The gauntlet of 5A East conference play continued Tuesday night with the long road trip to Marion to take on the conference-leading Lady Patriots and Patriots in a senior high doubleheader.
Tipping off the action would be the Lady Pioneers as they would enter the ballgame looking to upset the Lady Patriots and get their first conference win of the season. Marion would strike quick and often, opening up an 11-point lead after one quarter of play.
They would put up a staggering 24 points in the second quarter and would never look back, defeating the Lady Pioneers by a final of 66 to 27.
Leading the way in scoring was senior Taylor Rush for the Pioneers with nine points. Junior Abby Hurley would follow with four points and Emily Harrison, Olivia Everetts, Anna-Clair Ezell, Gabby Dockins, Sophie Poole, and Hadley Cunningham all would add two points apiece.
In the nightcap, the Pioneers would face the same tough task of stopping the powerful Patriot offense. The Pioneers would make life difficult for Marion in the early going and would lead for over half of the first quarter before s barrage of three-pointers would give the Patriots an edge 18 to 12 after the end of the first quarter.
The action would stay tight in the second before a big momentum shift would give the Patriots the jolt they would need to pull away as they led 21 to 19 at the half and then would never look back defeating the Pioneers 75 to 45.
Leading the Pioneers in scoring was senior JT Morgan with 15 points. Senior Wes Lange would be next on the board with nine points, sophomore Braxton Davis would chip in seven, senior Logan McSpadden and junior Cory Cothrine would add in five apiece, and junior Jeremiah Strickland would complete the scoreboard with two for the Pioneers.
Both teams will now look to regroup and head back to Pioneer Gymnasium for a Friday night matchup with the Nettleton Lady Raiders and Raiders. The Lady Pioneers will tip-off around 6 p.m. with the Pioneers to follow and can be heard on 93 KZLE, online at WhiteRiverNow.com, and on the White River Now mobile app.
Article by Wes Gwaltney, The Voice of Pioneer Basketball on 93 KZLE
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