Warriors win on Winningham’s last-second three pointer

By Jerry Lowery

The Warriors and Warriorettes traveled up the mountain to take on Stone Memorial in a big district matchup, on Feb. 14, 2020.

With the regular season winding down, every game has district seeding implications, and, although the Warriors had first place locked up, Stone Memorial needed a win to break a tie for third place.

Stone came out and outscored the Warriors in the first two quarters to take a nine-point lead into the break, with the score being 32-23.

The Warriors came out of the locker room determined to cut into the lead. With strong defense and timely shooting, the Warriors outscored Stone in the third quarter 17-10.

Heading into the final frame and the score sitting at 40-42, with the Warriors down two, the stage was set for one of the most exciting finishes all season.  In a battle of wills in the fourth quarter, both teams exchanged leads in the quarter.  With 37 seconds left to play, Kade Clark scored a basket, cutting the lead to one point.  The Warriors fouled on the inbounds, and Stone hit one of two free throws to take a two-point lead, with 35 seconds to play.  The Warriors’ offense then took the ball down the court.

With time running down and the Stone defense surrounding Grant Slatten, almost knocking the ball away two times, Slatten found a wide-open Masyn Winningham deep in the corner.  Winningham received the pass from Slatten and, with ice water in his veins, released the three-pointer.  The ball hit nothing but the nylon and gave the Warriors a one-point lead, with 13 seconds on the clock.  The Warriors’ defense held Stone the final seconds and won in a thrilling comeback finish.  The final score was 59-58.

Grant Slatten led with 28 points. Masyn Winningham had 13 points.  Tanner Paul added seven points, and Kegan Dodson added six.  Kade Clark scored five points in the win.  The Warriors shot 53 percent from the field and shot 50 percent from the three-point line.  The Warriors continue to be good from the free-throw line, hitting 15 of 19 shots for a 79 percent shooting average from the line.

The Warriorettes had an uphill battle as they took on undefeated in the district Stone Memorial Lady Panthers.  The Warriorettes fell behind early, and, at halftime, the score was 38-20.

The Warriorettes could only put in five points in the third quarter, and Stone added 20.  At the end of the third quarter, the score was 58-25.  Stone went on to win 66 to 37.

Nia Powers led the Warriorettes with 11 points.  Julia Curtis added 10 points, and Gracie Dodgen added nine points.  Kanden Reeves added five points, and Alaina Stiles added two points in the game.  The Warriorettes shot only 31 percent from the field and 23 percent from the three-point line.  They were 73 percent from the free-throw line.

Both the Warriors and Warriorettes will now enter district tournament play next week, in Sparta.