Warren County girls hold on to advance
A double-dose of Pelhams gave the Lady Pioneers an early lead Thursday, but Pearl-Cohn refused to lay down during their first-round matchup at the Overton Christmas Tournament.
WCHS let nine-point leads slip away twice during Thursday’s game, but held on down the stretch to escape with a 61-52 victory over the Lady Firebirds.
With the win, the Lady Pioneers improved to 6-3 overall, and moved on to a semifinal matchup today against the winner of Thursday night’s game between Antioch and Cornersville.
Leanne Pelham scored Warren County’s first eight points, and had 13 in the first quarter. Her cousin, sophomore Whitney Pelham, had eight points in the first quarter and 11 in the half, but the Lady Firebirds countered with a pair of weapons of their own.
Amara McKel scored 14 points in the first half, 12 of which came on 3-pointers, and Candice Lightford had 13 of her own as Pearl-Cohn bounced back from a hefty deficit in the second quarter. The Lady Firebirds out-scored the Lady Pioneers 14-3 down the stretch in the first half, connecting on six of their last seven shots and taking a 33-31 lead into the break.
Warren County continued the theme of scoring surges to open the third, going on a 13-2 run to apparently take control. But the Lady Firebirds rose from the ashes yet again, scoring the final eight points of the period to cut the WCHS advantage to one point (44-43) heading into the fourth.
Neither team could find the basket in the game’s final period, although McKel scored after a two-minute lull to put Pearl-Cohn on top 45-44. But accuracy at the charity stripe paid off when it counted for the Lady Pioneers, who hit 15 of their 16 fourth-quarter attempts.
Leanne Pelham led all scorers with 25 points, despite being held to a single basket in the third quarter. Whitney finished with 14, while Jasmine Ware hit double-digits with a 10-point night. Linsey Cornelius had five points and Katie Simpson had four, with both Lady Pioneers scoring all their points in the second half. Leah Cunningham had a first-half 3-pointer to round out the winning tally.
Lightford led the way for Pearl-Cohn with 22 points, while McKel had 18 points, including four 3-pointers.
Tonight’s semifinal game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.