Rineheart poured in a game-high 24 points to help the Pirates fend off a determined effort from the visiting Warriors, who fought back from double-digit deficits on several occasions.
The Class 2A No. 16-ranked Pirates improved to 6-1 and head coach Jordan Garner was pleased to see his team get the win against a Warrior squad that slipped to 5-4.
“We played well,” said Garner. “I think Webbers is a good ball club. There were some things we could have done better, but our size overall helped us. To beat a good team like that, I’ll take it every day.”
Gore led 31-18 at halftime, but Webbers Falls opened the third period with two baskets from Levi Sims and a 3-pointer from Chad Dandridge to quickly cut the gap to six. After the Pirates restored a 12-point lead midway through the period, the Warriors fought back with an 8-0 run and closed to within 37-33 on Colton Carter’s trey with 2:55 left in the third.
Webbers Falls was still within striking distance, but Rineheart scored off a steal and nailed a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 spurt that put Gore up 58-37 with 4:40 left in the game.
The Warriors responded again with a 9-2 run, but could get no closer than 13 the rest of the way as Gore hung on for the victory.
Afterward, Garner said the Pirates are still learning how to put teams away.
“That’s one thing we talked about. We haven’t done a very good job of putting people away,” he said. “We’re up 13 at halftime and we end up winning by 14. We just couldn’t put them away tonight, but then again they’re a good ball club and Sean (Dandridge) does a good job with them.”
Rineheart got the majority of his points from slashing drives to the basket, but also sank three treys and pulled down seven rebounds. Ethan James chipped in 11 points and senior post Sam Kusler came off the bench to net 10 points and grab seven rebounds. Logan Andrews added nine points and 11 boards for Gore, Garrett Lehnick scored four and Cory Hunt two. Ryan Humphrey grabbed five rebounds as well to help the Pirates to a 38-34 edge on the boards.
Webbers Falls was led in scoring by senior guard Levi Sims with 16 points. Carter hit three treys and finished with 15 for the Warriors, Chad Dandridge scored nine and Dakota Shipley had six points to go with a game-high 13 rebounds.
Gore’s only loss so far came in the championship game of the Greenleaf Invitational and Garner said he’s pleased with how the Pirates have started the season.
“I’m really happy with our start. We’re 6-1 and got beat by Porter by three points and that was anybody’s game at the end. I feel like if we give ourselves a chance at the end, we’ll be OK. But we’re still learning to finish out ball games. Sometimes we get in a hurry and don’t do a very good job of running time off the clock. We haven’t been in that situation very much in the past, so we’re still learning,” said Garner.
“They show up expecting to win and we have a great student section and they show up expecting us to win. The kids were really disappointed with how we played against Porter, but they showed up the next day ready to work.”
Gore 42, WFHS 38 (G)
The Lady Pirates avenged an earlier loss to Webbers Falls by sinking 7 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter Thursday night to edge the Lady Warriors.
Webbers Falls pulled even at 38-38 on an Amber Hasting free throw with 2:17 remaining, but Gore scored the final four points of the contest to seal the win.
Senior forward Dena Qualls hit a free shot to break the tie and later stole the ball, drew a foul and dropped in a basket with 14.1 seconds left. Qualls was injured on the play and had to leave the game, but Kelsi Brooks came off the bench to hit the free throw and complete the three-point play.
Gore improved to 2-5 with the victory as Qualls led the way with a double-double of 15 points and 19 rebounds. Brooks finished with nine points and 13 rebounds while helping the Lady Pirates out-rebound the visitors by a 45-27 margin. Kenna Tackett added nine points, Cheyanne Johnson seven and Kameko Asamen two.
Webbers Falls had defeated Gore in the seventh-place game of last week’s Greenleaf Invitational as Alisha Carter sank two free throws with no time left on the clock. Carter, the Lady Warriors’ top scorer, went down with a knee injury in the first half on Thursday night.
Katie Smith stepped offensively for Webbers Falls, though, scoring a team-high 17 points to keep the Lady Warriors close. Hastings finished with seven points, Shelby Martin six, Rachel Humphrey six and Heather Mickles two. Martin grabbed six rebounds, while Humphrey and Mickles had five boards apiece.
