Rance Burger/News-Leader
Mitch McHenry and Joel Brown shook hands like old friends.
Then they walked to opposing benches for the first time. Brown, the boys basketball coach at Hillcrest, and McHenry, coach at Rogersville, share many links. They both played for Hall-of-Famer Steve Jenkins at Evangel, coached for Jenkins, and ended up at Kickapoo assisting 2016 Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year Dick Rippee.
On Tuesday night, McHenry and Brown coached against each other for the first time. Hillcrest collected a 55-36 win.
“I hate it because Mitch has been a good friend of mine for a long time, and he’s a competitor,” Brown said.