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By the skin of their teeth
Pioneers earn trip to regional tourney
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Warning: Watching the Warren County High School boys basketball team can cause stress, rapid heartbeat and a rise in blood pressure. Any person following the Pioneers should expect buzzer-beating shots, last-second heroics and controversial calls.In the most important game of the year, Warren County earned its fourth victory this season at the buzzer as a last-second shot by Coffee County was waved off to give the Pioneers a 51-50 win in the play-in game of the District 6-AAA tournament.Warren County (13-18) advanced to the semifinals in the district tournament, along with earning its third regional bid in four years, when referees waved off Lake Elam’s layup at the horn that would’ve given the Red Raiders the win.Coffee County coach Scott Givens, along with the rest of the Red Raiders, were in complete disbelief about the call, but the Pioneers took the split-second decision in stride because they have been in these situations plenty of times before.Warren County defeated Franklin County in December when D’Andre League connected on a floater in the final seconds. Nick Simmons gave the Pioneers a one-point win over Coffee County in January with a three-point play with :02 left and Lee Carden beat the buzzer with a tip-in two weeks ago that lifted Warren County to a 56-54 victory at Cannon County.While it has become a common theme for most Pioneer games to come down to the wire, Thursday’s fight to the finish was the biggest in terms of what it meant to each team.The heart-breaking loss ended the Red Raiders’ season, while Warren County will now be guaranteed at least three more games.