Devin Fish simply refused to let the Pioneers lose Friday night in Manchester. The Pioneer junior was money in the closing moments, scoring 10 points in overtime as Warren County was able to outlast Coffee County 57-52 in the border battle.
The victory turned out to a be a championship clincher for the Pioneers as they sealed up first place in the District 9-4A regular season standings thanks to the late-game heroics (while getting an assist from Lincoln County when the Falcons topped Shelbyville Friday). Warren County is now 18-4 overall and 8-1 in district play.
"Tough environment tonight," said coach Danny Fish after a raucous crowd turned out at the Patch to see the bitter rivals battle. "We had to stay composed. I thought we played pretty well and they did too."
Warren County nearly saw dreams of winning dashed in the final seconds of regulation when Coffee County got two looks right at the basket, but a layup was too strong and a follow-up tip rolled off the rim at the buzzer, giving the Pioneers a chance to pull away in extra time after the 43-43 deadlock.
In money time, the Pioneers didn't hide their intentions offensively. Devin Fish was getting the ball and Coffee County couldn't do anything to stop him.
Fish opened the scoring in OT with a contorting up-and-under layup, kissing it off the glass to start what would be a near-perfect four minutes from the star guard.
He added a 3-pointer moments later, then whipped the whole crowd into a frenzy with a three-point play that put Warren County ahead for good.
On the play, Fish split two defenders at the free-throw line, looking like he was hit early before taking an extra step and extending for a layup. The referee ruled the foul came while Fish was in the act of shooting, giving him the bucket as the home crowd voiced major displeasure.
Nothing would change though as Fish sank the ensuing free throw to make it 51-46.
Coffee County got back within one score with a layup, but Isaiah Robledo calmly responded with two free throws with 1:01 left, then Corban Felton answered a Red Raider layup with one of his own as Fish hit his fellow junior guard in stride for a lefty finish to keep Warren County ahead comfortably.
Fish added two final free throws in the final 10 seconds as a crowd of Pioneer fans rose to their feet to celebrate the big win.
Facing off with Coffee County - which has become the fiercest rivalry across all sports for Warren County - meant tensions were high from the start. Things never settled down until the final buzzer.
Senior Nathan Turner gave the Pioneers early breathing room with a trio of triples in the first quarter, though in his excitement to let a loud student section sitting front row on the home side know about his barrage of buckets, Turner was accessed a technical foul midway through the first quarter. Warren County would go on to lead 16-11 after eight minutes, but a prolonged drought from the Pioneers in the second quarter let Coffee County seize control.
The Red Raiders went on a 16-0 run spanning most of the second quarter and the start of the third to lead 25-20 at halftime and build its largest lead (seven points) in the second half.
Warren County answered with a rally of its own, sparked by back-to-back triples from Felton. Fish added a big layup during a 12-0 spurt, allowing the Pioneers to go up 32-27 entering the fourth.
It was a back-and-forth battle in the final eight minutes, but Turner seemingly gave the Pioneers a big edge when he drained 3-pointer with 1:27 left to make it 43-40.
Coffee County had the answer though, getting a corner triple with :25 left to tie the game, then causing a turnover to get a chance to win at the buzzer. The Pioneers were able to dodge the upset bid though and prevailed behind Fish's emphatic finish in overtime.
Warren County will be looking to keep its momentum with a revenge game Tuesday at Siegel. The Stars were able to stun the Pioneers with a late rally in December - ultimately winning 63-59 at the Dalt - and Tuesday's tip in Murfreesboro is set for 7:30 p.m.
Pioneer scoring - Fish 18, Turner 12, Deashawn Adams 10, Felton 8, Keyton Reno 5, Chance Whitlock 2, Robledo 2
