By Kailee Dick
GIRLS
The White County Warriorettes held off a fourth-quarter Cannon County rally to pick up a non-district victory over the Lionettes Monday night in Sparta, 59-49.
White County was led by the post duo of Celeste Reed with 18 points and Ava Jones with 16.
“I thought Celeste and Ava played pretty good and together they did a good job,” said White County head coach Michael Dodgen. “We’ve got to be able to read double teams and triple teams, because they will be coming all year until we can consistently knock down some shots.
“Overall, it’s a win and a home win,” He added. “I like Gracie (Clark) and Bella (Winningham) to continue to do what they are doing, and Lakelyn (Gratsy) did a good job running the offense for us. We just got to make better and smarter decisions.”
The Warriorettes dominated early as they led Cannon County 21-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Cannon County found their rhythm in the second period as they cut their deficit down to 10 with a halftime score of 34-24.
“I thought we played pretty good early, in the first quarter especially,” said Dodgen. “We jumped out and thank goodness we did, because in the second, third, and fourth quarter we just went through the motions. You can not do that against a team who has two really good guards. I thought Addie King played really good, especially early, and I thought she did a really good job. Abi Alexander and Abbilyn Teeter are two really good players, and they have a chance to be pretty good down the road.”
The second-half tempo went in favor of Cannon County as the Lionettes were knocking on the door to end the third period, trailing 46-39.
The Lionettes came within four points (46-42) early in the fourth quarter before back-to-back baskets by Gracie Clark and Ava Jones put the Warriorettes ahead 50-42.
Cannon County answered with a layup to trim the contest back to two possessions (50-44) before a Reed transition three-pointer and Jones jumper with 3:03 left pushed White County’s lead back to double digits, 55-44. The Warriorettes held on to win by a 59-49 final to improve to 4-0 overall.
“I think they had 15 offensive rebounds, and that is a lot of second chances to give up,” said Dodgen.
White County will travel to Warren County on Tuesday night, while Cannon County will travel to F.C. Boyd Christian.
White County (59): Celeste Reed had 18, Ava Jones 16, Kylie Novell 9, Gracie Clark 8, Lakelyn Grasty 4, Pyper Price 4.
Cannon County (49): Jenna Bush 13, Abbilyn Teeter 12, Addie King 11, Abi Alexander 7, and Liv Prate 6.
BOYS
The Cannon County Lions defeated White County in a non-district matchup Monday, night, 59-40.
“Coach Mitchell ran his 1-3-1 and we made a few adjustments in there,” said Cannon County head coach Jared Nave. “Our guys finally started attacking and credit to the guys who made the adjustments. Coach Eric Mitchell got us for a long time, and tonight just happened to be one of our nights.”
The Lions went back and forth offensively with White County for the first quarter as Cannon County led 13-12 after the first period.
Cannon began to stretch their lead in the second quarter as they held a 28-20 halftime advantage.
The Lions’ defense came out strong in the second half as they outscored White County 13-3 in the third quarter to take a 41-23 lead entering the fourth. Cannon County closed out to win by a final score of 59-40.
“The guys just played hard and are starting to do what we ask them to do,” said Nave. “They are starting to buy in and are having a lot of fun doing it. All credit to our guys, they played hard. White County is obviously a great team and Coach Mitchell is a great coach. I’m sure he is going to try and get us when they come back, and he might.”
For the Lions, AJ Armstrong led with 13 points along with 12 from Theo Winters. Eli Pelham and Antonio Jones each had nine points, followed by Damaurion Locke with eight points, Lukas Phillips with five and Eli Garrett with three.
For the Warriors, Nate Griffin posted had 12 points and Cole Sims had 10. Mason Steele scored six points along with five from Kash Sampson, four by Lucas Smith and Jordan Brown had three.
“This was a good team win, the guys were in it and the bench was in it. It was just a good team win for us,” said Nave.
The Lions will travel to F.C. Boyd Christian Tuesday night, while The Warriors will travel to Warren County.
