Warren County Middle School boys basketball coach Kevin Burnett doesn’t know what makes his team play like wild bobcats in the third quarter.

The Pioneers put the game away with a dominating 13-2 run in the third on the way to beating Franklin South 61-27 Monday night in McMinnville.

“I don’t know what takes us so long to get going,” said Burnett, whose team improves to 3-2. “We’ve talked and talked about coming out and playing well in the first quarter and it’s one of those things where we’ve talked about it so much, it’s better just to leave it alone for a while. Overall, I liked our intensity and I was impressed with how we executed our sets. The boys looked good running our plays.”

The Pioneers were too well-balanced inside and out for a Franklin South team still looking for its first win. WCMS was especially deadly from downtown, draining nine 3-pointers for the game.

Sharp-shooter Brody Womack connected on four 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 20 points. Nate Turner also made four 3-pointers and finished with 12. Turner had the hot hand in the second quarter when he scored 9.

Up 33-15 at the break, WCMS rattled off 13 straight points to start the third quarter. Womack made a halfcourt steal and dribbled to the rim for a layup, then produced another steal and found a streaking Andrew Key for a score, 41-15.

Levi Jones drove the baseline and went under the basket for a reverse layup that was followed by a Womack 3-pointer from the corner and all of a sudden it was 46-15. The route was on.

The WCMS boys team was the only one in action because the WCMS girls are dealing with quarantine issues. WCMS athletic director Betsy McBride said she thinks it’s possible the Lady Pioneers could come out of quarantine as early as Friday under new CDC guidelines, but it’s more likely the girls won’t play until next week.

WCMS Scoring

Brody Womack 20, Nate Turner 12, Dyson Elam 10, Andrew Key 8, Aaron Templeton 7, Levi Jones 4

FRANKLIN SOUTH

Top Scorers

Samuel Vincent 12, Josiah Cullins 6