After a pair of regular-season losses against county rival Whitwell, Marion County landed a measure of revenge with Monday’s 59-50 win in the District 6-A girls’ basketball championship game at Signal Mountain High School.
“Our defense stepped up,” Marion County star Keta Robinette said. “We knew it was going to be tough because they’re our biggest rival.”
Marion County used its size to dominate the rebounding battle 41-20. The Lady Warriors had some success with a triangle-and-two defense in trying to slow down Whitwell’s all-star backcourt of Macy Kilgore and Halle Ware.
Having district tournament MVP Robinette in a purple uniform didn’t hurt, either.
Robinette had a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds and added four assists as the Lady Warriors secured the district’s top seed in the region tournament later this week.
“Keta is a great player,” Whitwell coach Eric Zensen said, “and she really hurt us, not only scoring but creating plays for other players, too.
Kilgore scored 17 of her team-high 22 after the break, but the combination defense limited Ware’s scoring chances and allowed the taller Lady Warriors to control the tempo.
“They have two all-state players and we wanted to pressure them and then survive their runs,” Marion County coach Randy Ellis said before pointing to his star. “And Keta’s a big-time player; she’s always going to pull us through.”
Robinette keyed an 11-0 run midway through the second quarter. The versatile junior made a driving layup and hit a long 3-pointer from the wing as Marion stretched a one-point edge to a 12-point lead it never surrender.
That lead was threatened, though. On the strength of Kilgore’s marksmanship and Paige Carter’s tenacity, Whitwell closed the gap to 46-45 early in the fourth quarter. The Lady Tigers did not make another field goal after that.
Lauren Brown sandwiched two baskets around Robinette’s difficult pull-up jumper as Marion swelled its lead back to eight before clinching the title from the free-throw line.