Grace, CSAS in Region 3A Final
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Article by: Jaime Lackey / Chattanooga Times Free Press
The Arts & Sciences and Grace Academy boys both earned the wins they needed to set up a fourth consecutive meeting between the basketball rivals this season.
But Marion County and South Pittsburg did everything they could to prevent that from happening in the Region 3-A semifinals on Wednesday at CSAS.
Both Grace, the 5-A champion, and Arts & Sciences, the district's runner-up, were pushed to the limit against their 6-A opponents, but the Patriots held on to win a 63-61 thriller over Marion County, and the Golden Eagles held off a South Pittsburg rally for a 68-63 victory that puts them in Thursday night's championship game.
"I told the kids that at this level, everybody is good, and it's going to come down to who plays hard," CSAS coach Mark Dragoo said after his team's intense victory. "Well, both teams played very hard tonight. Their big kid (Cody Henegar) played really well. We just couldn't contain him."
Henegar, Marion County's 6-foot-8 center, controlled the game inside, and his Warrior teammates provided the scoring in a 9-0 run that spanned 1:37 of the second quarter and erased the Patriots' 21-12 lead. With both teams scoring in spurts in the first half, Marion County had the final burst, and tied it at 28 on a 3-pointer from Corpeio Brocks.
A jumper, a 3-pointer and a dunk from Henegar helped the Warriors overtake the lead in the third period. They held it for most of the quarter until the Patriots finished on a 7-0 run that featured steals and layups from Sharif Cobb and Malik Dodds, and a 3-pointer from Alex Stallion that put his team up 43-39 at the start of the fourth.
Cobb, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, started the final period with six straight for CSAS, two of them on drives against Henegar. His baskets gave the Patriots a 49-41 lead, but Marion County held them scoreless over the next four minutes.
A 12-0 run gave the Warriors a 53-49 advantage with 3:25 left to play, but CSAS fought its way back to tie the game at 54 on Stallion's three-point play. After two more ties, Stallion found Dodds, who hit a key 3-pointer with 37.3 seconds on the clock. The Warriors scored with 18.7 remaining to cut it to 63-61, and after a missed Patriots' free-throw, they called timeout to plan a last shot with 5.1 ticks left.
That was enough time for Henegar to fire off a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot hit the rim with eight-tenths of a second remaining.
"I sure thought it was going in," Dragoo said. "It was a nice shot, but I think maybe he was fatigued by the end. He had given it everything he had."
Henegar finished with 24 points in his final game for the Warriors, while Brocks scored 14 for Marion County and Robert Bailey added 10. Stallion finished with 19 for CSAS, including a 7-for-7 free-throw performance, and Dodds scored a team-high 21, with four 3s.
"Malik did a great job," Dragoo said. "He's one of our best outside shooters, and he came to life out there tonight."
The Patriots will play for the region championship Thursday against Grace Academy, which also had its hands full in a semifinal matchup with South Pittsburg. Taylor Wilson scored 12 of his 29 points in the first quarter for the Golden Eagles, who carried a 33-23 lead into halftime after Brandon Herman opened the second period with a run of seven straight points.
"Taylor was huge for us tonight," Grace coach Jon Mattheiss said. "Brandon gets so much attention, and when that happens, other players have to step up. Taylor has scored well for us all year, and this was his night to come up big."
The third quarter featured a dominant 19-6 run from South Pittsburg, which led 48-44 on Terrell Robinson's basket to open the final period. The Golden Eagles responded with their own 12-0 run, capped by a Terrell Church 3-pointer that put his team up 56-48 with 3:48 remaining.
"Athletically, they may be the best team in the whole region," Mattheiss said of the Pirates. "And not only are they athletic, but they're physical. I think we got a little antsy on offense and started shooting the ball too quickly. They rebounded really well against us, and when they kept pounding on us, it was tough to stop them."
The Pirates cut their deficit to three points three times in the final two minutes, and just missed an opportunity to tie the score when Robinson's basket rolled off the rim as he was being fouled with 34.2 seconds remaining. Instead of a three-point chance, he went to the foul line for two shots, where he connected on the second to make it 65-63.
Wilson then made one of two free throws for Grace, and after a long 30.9 seconds that featured a turnover from both teams, he hit two more with five seconds to play that sealed the 68-63 victory.
Herman totaled 21 points for Grace, while Jiajuan Fennell led the Pirates with 29 and Robinson followed with 25. The Golden Eagles, who lost to CSAS twice in the regular season before winning the district championship last week, will play the Patriots for a fourth time Thursday at 7 p.m.
"I told the guys that both teams have enough talent and ability to win the game," Mattheiss said. "It may just boil down to a battle of wills to see who wants it more."
(E-mail Jaime Lackey at jaimenlackey@yahoo.com)
ARTS & SCIENCES 63, MARION COUNTY 61
CSAS 19 9 15 20 -- 63
Marion 12 16 11 22 -- 61
CSAS (63) -- Woodruff, M. Ball, Alex Stallion 19, Malik Dodds 21, Bowens, Kurtz, Sharif Cobb 11, A. Ball, Austin 4, Lenoir 8.
Marion (61) -- Corpeio Brocks 14, Casseday 6, Thacker 3, Gibbs 4, Robert Bailey 10, Cody Henegar 24.
GRACE ACADEMY 68, SOUTH PITTSBURG 65
South Pittsburg 13 10 23 17 -- 63
Grace 20 13 11 24 -- 68
South Pittsburg (63) -- Terrell Robinson 25, Chubb, Johnson 2, Jones 3, Mitchell, Robinson 4, Jiajuan Fennell 29.
Grace (68) -- Rector 6, Church 3, Taylor Wilson 29, Nelson 9, Schley, Brandon Herman 21, Ruebusch, C. Carter, A. Carter.
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