SHANE SHOEMAKER – Writer
The Marion County Warriors’ basketball teams last Wednesday ended unevenly as the boys walked out with a 69-52 victory, and the girls took a 76-47 loss to North Jackson.
The Lady Warriors (2-7) were doubled up in the first quarter 24-12 and couldn’t pick back up from there. The closest they could match the Chiefs was in the third quarter, scoring 14 to the Chiefs’ 16, accounted for by Milan Pemberton, Laney Bradford, Jacy Gatlin.
Pemberton, who was kept scoreless in the fourth, was 1-for-6 at the foul line and was the Lady Warriors’ highest scorer of the evening with 11 points. Behind her was Chrysia Timis with 10, who drained four field goals in the fourth quarter, followed by Laney Bradford with nine points.
Conversely to the girls’ game, the boys started with a 24-point first quarter on the Chiefs, who could only account for nine. The Warriors (3-6) hit two threes in the quarter, one from Tilton Pickett and another from Brooks Gudger. They had only one more in the fourth off James Webb.
The Chiefs, on the other hand, hit a total of seven three-pointers, with three alone in the final quarter. But it was the Warriors’ work at the foul line that outdid their opponent.
Marion Co. went 14-for-22 (63%) to North Jackson’s 9-for-21 (42%). Tilton Pickett only missed one of his eight charity shots on the night and finished with a total of 32 points. Other scorers were freshman Zaiden Humphrey with eight points, junior Jayden Eakin with seven, and seniors EJ Wilson with seven and Brody Leonard with four.
Next up the Warriors will go on the road to Dade County on January 11th and play Signal Mountain at home on January 12th.
The Marion Tribune – January 11, 2024
