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Pioneers score more than Moore
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The goal all week for the Warren County High School boys basketball team was to get to the gold bracket of the Sun Drop Romp Christmas tournament.On Tuesday night, the Pioneers accomplished their goal by defeating the Moore County Raiders 51-38 in pool play at Charlie Dalton Gym.The gold bracket was the reward for the four teams who won their respective pools in the opening two days of the Sun Drop Romp.The Pioneers won Pool A by defeating Jackson County on Monday and beating Moore County a day later. Warren County joined Cookeville, Cumberland County and Hixson as the four finalists vying for the tournament championship.The key to Warren County’s victory over the Raiders was capitalizing on the team’s size advantage.Junior post Nick Simmons scored a team-high 14 points off the bench and senior starter Justin Ware poured in 10 points to lead the Pioneers to victory.Moore County simply didn’t have anybody to match up with the 6-foot-6 Simmons or the sheer size of Ware in the paint.Simmons and Ware bullied the Raiders as the duo combined to score 20 points in the paint and grab 16 rebounds.Ware helped get the Pioneers started early by working on the block to get open. Starting point guard Mitchell McCorkle fed Ware with two terrific passes in the first quarter and Ware capitalized by making two layups.The low-scoring first quarter went in favor of Warren County as the team took a 10-6 lead after eight minutes.Guard Jacob Reagan took over the offense in the second quarter.