WCHS Warriors show resilience

After starting the season 2-0, the Warriors had dropped a couple of games heading into their matchup against Central Magnet out of Murfreesboro last Friday night. The Warriors fought hard and kept the game close in a back and forth 1st half that had 6 lead changes. The half ended with the Warriors down by 7. The Tigers started the second half hot making some quick buckets and stretched their lead to 14. The Warriors battled back to pull within 6, but the Tigers would not relinquish the lead. The final score was 51-66. The loss was the third in a row for the Warriors.

 Freshman Cole Sims led the Warriors with 12 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Junior Lucas Dickerson had 9 points and 6 rebounds; Junior Nate Griffin had 7 points and 6 rebounds; and Sophomore Lukas Smith had 7 points and 3 rebounds.

On Monday night, the Warriors looked to get back to their winning ways as they hosted the Van Buren County Eagles. This was a tale of two halves. The game began with the Warriors dominating and getting out to a big lead. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 21-7 in favor of the Warriors. The second quarter was very similar to the first and the half ended with the Warriors up 27-15 and seemingly in complete control. However, the second half was a complete 180 degree change as the Eagles outscored the Warriors 29-17 and with 2:26 left, took the lead for the first time of the entire game. After a couple of minutes of intense lead changes, the buzzer sounded to end regulation and the score was tied, 44-44. The five minutes of overtime mimicked regulation as the Warriors started out hot building a 7 point lead only to see the Eagles climb back in large part due to some untimely turnovers. The Eagles got to within one with only 7 seconds left. On the inbounds pass, Lukas Smith was fouled and iced the game by hitting both of his free-throws. The final score, after overtime, was the Warriors 54 and the Eagles 51. 

Senior Jackson Young had a big game scoring a team-high 14 points to go along with his 8 boards. Lukas Smith scored 13, including those two huge free-throws to seal the game, and also recorded 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Three other Warriors scored 8 points including Junior Gage Stephenson, Sophomore Mason Steele, and Cole Sims who also led the team with 10 rebounds.

The win evens the Warriors’ record up to 3-3 on the season.