Lady Pats look to upset Lady Raiders

Lady Pats look to upset Lady Raiders

Marion girls travel to Jonesboro in an attempt to hand Nettleton first loss of the season

sports@theeveningtimes.com

The Marion Lady Patriots (5-3 overall, 2-1 5A/6A East Conference) take to the hardwood tonight in Jonesboro against the Nettleton Lady Raiders (90, 4-0).

The Lady Patriots are coming off their biggest win of the year, having defeated the Wynne Lady Yellowjackets (0-10, 0-3) 79-21 last weekend. The Marion ladies now go from playing a team still looking for its first win to a team which has yet to lose a game this season in the Lady Raiders.

The dominating victory against the Lady Yellowjackets allowed the Lady Patriots to work on their game plan and get more players key gametime experience, according to Lady Patriots Head Coach Shunda Johnson.

“We needed that win,” Johnson said. “We hadn’t played in a week or so prior to that so we needed to go in and try to execute some things that we need to do. It allowed us to get some of the girls who don’t get a lot of varsity playing time more experience.”

The Lady Patriots look to carry momentum and confidence from the 58-point win into Jonesboro tonight night against a Lady Raiders team which only gives up an average of 43 points a game, so far this season. Johnson believes that due to the familiarity between players that the Raiders success this season is unintimidating.

“Those girls know the kids from the Jonesboro area through AAU and social media,” Johnson said. “They’ve played with and against each other during summer and AAU so they’re pretty much familiar with each other.”

The Lady Raiders, who are ranked second in the state and seventeenth nationally, are actually not the toughest team the Lady Patriots had scheduled this season according to Johnson. Marion faced off against a Fayetteville team earlier this month which was ranked first in the state at the time. Though Marion lost that game, Johnson believes it gave the ladies some key experience that will be helpful tonight against the Lady Raiders.

“We played against Fayetteville and they were number one in the state,” Johnson said. “We jumped out on them and played well in that game. So now we know we can play a team that’s highly ranked and play to the best of our ability. If they’re nervous I would tell them that’s natural, just don’t be scared.”

Many factors come into play in determining which team earns a victory on the court. However, one of the biggest factors may actually be the location of the court itself. The Lady Patriots are just 1-3 away from the confines of their home arena this season, while going 4-0 inside Patriot arena.

“I hadn’t actually looked at the numbers personally,” Johnson said. “I may have to use those numbers as a motivational factor. I keep preaching to them that we need to learn how to win on the road. Numbers don’t lie.”

In order to earn their second road victory of the season, Johnson believes that guard containment and rebounding are some areas which the Lady Patriots must do well in.

Tonight’s conference action tips off in Jonesboro at 5:00 p.m.

By Collins Peeples