Seniors’ final scene has unhappy ending
Warren County’s boys tried to catch a tiger by the tail in their final home game Saturday night, but ended up getting skinned in a 65-55 Senior Night loss.
Prior to the game, Pioneer seniors Kyle Thompson, Reese Bishop, Jeremiah Hodges, Ross Marlowe, and manager C.J. Lusk were recognized.
But once the ceremony had concluded and the game had begun, the capacity Dalton Gym crowd quickly recognized the shooting accuracy of the visiting DeKalb County Tigers.
The Tigers nailed three 3-pointers, including two from Lance Dillard, as they jumped out to a 24-17 lead by the end of the first period.
The Pioneers, who dropped to 7-18 with the loss, fought their way back into the game in the second, scoring five straight points to open the period and tying the score at 26-26 on a Thompson basket.
A three-point play from Marlowe gave WCHS its first lead at 29-28, and Todd Gilley scored on a putback with just under two minutes to play to make it a 31-29 game.
But Jacob Rankhorn made his only basket of the game a meaningful one, as he banked in a long 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give DeKalb a 32-31 lead at the break.
The third quarter was an evenly matched affair, with each team scoring 11 points in the frame. But DeKalb took over in the fourth, opening the period with a 6-0 run and hitting 7-of-12 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Warren County, which never got closer than five points after DeKalb’s quarter-opening surge, connected on just four of its 11 attempts from the stripe in the fourth, which helped the Tigers pad their lead.
Bishop finished with 16 points to lead the Pioneers, with eight coming in the first quarter of play. Andrew Deason, who earned the starting nod after a strong performance last Friday at Lebanon, finished with 11.
Marlowe had eight points, as did Thompson, who fouled out on a technical midway through the fourth quarter. Gilley had six, Brooks Majors tossed in four and Hodges had two.
Dillard’s 30 led the way for DeKalb, while Justin Hooper had nine and Jacob Melton had eight points.
The Pioneers were slated to visit Coffee County to finish their regular season Tuesday night, and have the rest of the week to prepare for a first-round showdown with Riverdale in next week’s District 7-AAA Tournament.