Being back on its home court was exactly what the Warren County Middle School fifth- and sixth-grade basketball team needed to snap a two-game losing streak.
After losing back-to-back games at Morrison and Centertown, the Pioneers returned to their home gym and beat the Eastside Bulldogs 38-13 to improve to 2-2 this season.
Warren County was in danger of fading to the bottom of the standings after being the top contender the last two years, but the Pioneers had a bounce-back performance with Noah Martin leading the way.
Martin scored a team-high 11 points – all coming in the first half as the Pioneers dominated action.
The Pioneers got off to a hot start as Martin and Eli Jones were an unstoppable inside-out duo. Martin pounded away in the paint against the Bulldogs on his way to seven first-quarter points. Jones tallied six points in the period as his jump shooting was on display, going along with his ball-handling responsibilities as the Pioneers’ point guard.
Eastside countered with spread-out scoring, featuring a 3-pointer by Charlie Moore and layups from Trayton Cole, Alec Hobbs and Cruz Reyes.
The Bulldogs finished the first period trailing 14-9, but the Pioneers would go on a 17-0 run that spanned the entire second quarter.
Martin, D.J. Moore and Cristian Espinoza combined for 11 points in the second quarter as they dominated the paint for the Pioneers. Jerry Mrema added four points as his slashing style resulted in two layups.
By the time Jones added a late jumper, Warren County led 31-9 going into halftime.
Both coaches turned to their bench most of the second half in the blowout. Brayden Chisam scored five of the Pioneers’ seven second-half points while Christian Rogers and Alex Jones scored for Eastside.
Trace Adcock added a basket in the fourth quarter for the Pioneers, who also got one point from Eli Buchanon in the contest.
The loss dropped Eastside to 0-4 overall, the same record Irving College had by the end of Tuesday night.
Irving College also suffered a lopsided loss in Tuesday’s action as the Centertown Warriors beat the visiting Tigers 40-17.
Wyatt Wilson scored a season-high 13 points to lead the Warriors while the league’s leading scorer Carter Mansfield recorded 11 points – his fifth straight game with double figures to start the season.
Rounding out the scoring for Centertown was Brad Burke and Jacob Scott with four each, Clay Eckenrod and T.J. Howard with three apiece and Jared Scruggs with two.
Trevor Wanamaker had a breakout game for the Tigers with 15 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter. Kaden Jordan was the only other player to score for Irving College as he sank a layup in the third period.
The lone road team to win Tuesday was the league-leading Morrison Eagles.
The Eagles improved to a perfect 5-0 with a 35-27 victory over the Dibrell Wildcats.
Ronaldo Martinez was a scoring machine for the Eagles with a game-high 20 points. Irving Espinoza added five points for Morrison, followed by Kasen Holder with four, Dominique Betancourt with three, Keegan Scott with two and Ryland Holder with one.
Jacob Lann drilled three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter on his way to a 10-point night. Austin Green was next with seven points while Micah Webster tallied six and Jake Jones netted four.
Elementary action continued Thursday night with games at Eastside, Dibrell and Warren County Middle School. Results were unavailable at press time.