Pioneers lose heart-breaker at final horn
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WCHS guard Brooks Majors buried a 3-pointer with nine seconds left, tying Tuesday’s game against DeKalb County at 56-56 and completing a rally from what had been a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit.
But the Tigers’ Carson Long silenced the cheering throng of Pioneer fans in attendance, when he laid in a basket as the final buzzer sounded to cap a 58-56 win.
With the loss, the Pioneers — who had finished 2-0 in a pair of Hall of Fame Classic games last week — dropped to 2-1 on the young season.
Down 38-28 through three quarters, Warren County fell behind by its largest margin of the game — 11 points — when DeKalb’s Justin Hooper converted a three-point play less than a minute into the game’s final stanza.
The Pioneers caught fire in the closing minutes of the quarter, however, holding their hosts without a field goal for almost three minutes and climbing back into the game thanks to baskets from Andy Harrell and Majors, whose 3-pointer with 1:27 to play cut the Tiger lead to four.
Sophomore Jonathan Morris made it a two-point game by converting a three-point play with 55 ticks remaining, and with 23 seconds to go Heath Crisp nailed a clutch 3-pointer of his own, pulling the Pioneers within a point at 54-53.
Forced to foul to conserve clock, WCHS sent DeKalb’s Alex Woodward to the line, and the senior responded by hitting both attempts, setting the stage for the thrilling final seconds.
Woodward finished with 10 points, and was one of three Tigers to turn in a double-digit night. Cody Randolph led the way for DCHS with 23, including five 3-pointers, while Jacob Melton also had 10 points. Hooper scored nine, Long had four and Daniel Alexander chipped in two.
Todd Gilley scored 14 points to lead the Pioneers, who led 8-7 after one quarter but trailed by five (24-19) at halftime. Warren Swann, Majors, Crisp and Harrell had eight each, while Morris and Ricky Curtis had three each.