The Warren County Pioneers are entering a pivotal second season under head coach Kyle Turnham, who has one clear goal for his program: building a consistent contender in District 9-4A.
Turnham’s first season at the helm saw the Lady Pioneers finish fourth in the district and make a deeper postseason run than the prior year. Now with a full year of experience for both the players and coaching staff, Turnham said his Lady Pioneers are ready to take the next step.
“We’ve got to improve in close games,” Turnham said. “We had a lot of close games last year that when you, if you take and add all of those games in the win column, which is probably not going to happen, but in theory if you did, it would have changed the complexion of the season.”
The Lady Pioneers finished last season’s campaign with a 7-17 record and a 4-6 record in district play. Turnham said the team showed some noticeable growth as the year progressed. The Lady Pioneers secured statement wins, including a 34 point victory over Spring Hill. Turnham said last season was a major learning curve for everyone involved in the Warren County program.
“We had no experience last year to speak of whatsoever,” Turnham said. “When you take that lack of experience and when you add a new coach, new coaching staff, new philosophy, new terminology, it made for a really tough transition.”
The Lady Pioneers return 12 players, all of whom gained varsity experience last season. Turnham said that experience combined with the team’s overall versatility is what gives him confidence entering the new season.
“We’re really way ahead of where we were this time last year and really anxious to get started,” Turnham said. “We do have some players that are going to be coming off the bench that when you make those substitutions, you’re not going to have the drop off you had last year.”
Turnham said depth will be one of Warren County’s biggest strengths. Turnham said he has up to 14 girls that could contribute meaningful minutes this season.
