When a season ends, coaches often find themselves wondering "what if?"The questions pile up. What if a ball bounced a different direction? What if a shot fell instead of rimming out?
Coach Chris Sullens has pondered all the what ifs, especially after the Pioneers ended their season one step short of the state sectionals Tuesday with a 70-63 loss to Stone Memorial.
Despite being devastated by the defeat, which brought to end the high school careers of five seniors and one of the best seasons in decades for the Pioneers, coach Sullens started changing his mindset to what was.
“We’re disappointed by falling one step short of the sectionals, which was one of our biggest goals this season,” said Sullens. “This group did some great things though. We won a region game for the first time in decades. We won over 20 games. We competed night in and night out with the type of intensity and drive that we asked of them before the season.”
Warren County (23-8) had its chances to get a bid to the sectionals. The Pioneers trailed by just two points, 45-43, in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter against Stone Memorial, the District 6AAA champions. Warren County couldn’t overcome the deficit though, with Isaiah Grayson fouling out with 5:30 left proving to be a pivotal point as the Pioneers were left more short-handed down the stretch.
The Pioneers played the region semifinal without their third leading scorer, Irving Espinoza. The sophomore was dismissed from the team Monday. School officials didn’t comment further, other than to say the dismissal will remain until further notice.
It was the second straight game Warren County played without an honorable mention District 6AAA selection. In Saturday’s region quarterfinal, the Pioneers prevailed over Walker Valley while being without Sloan Seymour, who was out for a violation of school rules.
Sullens praised his seniors for staying together and nearly pushing the Pioneers into a spot the school hasn’t seen since the 1980s.
“Our five seniors did everything we asked them to do. They made this program better,” said Sullens. “The distractions they endured in the last 3-4 days of our season speaks volumes to their character.”
Three of those seniors (Grayson, Chance Hobbs and Tyree Ladet) leave the program after all-district seasons. Bunker Brock and Caleb Newby split starts in the post, providing scoring in the paint, strong defense and rebounding.
Their efforts set up the next class of seniors with a feat rarely seen in Pioneer basketball.
“Our upcoming seniors will have a chance to graduate with over 80 varsity wins. It’s not often we have a class that averages 20 wins per season,” said Sullens.
It’s Sullens’ next what if. What if next year’s Pioneers are better than this version?
