The day after Thanksgiving is typically associated with football and shopping, but in Warren County it’s set aside for basketball. The Pioneers made the short drive to Cannon County on Friday to take on Central Magnet in the Thanksgiving Classic.
Riding momentum from a Tuesday night win, the Pioneers used a 20-point fourth quarter to overcome a third-quarter scare and defeat the Central Magnet Tigers, 50-42. The Pioneers (6-4) needed a late rally because they were trailing by three points entering the final quarter.
By a narrow first-half margin, the Pioneers found themselves only up two at the half, 23-21. Warren County was getting points from numerous players in the first half, but unable to shut down Central Magnet’s offense.
The third-quarter scare would come from the Pioneers going cold in the third. For at least four minutes in the third, the Pioneers only managed four points and the coaching staff let them know.
It must have been the spark the Pioneers needed to hear. Christian Wilkinson immediately took it upon himself to get the ball in the basket. Wilkinson drove straight into the Central Magnets defense and was rewarded for his efforts. He would be fouled after the shot fell and given the intentional foul, which meant he would get two shots and the ball back, hitting one of two and cutting the lead to three points just before the fourth.
Warren County coach Chris Sullens would try and carry the momentum into the fourth. Carlos Villegas gathered a loose ball from the Tigers and drove. He lost the ball on his way up but somehow he gathered it up enough to push it toward the rim, getting it to drop in.
Joelah Solomon would get a steal on the next possession, losing it just to run it down and take it back. Getting to rim and drawing a foul would send Solomon to the line. After hitting both, Warren County would finally be up one.
Central Magnet would start to get sloppy with the ball, giving it back to Warren County. This time Isaiah Grayson would be the beneficiary of a three-point play for the Pioneers. Within the first two minutes of the fourth, Warren County had managed to retake the lead and there would be no looking back.
A couple of bad passes and close calls forced coach Sullens to take a timeout. After the timeout, Krojhn Calbert would get the ball in deep and score. Warren County was on a 6-0 run against the Tigers, who started to whither. The ball was thrown away and what seemed like an easy score for Central Magnet was stopped in its tracks when Pioneer Trey Cantrell would chase the Tiger down and block his shot off the backboard to the delight of the crowd and Warren County coaches.
Central Magnet was finally able to stop the run on a made Tiger free throw.
That’s when Villegas, who looked as though he was stuck behind the backboard, went up and under the rim between defenders and used the backboard to spin in another two points. Coach Sullens called for time and decided to try and burn some clock being up seven with :57 to play.
Central Magnet went the length of the floor and scored, calling for time immediately after the made basket that cut the Pioneer lead to five. The Pioneers would inbound and Cantrell was fouled, but would connect on both for the Pioneers.
Central cut the lead back to five with :19.4 to play, but this time it would be the Tiger defense caught sleeping when Holden Baker slipped behind them for an easy uncontested shot. With :10.3 to play, the Tigers realized it would not be the day to throw Warren County a loss. The Pioneers would be up eight as time expired.
In the first quarter Warren County had five different Pioneers get into the scoring column, outscoring the Tigers 12-6 in the first eight minutes. But it is a four-quarter game and more often than not, the game is not won in the first quarter alone.
The second quarter belonged to the Tigers offense, this time outscoring the Pioneers 15-9 and pulling back within two points just before the halftime break.

Pioneer scoring - Carlos Villegas 14, Krojhn Calbert 11, Christian Wilkinson 11, Holden Baker 4, Joelah Solomon 4, Trey Cantrell 3, Zech Clark 1.
Tigers top scorers - Ben Gregory 7, Zach McCrary 6.