By Michael Lindsay
The White County Warriorettes used a strong second half to secure a 68-48 victory over Stone Memorial Friday evening in District 7AAA play.
White County (19-7, 6-3) was without two key rotation pieces as Ava Jones and Karley Gentry were unavailable against the Lady Panthers (7-18, 0-9).
“You always have to be able to handle adversity; you’re going to have some throughout your season,” said Warriorette head coach Michael Dodgen. “We handled it a lot better in the second half. I’m proud of our kids.”
Warriorette forward Nia Powers put on an impressive performance with 27 points in the victory.
“We know what I’m going to get out of Nia and Celeste every night,” Dodgen said. “I thought Pyper Price had a good night off the bench. Our young kids, Bella Winningham and Gracey Clark, had a good night. It was a collective effort tonight; everybody who stepped on the court did their job.”
Stone Memorial was led by Kailee Waldo and Rachel Houston with 12 points each.
With the game tied at 11 early in the first period, the Warriorettes banked in back-to-back shots to take a 16-11 lead after one quarter.
Stone Memorial took control early in the second quarter as a 9-0 run gave SMHS a 20-16 lead with 5:22 left until halftime.
“(Stone Memorial girls coach) Mike Buck’s bunch plays so hard, and at some point, they’re going to get over the hump and going to beat somebody in our district,” Dodgen said. “They had a great game plan and they made shots against us early.”
The Lady Panthers used the three-point line to push their lead out to 7 points (32-25) by halftime as Houston and Ashely Whittenburg hit two three-pointers each in the final 3:17 of the second quarter.
White County opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 32 via a Lexi Golden transition layup.
The teams traded leads throughout the third period before a Golden putback gave White County a 47-44 lead with 1:25 left in the third.
White County pushed its lead out to 8 points (56-48) with 4:00 remaining before a Powers three-pointer gave the Warriorettes a double-digit lead, 59-48.
White County closed out strong in the contest’s final minutes to secure a 68-48 victory over Stone Memorial.
The Warriorettes are scheduled to face Warren County next on Monday. Stone Memorial hosts Upperman Tuesday evening.
White County (68): Nia Powers 27, Lexie Golden 10, Celeste Reed 9, Bella Winningham 8, KK McDonald 6, Lakelyn Gratsy 6, Pyper Price 2
Stone Memorial (48): Kailee Waldo 12, Rachel Houston 12, Ashley Whittenburg 11, Adison Howard 6, Kortney Headrick 5, Kara VonAchen 2
