Williamstown’s Anna Cosner, right, squeezes in a loose ball while being guarded by Warren’s Mackenzie James-McGuire during Friday’s game at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WILLIAMSTOWN – Game to game, the Warren girls are gaining confidence about their place on the court.

Friday night at Williamstown, the Warriors looked like world-beaters for the first half and held on for a 47-42 win over the previously-unbeaten Yellowjackets.

Sarah Pettey and DeLaney Gates carried the slack on defense – Pettey giving up five inches and trying to deny Williamstown’s Faith Pickens from entering the post and Gates keeping close tabs on Yellowjacket point guard Quinn Bunch.

Offensively, senior Mackenzie ‘Z’ James-McGuire had a hot hand throughout, including a first half where she accounted for 20 of her game-high 30 points. Her step-back 3-pointer just before the buzzer completed an 18-3 run to close the second quarter and gave the Warriors a 31-16 halftime cushion.

“I thought our girls did a great job with ‘Z’ and Sarah inside on their big girls – (Williamstown’s Faith Pickens and Arissa Burt) are a force inside and we knew we would have to work hard for 32 minutes,” Warren coach Brad Venham said after his team improved to 7-3. “Williamstown is a great team. Any win we can get this year, we knew this would be a trying year for us.

Warren’s Mackenzie James-McGuire (44) drivesbaseline against Williamstown’s Anna Cosner (5) during Friday’s game at Williamstown High School. James-McGuire scored a game-high 30 points in the Warriors’ 47-42 win. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“This is a testament to the girls buying in and knowing this is bigger than themselves. They have to realize that what’s best for the team may not always be best for ‘me’ but they do a great job believing in me over ‘me.'”

Friday marked the first of two varsity games within a 16-hour window for Williamstown (5-1). Period to the opening tip, Yellowjacket coach Danny Bunch had a sneaky suspicion something was a amiss. Even though his girls had won its first five games of the season by an average margin of 36 points, his team did not match the hunger Warren showed in the first half.

The Yellowjackets showed their resolve in the first 4 ½ minutes of the second half and closed to within 33-29, but the continuous uphill climb took its toll and Warren was able to keep just enough distance to prevent any situation from becoming a one-possession game.

A short memory was required because on Saturday Williamstown welcomed in Logan for a noon tip-off.

“Tonight in the first quarter, we weren’t ready to play,” Bunch said. “They didn’t come out with any kind of intensity. Warren came into this gym and wanted to beat us. And that showed on the court. Kudos to Warren. They played a great game.”

Williamstown’s Faith Pickens (14) pulls down a rebound during Friday’s game at Williamstown. Pickens scored a team-high 20 points in the Yellowjackets’ 47-42 loss to Warren. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

A couple of changes in defensive matchups coinciding with a flurry of and-ones – three to be exact in the first 4 ½ minutes of the third quarter resulted in a 13-2 run to open the third quarter and slice the Warren lead to 33-29.

Bunch, Pickens and Arissa Burt each contributed one three-point play the old-fashioned way. Defensively, Anna Cosner was giving up 6 inches to James-McGuire.

“It’s so hard to completely get yourself dug out of that hole against a good, fundamentally sound, well-coached team,” Bunch said. “That’s what it boiled down to. Our changes at halftime worked for a while but Warren started to figure that out.

“It just comes down to playing better defense, being prepared and ready to go.”

Despite a sluggish start, Williamstown played Warren even at 13-13 three minutes into the second quarter. The Yellowjackets did make another field goal for the rest of the first half.

Warren’s Sarah Pettey (13) looks to pass during Friday’s game at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Warren’s run included four 3-pointers – including two apiece from James-McGuire and Rylee Arnold. James-McGuire finished with 13 points in the second period.

“Her positive leadership helps the others and the young pups stay calm and collected,” Venham said. “When Williamstown was making a run (in the second half) and we needed to settle down, ‘Z’ was able to get that for us.”

Only two girls scored in double figures. Pickens finished with a team-high 20 points, but it was a hard-earned 20 with a former travel ball teammate doing everything in her power to deny her the ball.

When Pettey first received the assignment, she welcomed the challenge.

“I was kind of like, bring it on,” Pettey said. “She is really good player. I used to play with her a long, long time ago. We also watched film, so I kind of knew her tendencies, but she is still a very good player and I had my work cut out for me definitely. I am going to be sore tomorrow. Let me tell you that.

“My assignment was to one, not let her catch the ball and two, try and get her out of the paint if I could. If you saw me, I was constantly just slightly nudging her the entire night.”

One item of note from the junior varsity game. Warren’s 37-30 win over Williamstown overshadowed a 13-of-14 performance from the free-throw line by Yellowjacket sophomore Makaela Bandy.

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com