SPORTS

On January 16th, 2026, the White County High School Warriorettes defeated the Cumberland County Lady Jets 79-58 at Roy Sewell Gymnasium.

Lakelyn Grasty ('26), Bella Winningham ('26), Ashlyn Selby ('27), Gracie Clark ('26), and Kyra Fox ('26) were the starters for the Warriorettes.

The starters for the Lady Jets were Mady Spriggs ('29), Caylin Hale ('27), Aslin Welch ('27), Sydney Wilhite ('27), and Olivia Futrell ('29).

In the first quarter, the Warriorettes had a 25-20 lead on the Lady Jets, but they had to battle their way for it.

Clark dropped nine points. Selby and Winningham both scored eight points each for the Warriorettes.

Selby talked about mentality in the first quarter, “I just knew with it being a big district game I had to score early to make the rest of the game easier for me and the team.”

Wilhite led the way for the Lady Jets with 13 points out of the 20 scored. Futrell had four, and Hale scored the other three.

The Warriorettes continued to outscore the Lady Jets 10-8, but with both sides’ defense holding strong, the game remained close.

Clark led with five points of her own, and Selby scored four. Winningham had the other one point.

For the Lady Jets, Wilhite scored four points. Both Hale and Futrell dropped two points each.

White County was leading Cumberland County 35-28 after the first half of the game. 

Head coach Michael Dodgen talked about the changes going into the second half after a close first. “We had to do a better job of guarding Sydney Wilhite in the open floor. We didn’t do a good job in the first half of guarding her.”

Selby said, “Rebound, keep them from getting easy buckets, and to not waste a position on offense.”

The Warriorettes’ offense came alive in the third quarter, dropping a total of 22 points collectively.

Fox racked up nine points, and Clark had another five. Grasty, Winningham, and Selby all scored two points each.

Futrell dropped six points for the Lady Jets, and Wilhite had five. Both Hale and Callie Killeen scored two points.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Warriorettes continued to take away the game by adding another 22 points to their score.

Clark racked up eight points, and both Selby and Winningham scored four points of their own. Kylee Norris ('28) also shot a three.

The Lady Jets didn’t give up the fight though, dropping 16 points of their own. Futrell led the way with ten points. Wilhite and Madison Wagoner ('27) both shot a three.

In the end, Clark, who was named Midseason TSSAA Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year, dropped a total of 27 points. 

Selby added her own 18 points, and Winningham racked up 15 of her own. Fox also dropped her season high of 10 points.

On the other side, Wilhite scored 25 points for the Lady Jets. She wasn’t alone though; Futrell had 21 of her own

Ultimately, the Warriorettes came out victorious with another home district victory. They moved to 2-1 in District 7 Class 3A.

Dodgen talked about the next few games. “We’ve got to be able to win some games on the road. And typically we played well on the road, but we’ve got three really good road games coming up with at Smith, at Livingston, and at York. So we’re going to have to be ready and prepare and do the little things right.”

The White County Warriorettes will play a nondistrict game against the Smith County Lady Owls at Bill Landreth Memorial Gymnasium, on January 20th, 2026.