HOT SPRINGS -- Even if the end of the bench and the hundreds of Little Rock Christian fans piled into Bank OZK Arena Thursday afternoon knew what was coming their way, the five Warriors weren't ready to begin celebrating.
Not as Little Rock Christian rained down five three-pointers in a span of five minutes early on.
Not as they could see the frustration mounting in Blytheville star Rashaud Marshall.
Not even when Landren Blocker drilled a turnaround jumper at the third-quarter horn, pushing the Warrior lead to 19.
But once Blocker's between-the-legs windmill dunk attempt with just more than a minute remaining clanged off the iron and bounded away, everyone in green could relax. What had seemed inevitable since early in the second quarter was about to be final.
Little Rock Christian, powered by 32 points from Blocker, rolled past Blytheville 74-54 in the Class 4A boys championship game, avenging a regional final loss to the Chickasaws 12 days ago. The Warriors led by double figures for the final 19-plus minutes, keeping Blytheville in check despite 23 points and 14 points from Marshall.
"We just kept telling them, 'We're going to play our best basketball when it matters,'" Little Rock Christian Coach Kyle Pennington said. "These players took this team over about two and a half, three weeks ago and we just let them ride.
"We did play our best basketball when it mattered right here on the big stage."
A nervy start with three turnovers and several ugly jump shots quickly faded as both teams found their rhythm by the middle of the first quarter. Marshall logged three blocks before the first media timeout and the Chickasaws opened up a 9-6 lead.
That was as good as it would get for Blytheville (34-2).
A 17-4 run over 4:13, stretching into the second quarter, put LR Christian (27-8) up 23-13, and the Warriors simply would never take their foot off the gas. They led by 17 at halftime and as many as 23 toward the end of the third quarter.
That LR Christian hit five of its first eight three-pointers and finished the first half 6 of 14 from deep certainly didn't hurt the cause.
"We feed off each other's energy really well," Warriors senior Ben Fox said. "We've done that since the beginning of the season, so ... once I hit one, I think everyone started piling on."
The Chickasaws could never establish an offensive rhythm, even with 6-9 Marshall -- the 247Sports' No. 79 prospect in the 2023 class -- a presence down low. Little Rock Christian switched between its 3-2 and 1-3-1 zone defenses, rotating different players from the back side to crash down on Marshall and prevent Blytheville from initiating its inside-out offense.
Chickasaws Coach McKenzie Pierce quibbled with the lack of fouls called against the Warriors but explained in his postgame press conference that Blytheville had been out of sync most of the week leading up to Thursday's final.
Senior guard T.J. Jackson suffered a serious ankle injury after someone jumped on him during the celebration following Blytheville's semifinal win at home five days ago, and while the Chickasaws were able to keep that knowledge under wraps, prepping with the status of their "heartbeat" wasn't the same.
"However many games we've played, we've pretty much been ready to go for every single one of them, and we just weren't ourselves today," Pierce said. "I don't think it's indicative of the team that we've been all year, but tonight, we got our butts whipped and we let a moment get away from us."
As a drenched Pennington climbed the dais, he called out for Fox, who hustled down from the Little Rock Christian locker room. The senior was going to get his moment after one last game.
But the rest of that Warrior core will return -- they started three juniors plus a freshman in J.J. Andrews.
There's an expectation that Christian's second-ever title is just the start.
"They've got more championships coming," Fox said."
Little Rock Christian’s Landren Blocker had a game-high 32 points plus 6 rebounds and 3 assists to earn MVP honors. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
Little Rock Christian players celebrate after the Warriors’ victory over Blytheville in the Class 4A boys basketball state championship game at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs. More photos available at arkansasonline.com/310boys4abb/. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)Gallery: Class 4A Boys Basketball Championship
