Pioneers down Devils: Defense stymies Lebanon
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“This was a good win for use against a good team. We didn’t have a lot of guys that played very well but we fought and got after it. The guys worked very hard tonight and our press created problems for Lebanon. We had 12 steals in the first half and that was big. We played great on defense but on offense we were a bit loose with the ball. We did a great job from the foul line tonight, 32-of-37 is pretty good,” said coach Doug Keil.
“In the fourth quarter we let Lebanon back in the game just a little. We were trying to be strong and not force things and became a little timid instead. There’s a fine line when you have a big lead. How do you secure it? Do you keep doing the same thing and roll the dice and the shots that you were making in the first quarter don’t fall or do you secure it and make sure you only take great shots. That’s what we were trying to do and they were picking up the intensity and we just got a little to careful. We have to keep working at those things but overall we did a good job tonight.”
Warren County played a solid first quarter as the offense struck for 19 points in the period. Lebanon found it difficult to move the ball down court against the Pioneers back court pressure which allowed only 11 points by the end of the period.
In the second period pressure by Warren County helped them extend their lead as the Blue Devils found themselves struggling from the floor. Reese Bishop sparked Warren County as he had five steals in the period and hit for 12 points. Randal Harrell tossed in a couple of three’s as the Pioneers took a 41-27 lead at the break.
Brooks Majors opened the third with a three but the Pioneer offense would stall with four minutes to go in the period. Lebanon hit 11 unanswered points over the next four minutes with Vern Dockins and Arkee Grooms leading the way. But by the end of the quarter Lebanon had only closed in on the Pioneers lead by one at 57-44.
With a 13 point lead going into the final period Warren County slowed the pace by working the ball for the best shot. Lebanon closed the gap with three minutes to go at 70- 61. Warren County would secure the game from the foul line in the last two minutes of play by hitting 7-of-8 to secure their 10 point win.
Leading all scores was Warren County’s Bishop with 30 points. Randal Harrell had 25 points followed by Cody Hillis with 11, Majors with five and Todd Gilley hit for four points. Josh Nunley and Tommy Jones had two points each.
Lebanon was led by Dockins with 16 points, Jon Boyce had 11 and Jeffery Dixon had 10 points.
The Pioneers will travel to White County on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. match up.