Enduring a loss on a last-second shot was bad enough for the Warren County High School girls basketball team. Following it up with a double-overtime loss borders on cruel and unusual punishment.
The Lady Pioneers finished fourth in the District 6-AAA tournament after losing 71-67 in double overtime to Cumberland County in the consolation game Monday night.
The disappointment of Saturday’s loss at the buzzer to White County still seemed fresh in the minds of the Lady Pioneers when the team took the court against Cumberland County and promptly fell behind by double digits.
Warren County mounted a furious rally in the second half after trailing 32-20 at halftime. Behind seniors Lauren Wilkinson and Bree Smith, the Lady Pioneers battled back to within two with a minute to go in regulation.
Freshman Bri Melton brought Warren County even with Cumberland County with :47 left when she spun down the lane and hit a floater to knot the score at 47.
The Lady Pioneers got a stop on the other end as Smith pulled down a rebound and rushed back upcourt. Before the Lady Jets could set up, Smith slid down the right block and banked in an off-balanced shot with 28.3 seconds to give Warren County its first lead at 49-47.
Having the District 6-AAA player of the year never seemed more important for Cumberland County than when Taylor Vaden buried a baseline jumper just five seconds later to tie the game.
Turnovers by both teams gave Warren County one last chance to win in the final 10 seconds.
With 7.2 seconds left, Warren County needed to go the full length of the court. The ball came in to Camerie Martin and she immediately tossed it upcourt to Smith.
Smith thought about taking a shot from the left wing before she spotted Wilkinson slicing down the middle of the court. Wilkinson caught the pass with less than two seconds and put up a rushed shot between two Lady Jets in the paint.
The ball hit the backboard, then bounced off the front end of the rim before coming to rest on the court. The missed shot sent the game into overtime where the Lady Pioneers and Lady Jets returned to the court for a four-minute stanza.
Smith gave Warren County a 57-55 lead in overtime when she drilled a baseline jumper with 48.3 seconds to play, but Jaclyn Reagan sank two free throws with 13.5 seconds to tie the game.
Melton got the final shot for the Lady Pioneers in the first overtime, but her baseline jumper from the right side came up short.
Warren County began the second OT on a 5-0 run. Wilkinson buried a pull-up jumper to begin the streak. Megan Dishman followed with a free throw and Smith’s run-out layup with 3:25 remaining put the Lady Pioneers up 62-57.
The turning point came with 1:16 left when Wilkinson picked up her final foul with Warren County leading 65-61.
Wilkinson went to the bench while Reagan went to the free-throw line and sliced the lead to 65-63. The Lady Pioneers turned the ball over on their next possession, giving Cumberland County a chance to tie or take the lead.
The Lady Jets went for the lead as Vaden launched a 3-pointer from the right wing that banked in and put her team ahead 66-65.
The advantage didn’t last long. Warren County broke the Lady Jet press as Smith weaved her way through traffic and found sophomore Jessie Newby wide open under the basket for a layup with 35.3 seconds to go.
The frantic pace of the game barely had time to slow down before Brandi Green swished a short jumper with 22.9 seconds to play to put the Lady Jets back ahead 68-67.
Green came up with the play of the game when she stole a pass on the ensuing Lady Pioneer possession and fed Reagan under the basket. Warren County was able to stop Reagan from hitting the shot, but fouled in the process.
Reagan hit one from the line, putting the Lady Jets up 69-67 with 16.6 seconds to play.
Warren County nearly turned the ball over a second-straight possession when a long pass looked out of the reach of Newby, but a Lady Jet came flying in and tipped the ball out of bounds under the Lady Pioneer basket with 7.9 seconds left.
Coach Baird called a time-out to draw up an inbounds play, but Dishman wasn’t able to connect with Smith on the pass. Warren County ended up knocking the ball out of bounds during a scramble.
Cumberland County got the ball back and Reagan was fouled with 3.5 seconds left. Reagan put the final nail in the game when she sank two free throws to put Cumberland County up four.
Melton’s half-court heave at the buzzer nearly banked in, but the shot wouldn’t have mattered as Warren County lost by four.
Wilkinson finished with 24 points and Smith added 22 as both Lady Pioneer seniors were named to the all-tournament team.
Coach Baird was extremely proud of the effort of his team and had plenty of good things to say about his senior duo.
“The girls played two really competitive games. Unfortunately, we came up short on both,” said Baird. “They executed the game plan well, but some timely situations cost us late in the games.
“Overall, we really had two great performances by our seniors. They really stepped up and rose to the challenge.”
Dishman added 11 points in the consolation game.
Warren County will return to action Friday night when the team plays in the regional tournament. The Lady Pioneers will take on Bradley Central on the road in a game which will begin at 6 p.m. Central.