Story by Greg Wilson
The White County Warriorettes had a goal in mind on Monday: to avenge their loss to Warren County and pick up their 19th win on the season.
Warren County had handed the Warriorettes a 71-70 loss in the Sonic Shootout. With the changing of districts and classifications, the importance of the game had somewhat changed, but was still important to the players and coaching staff.
The first quarter seemed like a continuation of the game in December. Warren County was shooting from outside the arc and connecting, as they knocked down four threes in the frame. The Warriorettes worked hard on the boards and closed the quarter down 18-15. Nia Powers led Sparta with 8 points to open the game.
The Warriorettes dominated on the boards and outscored the Lady Pioneers 10-6 in the second quarter, taking a 25-24 lead into the break. Powers led Sparta with four points in the quarter, and both Lexi Golden and Karley Gentry added three points each for the Warriorettes.
The Lady Pioneers started the quarter shooting from the outside to open the second half, but foul trouble soon began to take its toll on their momentum. The Warrioettes’ offensive rebounding and aggressive play began to swing the momentum as well, as Powers poured in eight points to come within one point of matching the offense of Warren County for the quarter. Two baskets from Stiles and a three-pointer for Gentry gave Sparta a 15-point quarter and a 40-33 lead after three quarters.
Sophomore Celeste Reed led the fourth quarter for the Warriorettes. Reed was 5-6 from the free-throw line and had three field goals for 11 of her fifteen on the night in the frame. Stiles and Powers were perfect from the line, with Stiles hitting four and Powers hitting two. Karley Frazier hit the back end of two free throws to round out the 18 points in the fourth quarter, leading to a 58-45 win for White County.
The 19-4 Warriorettes travel to Livingston for a district game on Friday night for their next contest.