The Warren County High School boys basketball team had its shots, but the Pioneers couldn’t quite get over the hump in each of their games in the Rhea County Hall of Fame tournament Tuesday night.The Pioneers were downed by Rhea County 56-54 and a 30-point game by senior Hunter Daniel was spoiled when Warren County lost 68-65 to Walker Valley.The Hall of Fame games are used as preseason in high school basketball, as the winning teams can count the games toward their record while the losing teams erase the memory completely.Warren County will forget the two losses Tuesday, but it won’t be easy.The Pioneers had their chances to bring home both victories, but Warren County lost a fourth-quarter lead against Rhea County and had a big rally fall one possession short against Walker Valley.Against Rhea County, Warren County took a halftime lead thanks to a big second quarter.Trailing 16-13 entering the second period, the Pioneers blew up for 19 points while limiting the home team to 10.Senior Hunter Adams led the way with five points while Kendall Rutledge added his first 3-pointer in the game.After the break, Rhea County started chipping away at the Warren County lead, but two more long-range shots from Rutledge kept the Pioneers in command entering the fourth quarter.In the last eight minutes, the Pioneer offense went cold. Warren County hit only one shot from the field, a bucket from Jacob Reagan, while Rhea County spread its offense around to six people to force a tie. Three free throws by Reagan and two more from Daniel kept the Pioneers in the game late.Warren County lost the lead with seven seconds to go when the Pioneers took a long shot and missed and the rebound led to a Rhea County transition layup.The Pioneers had one last shot to tie.
WCHS loses two by total of five points