Warren County Raises Money In Border Battle

The Warren County Pioneers and the Coffee County Red Raiders joined together to help organizations during their latest basketball matchup.

The event started last season as Phyllis Prater, who opened Prater’s Barbeque and Catering in Morrison and Manchester, came to the teams with the idea. Both teams raised $100 for every point scored. Warren Head Coach Danny Fish said last year both teams raised over $20,000 for charity.

“It’s kind of been built up of a game of two communities going at it,” Fish said. “The game is fun too, you know, it’s a fun game any time you can go into a place, whether [it’s] at The Dalt or whether [it’s] at The Patch.”

Both teams scored a total of 109 points, with pledges increasing to $124 for every point scored, raising the total by the end of the night to over $25,000 to support the Dream for Weave Foundation and the McMinnville Special Games. Warren County defeated Coffee County Friday night in overtime by a score of 57 to 52.

“Last year, there was some stuff that went on between [Warren and Coffee County] cause it’s a pretty heated rivalry and we decided to try to do something good out of it.” Fish said. “We play for special games here in McMinnville.”

Fish said both counties made T-shirts this year to commemorate the occasion.

“It was good to see rivals on the floor playing good games against each other, but also communities rooting for the team and reaching into the wallet and serving the community also.”

Over 125 people or groups pledged money for donations this year, an increase of over 20 percent.