JASPER, Tenn. - What had been a light purple shirt to begin the basketball game was much darker and wetter as he sat near the Marion County bench and watched his Lady Warriors celebrate.
It wasn't a Gatorade shower that had soaked Marion coach Randy Ellis' shirt, but rather sweat - and justifiably so after the Lady Warriors needed every bit of effort to hold off a gritty Van Buren County team 50-47 to claim the Region 3-A championship.
"I just need a minute to myself to calm down a little," Ellis said. "We were rattled for a while, but when we needed to step up we did."
Marion (25-1) will host Clarkrange (24-10) in Saturday's sub-state round at 8 p.m. Eastern, while Van Buren (15-17) must travel to Pickett County (29-2), which beat Clarkrange 60-56 Wednesday. It will be the fourth time in program history the Lady Warriors have come within one win of the state tournament, and they will host for the first time since 2011.
Wednesday night's game was the fourth meeting this season between Marion and Van Buren, with the Lady Warriors winning two regular-season games and last week's district tournament title game, each by 14 or more points. But this time Van Buren refused to go away.
The Lady Warriors jumped out to a 10-1 lead, and it wasn't until Hannah Sullivan's layup with 1:47 to go in the first quarter that Van Buren finally connected on a field goal. But the Eaglettes cut the deficit to just one by halftime and took their first lead less than two minutes into the second half.
"I think they knew our strengths by now and they did a good job of defending us," said Emily Webb, one of four Lady Warriors named to the all-tournament team. "I was nervous there at the end, but we just had to keep it together and keep fighting."
Marion rallied with a 9-0 run late in the third quarter to take a six-point lead, but again Van Buren answered, tying the game to end the third. After Marion surged back out to a five-point lead with 3:34 to go on a 3-pointer by Breanna Vinson, the Eaglettes countered with two quick baskets and three times missed shots that would have given them the lead.
Each of those missed chances came after a Marion turnover, with the last miss coming from about four feet from the basket with three seconds remaining. Amy Webb rebounded that miss, then connected on a pair of free throws to put the game away.
"We were very fortunate that they didn't hit some of their open 3s and then for the ball not to go in when they had several good looks there in the final minute," Ellis said. "Those three turnovers down the stretch really hurt, but the ball just didn't fall for them and we're grateful.
"It's a huge deal to get to be at home for this next game."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.