Nothing could have possibly prepared Brittany Myers for what she experienced on Tuesday night when she played her first high school game against Cookeville.
With Warren County facing its biggest rival, the youngest member of the Lady Pioneers sank a free throw with 12.3 seconds to play to give her team a 40-39 victory over the Lady Cavaliers.
Myers was fouled in the corner after a Cookeville turnover in the waning seconds and stepped to the line shooting a one-and-one. With a little encouragement from senior Lauren Wilkinson, who hit a game winner just a week prior in DeKalb County, Myers swished her first shot to give the Lady Pioneers their third straight win over the Lady Cavaliers.
Myers was nervous before taking the shot, but words of encouragement from her teammate seemed to calm down the freshman.
“Now I know how Megan (Dishman) felt in Franklin County when she had to make two late free throws,” said Myers. “Lauren came by and said, ‘you got this.’ I was kind of nervous, but when it left my hands I thought it was going in.”
Myers missed her second shot, leaving Cookeville one last chance to win. Lady Cavalier Hannah Goolsby stormed up the court, looking to go all the way to the basket.
Three Lady Pioneers converged on Goolsby at the free-throw line, forcing her to kick the ball to the corner. Abby Collins got a wide-open look at a 3-pointer, but the shot clanked off the rim and into the arms of Lady Pioneer Jessie Newby.
Newby hung on to the ball until the final whistle blew, leading Myers and the rest of the Lady Pioneers to start celebrating their first District 6-AAA win of the season.
Myers was one of four underclassmen who made big contributions in the victory over Cookeville.
Sophomore Camerie Martin scored a season-high 11 points against the Lady Cavaliers and made two huge plays down the stretch to help the Lady Pioneers improve to 12-12.
Cookeville had the ball with a minute left to play and was leading 39-37. The Lady Cavaliers wanted to take time off the clock, but the tenacious defense of Martin forced a five-second call.
When Warren County took over possession, Wilkinson was the focus of the Cookeville defense. With the Lady Cavaliers selling out to stop the Lady Pioneers’ leading scorer, Martin took the ball straight through the defense.
Martin hit a running left-handed layup with 30.4 seconds left to tie the game. Coach Erick Baird called a time-out immediately to set up his defense for the final 30 seconds.
Newby was the next Lady Pioneer to step up and make a big defensive play. Warren County decided to press and Newby nearly made a steal in the backcourt before Cookeville regained possession.
Not deterred, the sophomore Lady Pioneer came back to form a trap with Myers near halfcourt and force the ball out of the hands of Goolsby.
Newby scrambled to the court and was able to control the ball and pass it forward to Myers. Myers dribbled to the corner, where she was fouled to set up the game-winning free throw.
Though Myers was the freshman at the line to get the win, it was another freshman who got the Lady Pioneers into an early rhythm Tuesday.
Bri Melton, who has been the Lady Pioneers second leading scorer since being promoted to the starting lineup four games ago, hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter as Warren County got off to a hot start.
Cookeville was able to battle back to lead 11-10 after the first period, but five points from Wilkinson in the second quarter helped give the Lady Pioneers a 23-22 lead at halftime.
Melton scored four of Warren County’s six points in the third quarter as the Lady Pioneers held a 29-28 advantage entering the final period.
Cookeville took the lead temporarily in the fourth quarter, but six points from Martin and four from Wilkinson helped keep the Lady Pioneers in the lead or even with the Lady Cavaliers until Myers finally sealed the deal.
Coach Baird was extremely proud of his team, especially his freshman guard who calmly sank the game winner for her only point of the game.
“Both of our freshmen were instrumental in helping us beat the preseason District 6-AAA favorites,” said Baird.
Wilkinson tied Martin with a team-high 11 points for the Lady Pioneers. Melton added 10 points as the freshman has scored in double figures the past two games.
Warren County will go for its second district win tonight when the Coffee County Lady Raiders visit Charlie Dalton Gym. The Lady Pioneers lost in Manchester 32-30 early this month, but are hoping  to even the regular-season series at home.
Tip-off for tonight’s game is set for 6 p.m.