As if he needed added incentive considering the rivalry and what was at stake for the winner, Cody Henegar also had the memory of an earlier loss to South Pittsburg as motivation.
Marion County’s 6-foot-9 senior post was active on both ends of the court, scoring 11 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, blocking four shots and altering several others to help claim a 62-50 victory in the District 6-A tournament boys’ championship game at Signal Mountain.
Henegar, a UNC Greensboro signee, had been limited to three field goals in the first meeting but was much more aggressive in the rematch and held the Pirates’ 6-4 post, Jiajuan Fennell, to nine points.
This is the first district tournament title for the Warriors in 19 years, and similar to the Lady Warriors’ tournament title one night earlier, Marion’s boys knocked off the regular-season district champion.
“I knew we had to go to the goal a lot stronger and harder tonight,” Henegar said. “It means a lot to win the district as a senior, but especially considering who we beat to get it.”
Marion County built a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter and never trailed. The Pirates closed to within four late in the third quarter, but Marion answered with an 8-2 run and maintained at least an eight-point advantage the rest of the way, making 16 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“Cody did a real good job of stopping Fennell, and our whole defense did a nice job of shutting out their outside shooters,” Warriors coach Chuck Keef said.
Against Marion’s stifling defense, South Pittsburg made just 31 percent of its field-goal tries, and two of the Pirates’ leading scorers — Fennell and Malcom Jones — were held under 10 points. They and Terrell Robinson all fouled out.
“They just took it to us tonight,” Pirates coach David Phillips said. “I thought we rushed some shots, and never looked relaxed, but a lot of that is a testament to them. They contested every shot we took.”
Marion County will host Copper Basin in a Region 3 quarterfinal Saturday, while South Pittsburg will host Boyd-Buchanan.