KEITH READY
For The Courier

The Lebanon High School Lady Blue Devils used a size advantage in the post to get out to a early lead on the Cannon County Lionettes in the first round of the Sonic Shootout at White County High School in Sparta Monday, December 28 as the Wilson County team coasted to 71-37 win over the Lionettes.
Former Riverdale coach and Cannon County alumni Cory Barrett, who is now at the helm of the Lebanon program, watched as his team got out to a 40-19 halftime lead as they pounded the ball inside. Lebanon's roster consists of four players 6'1" and above, all of which received deep minutes in the game.
"Their post play was really the difference" said Lionette head coach Jonathan Odom. "We just didn't have an answer to that. When they were able to rotate two at a time with no drop-off in the size, it really hurt us on the boards," he continued.
Missed free throws also plagued the Lionettes. Cannon got to the line 36 times during the contest and only hit 16 from the charity stripe.

Lebanon 71
Cannon County 37
CC: Davis-16, Knox-11, Scott-5, King-3, Haley-1, Walker-1
FG: 6-30 3PT: 3-11 Total: 9-41, FT: 16-36

A hand injury suffered in the game against Lebanon Monday, kept Cannon County Lionette leading scorer Kelli Davis out of the second round game of the Sonic Shootout against Warren County Tuesday. The Lionettes were also without the services of post player Haylee Mooneyham who was ailing from a respiratory infection. The Lionettes responded as best as they could against the AAA school from McMinnville keeping it close in the first quarter. Warren County was able to break it open in the second and coast the rest of the way to a 61-49 win.
"Very proud of the effort that the team gave being as shorthanded as they were" Lionette head coach Jonathan Odom said. "We meet them January 5th and should have both players back and the outcome will hopefully be different."
Maleah Scott and Autumn King carried the team in scoring with 18 and 14 points respectively. Warren County used a 18-0 run at the end of the beginning of the second quarter to provide the big cushion.
They led by 17 in the fourth quarter when Cannon began a run of their own and got as close as 5 before the Lady Pioneers responded and put the game away.

Warren County 61 Cannon County 49
CC: Scott-18, King-14, Knox-7, Gaither-5, Haley-3, Walkup-2
FG: 13-29, 3-PT: 3-14, Total: 16-43, FT: 14-23

As a result of the two previous losses, the Lionettes were in the 7th place game of the Sonic Shootout Wednesday.
Their opponent McMinn County out of Athens Tennessee came into the game a little disappointed after a heartbreaking two point loss to Portland Tuesday afternoon. The Lionettes showed fatigue after two difficult games and as a result spent most of the game making fundamental mistakes, missing free throws while McMinn County took their frustrations out on the Lionettes collecting a 64-41 win and seventh place in the tournament. Cannon County committed 30 turnovers in the game which was uncharacteristic of them coming into the contest.