WC girls clipped by Coffee

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard

Warren County’s Jasmine Ware goes up for two of her 12 points while being defended by Coffee County’s Amber Benjamin during Tuesday night’s game at WCHS. (Rob Nunley photo)

The Lady Pioneers turned in their highest offensive performance since Jan. 10, but fell just short Tuesday night as they suffered a 56-51 home loss to Coffee County.

The Lady Pioneers, who fell to 12-15 with the loss, took a 10-point lead into halftime, but saw the Lady Red Raiders battle their way back into the game.

“What a heck of a game for this ball team,” WCHS coach Ann Eades said after Tuesday’s contest. “In the dressing room I told them I wasn’t satisfied, because we had a chance to win it. But I am proud of their effort.”

Down 19-15 after the first quarter, WCHS poured on the defense in the second period, holding Coffee County scoreless until Cassie Carden buried a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in the half. On the other end of the court, the Lady Pioneers got a pair of 3’s from Leah Cunningham and five points from Whitney Pelham to help themselves to a 32-22 edge by intermission.

Coffee County opened the third with a 13-2 run, however, taking a 35-34 lead on a Blue Buchanan 3-pointer with just over four minutes to play. Warren County refused to yield, and out-scored its guests 7-4 to close the quarter with a 43-39 lead.

Warren County found points hard to come by in the fourth, scoring just one field goal over the first 6:50 of the period as Coffee County built a narrow lead. Cunningham and Pelham both hit for 3-pointers in the closing moments, but Coffee County connected on 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch to pull away for the narrow win.

“We talked about mental toughness all year, and when it got down to crunch time we didn’t make some good decisions,” Eades noted. “But it was fun being in a game, and it’s an tribute to this team.

“We’ve kept battling, and working hard every day in practice, and to come in and play this close against a Manchester team that blew us off the court down there, I tip my hat to this ball team. I thought they played their hearts out.”

Pelham finished with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while Jasmine Ware chipped in 16. Cunningham scored 11, with nine coming from behind the arc. Brittany Brewer, Linsey Cornelius and Sallie Slatton each had two.

Carden’s 21 led Coffee County, while Buchanan had 17 and Amber Benjamin finished with 13.

The Lady Pioneers took on White County to close their regular season Thursday night, and face Riverdale Tuesday in the first round of the District 7-AAA tournament, which will be held at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro.