To use cage fighting lingo, the WCHS defense forced Tullahoma to tap out Tuesday night at Charlie Dalton Gym.

The Pioneers played defense on Level 10 in defeating the Wildcats, 49-40. The win improves Warren County to 6-3 on the season.

“We put a lot of quickness on the floor and the kids did a good job of understanding exactly what we need to do on defense,” said WCHS coach Chris Sullens. “We were able to create offense with our defense and that’s something we’re going to continue to need to do moving forward.”

Sawyer Seymour led the Pioneers with 15 points, while Kaden Rutledge added 12.

Tullahoma was up 23-19 at the half when the Pioneers kicked it into an extra gear coming out of the locker room. Under hounding defensive pressure, the Wildcats could barely launch a shot and committed turnover after turnover.

Pioneer Isaiah Cummings played a large role, scoring all seven of his points in the third quarter. Cummings hit an acrobatic shot where he drove the baseline and hung in the air to cut the Tullahoma lead to 27-26.

Cummings followed with two foul shots with 2:10 left in the third to give the Pioneers the lead for good, 28-27. 

The Warren County rally would continue when Eli Kuykendall caught a long pass from Keldrick Cox for a layup. A few minutes later, Seymour drained a 3-pointer after Cummings kept the rebound alive on a missed free throw. 

After the Pioneer lead ballooned to 10 points, 40-30, guard Kaden Rutledge was clutch down the stretch hitting 6-of-8 foul shots to preserve the win.

WARREN COUNTY – Sawyer Seymour 15, Kaden Rutledge 12, Isaiah Cummings 7, Eli Kuykendall 6, Kaden Desmaris 4, Braylon Grayson 2, Nate Elrod 2, Keldrick Cox 1

TULLAHOMA – Krys Uselton 16, Will Partin 6, Brody Melton 6, Joe Duncan 6, Ethan Hargrove 3, Jacob Dixon 3