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A big defensive effort in the third quarter propelled the Red Raiders to a 59-46 victory over a reeling Warren County squad in the 4A District 9 Consolation game on Tuesday night in Shelbyville.

Warren County had swept Coffee County in the regular season and the Pioneers entered the District Tournament as the No. 1 seed, but a stunning loss to No. 4 seed Lincoln County in the semifinals put the Pioneers in the consolation game where the Red Raiders were waiting.

The Pioneers had a slight edge in the first quarter, outscoring Coffee County 13-12 in the opening quarter of play. Devin Fish and Keyton Reno each scored five points apiece in the first quarter for Warren County and Cayden Trail would hit a couple of triples for the Red Raiders.

Coffee County would take control of the game in the second quarter with the help of seven points from Brady Wright, and the Red Raiders would go into the locker room with a 28-23 lead. Deashawn Adams would be the only Pioneer to score in the second period, potting 10 points.

Out of the halftime break, the Red Raider defense continued to make things tough for a cold-shooting Warren County team, as the Pioneers managed just one field goal and five free throws in the third quarter, allowing Coffee County to take a 42-30 lead into the fourth.

Warren County would cut the fourth quarter deficit to as low as nine points, but the Red Raiders never wavered, going 12/14 from the charity stripe in the final frame to help seal a 59-46 victory.

“I’m extremely happy with the way we bounced back,” said Coach Andrew Taylor. “We were all super disappointed after Saturday night, because we all expected ourselves to be in the championship game, but we just didn’t shoot it well that night. We came back tonight and played defense the way we usually do, we shot the ball well and we made free throws. I’m extremely happy for our group, because they deserve it and they deserve to have some things go their way.”

The Red Raiders will now enter the 4A Region 5 Tournament as the No. 3 seed from District 9 and will play at Independence, the District 10 runners-up, on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m.

With Coffee County hosting the later rounds of the Region 5 Tournament, the Red Raiders would hypothetically get to play in their home gym in the semifinals and finals if they were to advance past the first round and beyond.

Coffee County: 12 16 14 17 – 59

Warren County: – 13 10 7 16 – 46

Coffee County – Cayden Trail 18, Brady Wright 16, Courtland Farrar 11, MJ Rollman 6, Kaysen Loewery 5, Jaiden Warren 3.

Warren County – Devin Fish 14, Deashawn Adams 10, Keyton Reno 8, Canaan Parris 6, Corban Felton 4, Chance Whitlock 4.