Pioneers’ season ends with overtime thriller
MURFREESBORO — Warren County fans had to be experiencing d?ja vu as Tuesday’s Region 4-A tournament game drew to its finale.
Seconds away from elimination after working their way back from a sizable early deficit, the Pioneers got the ball into senior Matt Cotten’s hands, and the experienced guard drew a foul as time expired.
But unfortunately for the hundreds of WCHS supporters who had made the trek to MTSU’s Murphy Center, the drama of last week’s district tournament win over Cookeville was not to be re-lived, as the Pioneers’ stellar campaign ended with a thrilling 65-62 overtime loss to Lawrence County.
“We were happy with the way we battled back, and just felt like we were better than them,” said Cotten, whose team finished its season with a 21-11 mark. “We should’ve won, but it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to — you can’t do anything about it now.”
With the final seconds ticking away in the extra period, the Pioneers found themselves down three and got the ball to Cotten, who had already provided the biggest highlight of the night when his off-balance 3-pointer tied the score at the end of regulation.
But, unlike last week’s win over Cookeville, where three Cotten free throws won the game for the Pioneers, the referees ruled the foul came before his shot attempt, and could only result in two shots — which were never attempted, since they wouldn’t be enough to make a difference in the game’s final outcome.
Despite the game’s late dramatics, it was a very un-Pioneerlike first quarter which proved to be the difference-maker, according to WCHS players and coaches.
“I think what it all comes down to, is we lost in the first quarter,” Cotten said. “We came out and couldn’t hang on to the ball, and did things we’re not supposed to do.
“We just came out scared, but we had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, and just didn’t execute.”
Connecting on just two of their first 10 shots, the Pioneers fell behind by as many as 14 points (20-6) before closing the first quarter with a 7-0 run.
“The mistakes we were making were not typical,” head coach Doug Keil said. “We couldn’t catch the ball, couldn’t pass the ball or squeeze a rebound. They were the kind of things that could’ve had to do with either being too excited about being there, or in awe of the situation. But once we got over that, I thought we played pretty solid.”
While the Pioneers looked to be back to their own ways after the first period, Lawrence County countered with solid play of its own by Mitch Webb and Chad Hendrix, who combined for 18 points in the first half to help their team keep a narrow 31-30 lead at intermission.
WCHS stayed within sight of the Wildcats throughout the third, taking brief leads on three different occasions, but LCHS closed the period with five straight points and went into the fourth up 44-41, then led by as many as seven points early in the fourth before WCHS came battling back, knotting the score at 52-52 when Cotten scored off a stolen inbounds pass.
A Chris McCune bucket and a free throw from Tucker Bryant gave LCHS a 58-55 lead with just eight seconds remaining in regulation, but Cotten sent the game into overtime, and the fans into hysterics, with a desperation one-handed 3-pointer that found nothing but nylon as the fourth-quarter horn sounded.
“I was just trying to throw it up and trying to make something happen,” Cotten said. “When it’s going, it’s going, and I wanted the ball.”
The mistakes that plagued the Pioneers early came back to haunt them in the overtime period, however. With a 62-61 lead late in the extra stanza, LCHS tied the game with a Webb free throw, then after Haislip rebounded Webb’s missed second shot, he found McCune, who buried a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats on top for good.
Webb finished with 22 for Lawrence County, while Haislip had 15 and McCune scored 14. Bryant and Chad Hendrix had six apiece, and Jay Hartsfield added two as the Wildcats connected on 48 percent of their shots.
Cotten tied his season high with a 24-point night, including five-of-9 from 3-point range, and added three steals. Randal Harrell had 11 points and four rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, and Jeff Chisam turned in six points, four steals and a team-high five boards.
Cody Hillis had five points, Reese Bishop turned in four points and three steals, and Ty Boyd scored two to round out the Pioneers’ efforts.
After shooting 39 percent in the first half, the Pioneers connected on 42 percent of their attempts in the second but went just two-of-six in overtime. WCHS forced 25 turnovers, but committed 19 of its own, and was out-rebounded by the Wildcats 40-29.
Lawrence County went on to fall to Oakland in Wednesday’s semifinals, finishing its season at 25-7.