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Warriors outduel Pioneers
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The first half of Friday’s boys game at Charlie Dalton Gym showed the Warren County Pioneers can play with any team in District 6-AAA. The second half showed why the Pioneers still have a long way to go to win a district title.Warren County held its own with White County until halftime, but an 18-2 run by the Warriors in the third quarter changed the game as the visitors prevailed 65-51 over the Pioneers.The Pioneers led most of the first half as Hunter Daniel sank a 3-pointer 20 seconds into the game to get his team going.The long shots kept pouring in for Warren County in the first quarter. Junior Kendall Rutledge drilled back-to-back 3-pointers in the last minute to give the Pioneers a 13-11 lead after one.Warren County started to extend its lead in the second quarter as Nick Simmons and Tucker Smith started to find open areas near the basket against the 1-3-1 defense of White County.The two posts were responsible for an 8-2 run which gave Warren County a five-point lead midway through the second quarter.Smith got a layup off a pass from Hunter Adams, Simmons was able to score on an assist by Mitchell McCorkle and Smith scored two more baskets around the rim off rebounds as Warren County went up 21-16 with 1:39 to play in the first half.White County cut the lead to one with 10 seconds to play, but Simmons drained a 12-footer from the baseline with 2.1 seconds to spare and put the Pioneers up 23-20 at halftime.Smith and Simmons kept Warren Count out front to begin the third quarter, but White County finally figured out the Pioneers midway through the third.After Smith and Simmons each scored four points apiece to help the Pioneers go up 31-26, White County unleashed an 18-2 run that effectively ended the game.The Warriors scored eight points in 21 seconds as the Pioneers turned the ball over in the backcourt three straight times.White County added a 3-pointer and layup to take an eight-point lead until Rutledge got a run-out layup to make it 39-33 with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter.The Warriors weren’t phased though. White County scored the final five points of the period to lead 44-33 entering the fourth quarter.Rutledge started out the fourth with a big 3-pointer from the corner, but White County kept attacking the Pioneers.Even after another 3-pointer from Daniel with five minutes left, Warren County still trailed 50-39.