SHELBYVILLE - Entering the District 9-4A tournament as the No. 1 seed, the Pioneers had a tough time keeping a determined set of Falcons grounded in the district semifinals Saturday, as No. 4 seed Lincoln County pulled off a 54-51 upset.

Juniors Deashawn Adams and Keyton Reno each provided an early spark on offense for the Pioneers, combining to score 19 of Warren County’s 24 first-half points, but the Falcons held the rest of the Pioneers to just five points in the first 16 minutes of play, including two from District 9-4A MVP Devin Fish.

The Falcons’ offense also caught fire early, hitting four first-half 3-pointers to outscore the Pioneers 30-24 in the first half of play.

Warren County kept the margin inside single digits throughout the second half, eventually whittling down the Falcon lead to 51-48 with two minutes remaining in regulation.

A Canaan Parris 3-pointer knotted the score at 51-51 with 58 seconds left, but the Falcons retook the lead immediately on their next possession with a layup to make the score 53-51.

Warren County came up empty on its next possession, forcing the Pioners to foul Lincoln County with 24 seconds remaining.

Carson Thompson had a chance to seal the game at the charity stripe for the Falcons, but the senior only made one of his free throws to keep it a one-possession game, 54-51.

Warren County had several chances to tie the game in the final seconds with shots from Nate Turner and Corban Felton, but none of them would fall, giving Lincoln County an upset victory.

With the loss, the Pioneers would be relegated to the consolation round, where they were scheduled to face No. 3 seed Coffee County Tuesday night. The Red Raiders lost to tournament host Shelbyville in Saturday’s other semifinal game 55-39.

Results from the boys 4A District 9 consolation game will be found in Friday’s paper.