Season comes to end at Lincoln County for Warriorettes

The White County Warriorettes entered the regional tournament as the fourth seed out of district 7AAA.  The team would have to make the long trip to Fayetteville to take on the Lady Falcons of Lincoln County.  The gym was raucous and packed with Lincoln County fans.  It seemed as if the referees were caught up in the excitement as many of the calls seemed to go in the home team’s favor.  The Warriorettes would end up with 35 fouls on the night.  Five players fouled out for the Warriorettes compared to just one for the Lady Falcons. The Warriorettes fought hard from the opening tip.  The loss was not the result of a lack of effort by the girls from Sparta.  They have made their school and community proud all season long. 

The duo of Nia Powers and Celeste Reed went to work in the first quarter of the game.  The Warriorettes made an effort to establish their presence inside the paint.  Powers and Reed did all the scoring for the Warriorettes other than a 3-point basket by KK McDonald.  The Lady Falcons would lead by 4 points after one quarter, 17-13.

Bella Winningham would come off the bench and provide a spark for the Warriorettes in the second quarter. She hit a deep 3 for the first points of the quarter and would quickly add another basket.  KK McDonald would hit another 3 and Lexi Golden would get a 3-point play the old-fashioned way.   The fouls would quickly add up in the second quarter, forcing Coach Michael Dodgen to adjust his lineup.  The lead at halftime was 32-26 in favor of the home team.

The Warriorettes would come out and score the first 4 points of the second half, pulling within 2 points of the Lady Falcons.  The Lady Falcons then went on a run.  Reed and Powers continued to work hard in the post.  Their hard work, however, resulted in more personal fouls.  The lead for Lincoln County was 47-38 after three quarters. 

All-District standout Nia Powers would foul out of the game about 30 seconds into the fourth quarter and would have to watch her final minutes of her Warriorette career tick down from the bench.  With five minutes to go, Celeste Reed would join her on the bench, having also fouled out.  KK McDonald would get called for a technical foul which would bring her tally to five and send her to the bench as well.  KB Frazier would be the next to leave the game, followed by freshman Lakelyn Grasty.  The Warriorettes would have to compete with five of their best players forced to sit on the bench.  Ava Jones, Karley Gentry and the rest of the Warriorettes played to the final whistle and kept the game within striking distance until the final moments of the game.  The score when the final buzzer sounded was Lincoln County 72, Sparta 63.  The loss brought the Warriorettes’ season to an end.  The Warriorettes would end the season with a record of 22-12.

Celeste Reed would lead the Warriorettes in scoring, with 17 points.  Nia Powers would score 13 points in just three quarters of play. Ava Jones would score 10 points on the night. KK McDonald hit three 3-pointers for 9 points.  Karley Gentry had 6 points in her last game as a Warriorette. Bella Winningham had 5 points, and Lexi Golden had 3.

Coach Dodgen will miss the strong senior class that is moving on, however, the future for White County Warriorette basketball is very bright.    They will return Celeste Reed who should be a district player of the year nominee.  Ava Jones will be a force inside for the team.  The freshmen who got so much experience in the backcourt will take a greater leadership role.  The Warriorettes will also welcome several talented freshmen onto the team next year.