Warren County is participating in the Sonic Shootout tournament at White County High School once again, and the Lady Pioneers started strong by defeating the Lawrence County Lady Wildcats in their first-round matchup 73-65 on Monday.
Sable Winfree led the Lady Pioneers with 19 points, followed by Brienne Kelsey with 14.
The game went into overtime after Warren County mounted a fierce rally in the fourth to tie it. Kyra Perkins was among the Lady Pioneers who played tough in OT to help Warren County score 16 points in the extra period. The game was tied at 57 at the end of regulation.
The win improved Warren County to 9-2 on the season and was the fifth straight victory for the Lady Pioneers.
“Lawrence County is a good team,” said WCHS coach Anthony Lippe. “This is one of our biggest wins as a program.”
The game didn’t start so promising for Warren County as Lawrence County snatched an 8-0 lead. Sable Winfree finally got the Lady Pioneers on the board with a layup and foul shot. Winfree continued that momentum with a steal and another layup.
By the end of the first quarter, Lawrence County had a considerable lead, 19-10.
Warren County stepped up its defense in the second quarter with Savannah Winfree making quite a few steals for the Lady Pioneers, keeping the control with Warren County. Madison Tidwell made a 3-pointer for the Lady Wildcats with Brienne Kelsey matching that shot for WCHS.
Warren County closed the gap by halftime for a score of 30-27 with the Lady Wildcats leading.
In the third quarter, Warren County seemed to have lost its touch by making bad passes and throwing the ball away. The Lady Pioneers saw the Lady Wildcats get ahead by 13 points with three minutes left in the third. WCHS cleaned up its game by making some layups and getting rebounds, but Lawrence County kept a consistent lead.
By the fourth, Warren County was down 45-37. Sable made a 3-pointer, and the Lady Pioneers were now trailing by 5. Within one minute, the Lady Pioneers managed to tie the game with Mia Hobbs making a 3 and Sable scoring another 2 points.
Kyra Perkins had a strong showing in the fourth, putting up six points in layups and recovering a few missed baskets for putback. The two teams were tied with 55 seconds on the clock.
The Lady Pioneers and Lady Wildcats went into overtime with both having 57 points on the board.
Overtime started to look like the fourth quarter with both teams scoring two points and staying tied with only two minutes remaining.
Out of nowhere, the Lady Pioneers were on fire with Savannah rebounding the ball and making a jump shot followed by Perkins stealing the ball immediately after. Then WCHS coach Anthony Lippe called for a timeout. Now with possession, WCHS started making smart passes which led to Kelsey banking a jump shot followed by another steal and successful layup by Perkins.
The Lady Pioneers now had six-point lead made only worse by Lawrence County fouling both Savannah Winfree and Hobbs who both made two foul shots each. The Lady Wildcats had an intentional foul called on them allowing Savannah to score two more foul shots, confirming their win.
The Warren County Lady Pioneers won 73-65 in a tight game with a runaway victory in overtime. The Lady Pioneers played York Institute on Tuesday and will finish up the tournament Wednesday.
Warren County -- Sable Winfree 19, Brienne Kelsey 14, Savannah Winfree 12, Shelby Smartt 11, Kyra Perkins 10, Mia Hobbs 7
Lawrence County Top Scorers -- Madisen Tidwell 25, Jacie Scott 14, Katie Criswell 11
