WCHS Warriorettes open district play with dominating performance against the DeKalb County Lady Tigers

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White County High School Warriorettes opened district play with a dominating win over DeKalb County. The game, originally scheduled for Jan. 10, but moved to Jan. 9, in anticipation of the winter storm predicted for the Upper Cumberland over the weekend, was the third win of the week for the Warriorettes and their 17th straight victory at home.

On Jan. 6, the WCHS Warriorettes defeated the Warren County Lady Pioneers by a score of 65 to 33. The Warriorettes started fast and didn’t let up until the final minutes of play. After jumping out to a 33-11 halftime lead, White County continued their offensive onslaught by scoring 26 points in the third quarter. With a 59-23 lead after three quarters, the Warriorettes finally let up in the fourth, allowing the Lady Pioneers to outscore them 10-6 in the final minutes.

Junior Bella Winningham led all scorers with 20 points, hitting three 3-pointers and converting her only free throw attempt of the night. Ava Jones added 15 points, including two baskets from beyond the arc. Gracie Clark added 13 points, and Lakelyn Grasty, who was perfect from the foul line, added 11 more. Sara Winfree scored 2 points, and Kylie Norvell added 1.

The Warriorettes’ defense was a strong as their offense, on Jan. 13. As a team, they recorded 29 rebounds and 18 steals, while blocking nine Lady Pioneer shots.

On Jan. 7, White County traveled to Wilson County where they continued their dominance on the court. The Warriorettes outscored the Wildcats in every quarter to run away with a 65-44 win.

The Jan. 7 high scorer was Bella Winningham who sank an amazing six buckets from behind the arc on her way to netting 28 of the Warriorettes’ points. Also in double-digit scoring was senior Ava Jones with 15 points and junior Gracie Clark who had 10. Sarah Winfree scored 4 points, Kylie Norvell and Kyra Fox each had 3 points, while Kennedy Billings-Sullivan rounded out the scoring with 2 points.

The Warriorettes grabbed 34 rebounds with Clark getting 12 to give her a double-double on the night. As a team, they also recorded another 11 steals and four blocked shots.

But the highlight of the week was the Jan. 9 district opener which the Warriorettes dominated from the start. Their 67-22 win over the DeKalb County Lady Tigers was their 11th victory by a margin of 21 points or more this season.

The win was a team effort with 10 different players putting points on the board and all but one recording at least one rebound. Once again, Winningham led the way as she went 6 for 11 from the floor and 2 for 2 from the line to net 15 total points. The junior Warriorette also dominated on defense recording 5 steals and 1 blocked shot. Clark matched Winningham’s scoring with 15 points of her own as she was perfect from beyond the arc and the at the line. Clark’s defense was also unstoppable as she grabbed 5 rebounds and 3 steals on the night. While no one else hit double figures in scoring, Billings-Sullivan, who had 7 points, led the team with 6 rebounds while Jones scored 8 points and snagged 6 rebounds herself. Jones netted 8 points, Grasty scored 6 points, Miah Jo Swindell had 5 points, and three Warriorettes had 3 points each: Kylie Norvell, Kylie Norris, and Sarah Winfree, while Kyra Fox sank one of her two foul shots.

In the past nine games, the Warriorettes have pulled down at least 10 offensive rebounds and Thursday night was no different. Their 34 rebounds in their first district match up of the season was evenly spread with 17 coming offensively and the other 17 on defense. Getting those second shots on basket are key in keeping the White County offense rolling and a large part of why they have averaged 69.3 points per game in their past seventeen home wins.

But their defense has stayed strong as well. Grabbing 17 boards on the opposite end of the court means that their opponents weren’t getting those same extra chances that the Warriorettes were. Added to their strong performance on the boards, White County snatched 21 steals, on Jan. 9, eliminating the times that DeKalb County had the opportunity to throw the ball up.

The Warriorettes will be back in action, on Jan. 14, when they travel to Stone Memorial for the first of nine more district games over the next five weeks.    

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