Warren County went into its game Friday against Coffee County at a disadvantage with three of its top scorers out and it showed.
The Pioneers struggled to score and lost a district game to the Red Raiders, 50-28, at The Dalt.
The loss drops Warren County to 7-9 overall and 0-2 in the district. Coffee County improves to 10-7 and 1-1 in the district.
Eli Kuykendall was the top scorer for Warren County with 9. Sawyer Seymour added 8.
“You’ve got to be able to score the basketball,” said WCHS coach Chris Sullens. “You’re not going to win any games scoring 28 points.”
The Pioneer offense was without Kaden Rutledge, the only returning starter from last year, Isaiah Cummings, who scored 18 points Tuesday night against Shelbyville, and Treyton Terry.
Rutledge says he has a wrist injury and is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday. Depending on the results of the MRI, he could miss a few more games or miss the rest of the season.
It looked like it was going to be a close ball game with Sawyer Seymour putting up a 3 and Nate Elrod scoring 2 in the early going.
Eli Kuykendall stayed open under the basket making a few baskets to help Warren County lead by the end of the first quarter, 11-8. Still showing promise, Seymour opened the second quarter with another 3, but that’s where the momentum stopped for the Pioneers.
Red Raider Phineas Rollmen put up a 3 and a foul shot to help Coffee County catch up. With just under two minutes in the half left, Coffee County had tied the game 14-14. Aiden Abellana stole the ball with ease and made a layup, followed by Kaden Desmarias to score for Warren County to tie once again.
It was tied at halftime, 16-16. At the start of the third, Coffee County gained the lead quickly with a 3 from Deyne Crosslin. Crosslin alone scored 8 points in the third. Warren County lost the ability to make baskets in the third and the Pioneers were down 29-20 entering the fourth.
The fourth quarter would see Coffee County score an impressive 21 points on Warren County including Crosslin scoring two 3-pointers. Connor Shemwell scored 8 points that quarter with half of them being foul shots.
The lead was growing wider, then a technical was called on Pioneer guard Keldrick Cox, and that was the nail in the coffin for the Pioneers. In the last half of the quarter, Coffee County’s lead grew to 20 points.
Alex van Vuuren put up a couple points for the Pioneers, but it wasn’t enough against the Red Raiders run in the final quarter.
WARREN COUNTY -- Eli Kuykendall 9, Sawyer Seymour 8, Nate Elrod 4, Alex van Vuuren 4, Kaden Desmarias 2, Camron Perry 1 COFFEE COUNTY – Top Scorers -- Deyne Crosslin 19, Connor Shemwell 12, Aiden Abellana 6
