Winningham scores 29 to propel Warriorettes to championship game

The White County Warriorettes and the Mt. Juliet Golden Bears met in the last of the semifinal games at the 4^th Annual Frank’s Christmas Shootout.

Bella Winningham scored 20 of her 29 points in the second half as she led the Warriorettes to a gritty 84-69 win.  

Mt. Juliet opened the game with a quick putback, but neither team could find points over the next few minutes - although both sides recorded plenty of fouls. 

Before the end of the first quarter, both teams were in the bonus with White County scoring eight points from the foul line. Turnovers and defensive rebounds combined with those fouls to keep the score relatively low in the first quarter, and the Warriorettes found themselves with a 22-12 lead at the end of one. 

White County tried to pull away in the second quarter, but Mt. Juliet refused to go away. The Golden Bears had an answer for the Warriorettes' fast-paced style, and refused to let the contest get out of reach. More than once, the Warriorettes stretched their lead to 11 points, but Mt. Juliet kept battling, and White County’s lead was cut to just six (36-30) by the buzzer.

Mt. Juliet started the second half with the same intensity they ended the first, chipping away at White County’s lead turning the tables on the Warriorettes who found themselves under the same pressure they were used to giving opponents. White County let their nerves show with sloppy ball handling and missed shots, and found themselves tied with the Golden Bears at 43 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.  

A pair of timeouts by head coach Michael Dodgen helped the Warriorettes settle down, and they regained a seven-point lead before the start of the final eight minutes, heading into the final period up 58-51.  

The Warriorettes’ cleaned-up offense resulted in a flood of baskets as they stretched their lead to 18 halfway through the final quarter. The Golden Bears attempted to chip away at the lead, but couldn’t get the same panic play from White County that they got in the first three quarters as the Warriorettes advanced to Monday night’s championship game.