Warriors and Warriorettes win one and lose one with Livingston Academy

 The White County High School basketball teams traveled to Livingston, on Jan. 22, to take on another district foe, the Livingston Academy Wildcats. As is customary, the Warriorettes played first followed by the Warriors. Because of the inclement weather, both teams hadn’t played a game since Jan. 12 and didn’t have opportunities to even practice. Needless to say, some rust was to be expected.

The Warriorettes got off to a great start and ended the first quarter up 19-7 and didn’t look like a team who hadn’t practiced or played in over a week. The second quarter, however, was the complete opposite as LA got hot and pulled within one. The half ended with the Warriorettes up 29-28. The third quarter saw both teams jab at each other, figuratively speaking, with the Warriorettes taking a 5-point advantage heading into the final quarter of the game. The Warriorettes put it away in the fourth, stretching their lead to 12 and ending the game with a final score of 56-44.

Sophomore Bella Winningham played a great game on both sides of the ball, leading the Warriorettes with 20 points and four steals to go along with her two assists and two blocked shots. Senior Celeste Reed logged another stellar performance scoring 16, leading the team with nine rebounds, making three assists, snatching three steals, and blocking a shot. Junior Ava Jones scored 11 points, had four boards, one assist, two steals, and led the team with five blocked shots. Sophomore Gracie Clark scored 7, pulled down five rebounds, and had two steals.

In the nightcap, the Warriors looked to stay undefeated in district play as they ventured into enemy territory. This was a game that the layoff seemed to have an effect on. The Warriors got off to a very slow start, scoring only 4 points in the first quarter, and you got a sense they just needed to shake some rust off to get going, and they would. The first quarter ended with the Warriors down 4-15. After that, though, the Warriors matched the Wildcats quarter for quarter, but, ultimately, it was not enough as a result of the first quarter hole they had to climb out of. The game ended with a final score of 61-49 in favor of the Wildcats.

Junior Tripp Pinion played a good game leading the Warriors with 18 points and three assists to go with his six rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Lucas Smith scored 13, had four boards, two assists, and two steals. Freshman Cole Sims scored 10, had seven rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot, and one steal on the night. Junior Gage Stephenson scored 2, pulled down seven boards, had three assists, three steals, and a blocked shot.

The Warriorettes are now 20-2 overall and 3-1 in district play, putting them in second place behind Upperman who is 3-0. The Warriors fall to 8-8 overall and also 3-1 in district play. The Warriorettes and Warriors hosted Upperman, on Jan. 24.  Results of this game will be published in the Feb. 1 edition of The Expositor.