her third and final 3-pointer of the game, and the Warriorettes led by as many as 12 as they out-scored Warren County 14-8 in the fourth to seal the victory.
Yates scored a game-high 13 to lead White County, while Cole had 11 and Joni Simpson scored 10.
Molly McFadden, who scored 24 in her team’s 78-49 win over Warren County earlier this season, was limited to five points, as was Shauna Haley. Keela Henry, who posted 14 in Sparta’s earlier win, was held to just four points.
For the Lady Pioneers Pelham’s 11 points led the way, while Leah Cunningham finished with eight despite seeing limited action due to an illness. Griffith had seven, while Heather Frazier, Amanda Locke and McKenna Rhea scored four each and Vanessa Cornelius added two.
The Lady Pioneers will have their work cut out for them tonight, as they travel to Murfreesboro to take on league-leading Oakland. The Lady Patriots are a perfect 9-0 in district play, and are ranked third in Class AAA according to this week’s AP poll.