Tuesday night brought the Red Raiders from Coffee County to Charlie Dalton Gym to match up against the Warren County Pioneers. These two teams met earlier this year and Warren County got edged by two points.
Warren County was looking to settle the score and not only did the Pioneers settle it, they settled it convincingly by a final of 54-35.
Isaiah Grayson and Holden Baker led the Pioneers with nine points each, followed by Carlos Villegas with eight. Grayson was especially pesky on defense, using his quickness to produce several steals.
The win improves Warren County to 5-4 with one week to play before its first district game against Cumberland County in Crossville. The Pioneers have a Thanksgiving Classic over the weekend in Woodbury before a home game against DeKalb County on Tuesday. Then the district schedule begins.
In the rematch against Coffee County, the Pioneers were determined to outhustle and outmuscle the Red Raiders on Tuesday night. As the second quarter started to wind down, a key play was made by Pioneer Hunter Hawkins.
Hawkins receives a wide-open pass deep in the paint. The Coffee County defense collapsed too late and Hawkins was fouled and was able to convert on both free throws. With 20.2 seconds left in the half, that’s the momentum the Pioneers would build on in the second half.
Villegas would open the second half with a hard drive to the rim, drawing contact and the foul. After hitting one of two, Coffee County was forced to take a timeout.
The coach for Coffee County was trying to get his team back into the ball game. Warren County would keep the pressure on the ball the entire length of the floor, playing to the Pioneers’ advantage, even holding the Red Raiders to a 10-second backcourt violation during the third.
Coffee County was not done yet. The Red Raiders continued to push their way through the pressure defense and if they were not connecting on a made basket, they were able to draw fouls from the Warren County defense. Coffee County chipped away, getting within six points at one time, but that would be as close as the Red Raiders would get.
The coach for the Red Raider would disagree with a call and let his feelings be known to the referee. The referee would walk toward the coach, and before he had a chance to say anything, the coach made it known a second time. That was all it took to draw a technical foul with 5:48 to play.
It was then Warren County could smell blood in the water. Coach Chris Sullens decided to push harder and motivate his team, trying to capitalize off the Coffee County coach’s mistake.
Krojhn Calbert showed intensity when he dove on a loose ball and called for timeout to save the possession for Warren County. The Pioneers were still up seven with 4:22 when the pass off the inbounds went to Holden Baker. Baker stepped back and connected on a deep three, bringing the Warren County fans into the game.
It was a complete offensive and defensive meltdown for Coffee County the rest of the way. The Pioneers were having their way the last four minutes.
Early on, it appeared as though Coffee County would try and rely on shooting 3-pointers the entire game not being able to penetrate the Warren County defense. It was pretty evenly matched in the first as the Pioneers fell behind early 9-6.
Warren County came out in the second to make a statement by overcoming the deficit, and taking the lead before the half. And it was all Warren County in the third and fourth quarters. Inbounding and passing was still an issue, but not like that of the previous games.
Warren County was up by as many as 21 points when the subs entered the game to finish off the Red Raiders.
Sharing the ball without depending on anyone player to make things happen certainly worked well for the Pioneers on Tuesday night. With three consecutive home wins under its belt, Warren County will be back at home on Dec. 5 against DeKalb County in the White Out game.

PIONEER SCORING - Isaiah Grayson 9, Holden Baker 9, Carlos Villegas 8, Trey Cantrell 6, Christian Wilkinson 5, Hunter Hawkins 5, Joelah Solomon 4, Isaac Golden 3, Chandler Cassel 3, Krojhn Clabert 2

RED RAIDER TOP SCORERS - Peyton Talley 11, Ty McGee 6