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Lady Pioneers finish second in district
Lady Pioneers
The WCHS Lady Pioneers finished second in Friday's district tournament in Shelbyville. WCHS coach Anthony Lippe was named district Coach of the Year. Lady Pioneer players Shelby Smartt, Kyra Perkins and Sable Winfree were named All-Tournament and All-District for the regular season.
Published: Feb 19, 2022, 7:06 PM

A fierce late-game rally couldn’t slingshot the WCHS Lady Pioneers to a district tournament championship Friday night.

Warren County was plagued by foul trouble and poor shooting in suffering a 56-45 loss to Coffee County in a title game played at Shelbyville Central High School.

Sable Winfree was the top scorer for the Lady Pioneers with 14 points. Kyra Perkins added 10.

The loss means Warren County will be the No. 2 seed in the region tournament and play its first game at home at Charlie Dalton Gym. That game will be held this Friday night, Feb. 25, with a start time of 7 p.m.

“We got in foul trouble early and had to sit some key players on the bench,” said WCHS coach Anthony Lippe, who was announced as district Coach of the Year after the tournament. “The calls just didn’t go our way tonight.”

Coffee County has been like a thorn in Warren County’s throat, beating the Lady Pioneers four times this year. The Lady Raiders are much bigger than Warren County and had a clear edge in rebounding and post scoring Friday night.

Coffee County was in no hurry to take a shot. The Lady Raiders are extremely patient in their half-court set and coach Joe Pat Cope said that’s by design.

“We know we’re bigger and we want to get the ball inside because we like 2-footers,” said Cope. “If we can’t do that, we’re going to pass it around until we have an open 3.”

Coach Cope pointed out Coffee County (26-3) started the season 3-3 when the Lady Raiders were without point guard Jalie Ruehling, but they are undefeated with her in the lineup.

“She makes that much of a difference,” said Cope.

Savannah Winfree had a noteworthy game in playing quality minutes for the Lady Pioneers. She scored 9 points and did a great job keeping several rebounds alive.

Shelby Smartt played limited minutes for the Lady Pioneers before fouling out in the second half with 3 points, well below her average.

Despite a shaky first half, Warren County was still in the game, down 24-17 at halftime. The Lady Pioneers continued to hang around and were down 31-25 to end the third when Savannah Winfree made a jumper in the lane.

Coffee County went up by 13 points in the fourth when Ellie Chumley grabbed an offensive rebound and then converted a 3-point play with 4:06 left.

Warren County came storming back behind backcourt pressure that was effective in disrupting Coffee County’s normal offense.

Brienne Kelsey made a 3-pointer that was followed by a Perkins steal in the backcourt. Perkins took the ball strong to the rim, was fouled, and converted both free throws to make it a 44-41 game with 1:53 left.

But the Lady Pioneers couldn’t get any closer. Coffee County scored seven straight points, all from the foul line, to regain control, 51-41, with :46 left. Warren County wasn’t able to make a dent in that margin.

 

WARREN COUNTY – Sable Winfree 14, Kyra Perkins 10, Savannah Winfree 9, Jaden Smartt 3, Mia Hobbs 3, Shelby Smartt 3, Brienne Kelsey 3

 

COFFEE COUNTY – Olivia Vinson 16, Chloe Gannon 11, Ellie Chumley 10, Kiya Ferrell 7, Jalie Ruehling 7, Channah Gannon 4
WCHS baseball, softball compete in weekend tournaments
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Matt Tyson
Published: Apr 2, 2025, 10:16 PM

One day after a close home win over Cumberland County Thursday night, the Warren County baseball team was back on the road for a weekend tournament slate. Taking part in the Viking Classic, the Pioneers went 2-2 across Friday and Saturday’s contests.

Kicking things off against Huntland at Tullahoma High School Friday evening, Warren County notched its third straight victory with a 4-3 decision over the Hornets.

Sam Robinson had three of the team’s eight hits. Ryder Gilispie followed with two. Tyler Adams, Jerren Harris and Keaton Rowe each added one hit.

Gilispie and Harris were both credited with one RBI each.

Adams, Robinson, Gilispie and Adrian Harris each scored one run.

On the mound, Miguel Garcia pitched four innings, finishing with four strikeouts, two hits, three runs and four walks. Keagan Thompson followed for two innings, striking out two.

In the nightcap, the Pioneers were held scoreless in an 8-0 shutout against the host Wildcats. Robinson had Warren County’s lone hit of the game.

Hayven Jones pitched 1.1 innings, recording one strikeout, four hits, seven runs and two walks. Jerren Harris came on for 2.2 innings, finishing with two hits, one run and four walks.

Back in action for day two of the tournament at Cascade High School, the Pioneers bounced back with a 9-8 win over the host Champions Saturday morning.

The team finished with nine hits, led by Adams and Robinson with two each. Gilispie, Jerren Harris, Adrian Harris, Woogs Bryan and Corban Felton all added one.

Bryan led the team in RBI with four of its eight. Gilispie, Felton, Jerren Harris and Brady Norris each brought in one.

Jaytton Baker went 3.1 innings on the bump, striking out five and coming off with eight hits and five runs. Lealon Arnold followed for 1.2 innings, striking out one and adding two hits and three runs. Gilispie pitched for one inning and recorded two strikeouts and one hit.

Closing out the weekend against Alabama’s Heritage Christian, Warren County came out on the losing end of a 14-6 contest. At the plate, Jerren Harris led the way with two of the team’s eight hits. Adams, Gilispie, Bryan, Felton, Adrian Harris and Evan Snapp all followed with one each.

The Pioneers posted four RBI, with two each for Adams and Snapp.

Snapp had two of the team’s six runs, with one each for Adams, Gilispie, Felton and Jones.

Braden Whinnery pitched 2.2 innings, striking out four and surrendering seven hits, five runs and one walk. Rowe followed for 0.2 innings, adding four hits and five runs. Up next was Keagan Thompson, who went one inning and came off with five hits and four runs. Daylen Holguin wrapped up the day, striking out one and allowing one hit over 0.2 innings.

WCHS softball goes 1-3 through weekend

The Lady Pioneers got their Southern Warrior Classic schedule started with a game against Summertown Friday evening, a matchup in which they fell 10-1.

Warren County finished with six hits, with two each for Ky Damon, Lola Wells and Kaydence Wiser.

Wiser had a home run in the top of the fourth inning for the team’s lone run.

In the circle, Ceilee Gudat pitched 3.1 innings and finished with one strikeout, nine hits, 10 runs and two walks. Kyaira Sharpe followed for the game’s remainder, closing out the last 0.2 innings.

The Lady Pioneers were again bested in their second Friday night game, falling 10-2 to Moline (Ill.).

Wells led the Warren County hitting effort with two of the team’s six. Damon, Callie Roberts, Cortlyn Porter and Ali Young each added one.

Wells and Lily Rains had one run each.

Ruby Denning had one strikeout and gave up eight hits, 10 runs and three walks across all four innings.

The Lady Pioneers had better luck in their Saturday morning opener, flying ahead with an 11-run fifth inning to take down Illinois’s Oswego East 15-9.

Warren County racked up 12 hits over the course of the game, with two each for Rains, Wells, Sharpe, Porter and Addison Smith. This included home runs for both Wells and Smith. Damon and Young both added one hit each.

Smith led the Lady Pioneers in RBI with four of their 15, followed by Sharpe with three. Rains and Wells both had two RBI. Damon, Wiser, Porter and Young all tacked on one.

Sharpe pitched the first four innings and came out with 13 hits, nine runs and two walks. Denning added one hit across one inning.

Warren County was unable to duplicate this in their final game of the weekend later that afternoon, falling 3-2 to Stewarts Creek.

The team notched six hits, with two each for Rains and Porter. Damon and Wiser both added one hit.

Rains had the Lady Pioneers’ lone RBI.

On the rubber, Gudat pitched all five innings, striking out three and finishing the day with five hits, three runs and one walk.