Playing some of their best basketball of the season wasn’t quite enough for the Lady Pioneers in the District 9-4A tournament. Warren County gave Columbia a battle Monday, but fell 66-46 to end its season.

Bri Taylor, an offensive force that caught fire in February, finished with 18 points and eight rebounds and Lex Verge was a perfect 4-for-4 (and 2-for-2 on FTs) to add 10 points in her final game for Warren County. The loss dropped the Lady Pioneers to 5-23 overall in the first season under Mendy Stotts.

While Warren County got off to a rocky start this season, the group seemed to perk up and play its best basketball in the final two weeks. The Lady Pioneers fought valiantly in a road loss to Lincoln County last week, bounced back to beat rival DeKalb County on senior night and gave Columbia – which swept the Lady Pioneers in easy fashion during the season – a challenge Monday.

Warren County tied the game 10-10 early on a wing triple from senior Miranda Medley, then took a 17-16 lead into the first break when freshman Aubrey Oleksik drained a long jumper from the right baseline to end the quarter.

Taylor and Verge kept the Lady Pioneers within reach in the second quarter when the Lions opened with a 12-3 run. The posts powered their way to buckets in the paint, with Verge getting back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to 28-26 and force a timeout from the home team.

The Lions seized back some momentum by beating the halftime buzzer with a step-back jumper from Saviya Morgan, who finished with a game-high 24 points. Columbia kept the momentum flowing after the break.

Taylor opened the second half with a putback - grabbing a rebound among three Lion defenders and finishing over the top – before Columbia got rolling. The Lions ripped off 11 straight points in the next three minutes, only seeing its run snapped by a tough layup in traffic by Taylor. 

Columbia (23-5) led 51-39 by the end of the third, only slowed at the end of the period by a buzzer-beating bank shot from Verge.

The Lions kept their double-digit advantage throughout the fourth, though sophomore Trinity Reynolds – looking like a key cog going forward for the Lady Pioneer offense – added some highlights with two tough layups late.

Warren County will lose Verge and Medley, two starters this season, as well as sub Hailey Simpson to graduation in May. Taylor and Reynolds, along with a blossoming freshman class, can look forward to leading the Lady Pioneers back to more wins next winter.

Lady Pioneer scoring – Taylor 18, Verge 10, Reynolds 6, Medley 5, Oleksik 3, Brinlee Griffith 3, Kealey Simpson 1