Lady Pioneers win with strong defense
After a tough Tuesday night loss to Coffee County, the Lady Pioneers got back on track Friday, downing Franklin County’s Rebelettes 58-40 at the Charlie Dalton Gym.
“This was a good win for us,” said WCHS coach Ann Eades. “It puts us at 11-5, and we’ve already won more games this year than we did last year, so it’s very positive.”
After a close first quarter during which neither team was able to establish any offensive momentum, the Lady Pioneers turned up the heat in the second period. WCHS’s defense held the Rebelettes to six points, while on the other end of the court six points each from Leanne Pelham and Jasmine Ware helped the Lady Pioneers take a 27-18 advantage into intermission.
“I thought it was a solid effort on the defensive end the whole night,” Eades said. “It took us a little while to get started offensively, but we took care of business and I’m very proud of them.”
After back-to-back 3-pointers from Leah Cunningham and Whitney Pelham began the second half, the Lady Pioneers continued to expand their lead throughout the third quarter, putting the game out of reach and taking a 48-28 lead by the end of the period.
“What I liked tonight was we came out the third quarter and finished,” Eades said. “We didn’t give them a chance to get back in the game, and that’s something we’re learning to do.”
Leanne Pelham finished with 21 points to lead all scorers, while Whitney Pelham finished with 11 and Ware posted 10.
“Leanne played her complete ballgame tonight, offensively and defensively,” Eades said. “She did such a great job for us.”
Vanessa and Linsey Cornelius had four points each, while Cunningham and Katie Simpson chipped in a 3-pointer apiece. Alysa Lankford added a pair of fourth-quarter free throws to round out the winning tally.
Franklin County was led by Heather George’s nine, while Jennifer Hawkins scored all eight of her points in the first half. Krystin George and Katie Warf had six each, Laura Horton and Linzie Wells had four apiece, and Shamelliah Burks had two while Amanda Fraley scored one.
WCHS returns to District 7-AAA play Tuesday night with a road game against Lebanon. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.