Marion girls stay unbeaten in 5A East play

Lady Patriots get two big conference wins

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

The Marion Patriot girls’ basketball program had a busy week last week, picking up a pair of conference wins against two 5A East rivals

Patriots 65 – Rams 35

PARAGOULD – Marion girls head basketball coach Shunda Johnson preaches defensive intensity in her program, and that emphasis was in focus for anyone to see here on Tuesday night.

The Lady Patriot defense forced 31 Paragould turnovers, and turned many of them into points, to claim a 65-35 5A East victory at Doc Paynter Court.

Marion got to 14-6 overall, including a flawless 4-0 mark so far in 5A East action, behind a balanced offensive effort, featuring 14 points from Jada Cheers, 13 points by Joniya Lewis, nine points by Mariyah Rucks, and eight points apiece from Summer Morgan, Madison Glaspie, and Ayanna Hayes.

Marion forced 14 Lady Ram turnovers in the first quarter, helping the Lady Pats make 11 of 20 field goal attempts in the game’s first eight minutes. Hayes scored six points in that frame, and the visitors led 2310 after the game’s lid-lifter.

Lewis scored nine of her 13 points in the second period when the Lady Pats surrendered just two field goals and forced 12 more turnovers in the second stanza to push ahead 45-18 at halftime.

Marion made its first eight shots from the floor in the third period to claim its first 30-point lead and trigger the Arkansas Sportsmanship Rule for the remainder of the game, and the Lady Patriots enjoyed a 63-24 bulge after three. Cheers led Marion with six points in the third.

Glaspie accounted for Marion’s only points in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Patriots connected on 29 of 61 field goals at Paragould while committing only 13 turnovers, and Marion won the rebounding battle 23-21.

Patriots 65 – Pioneers 33

MARION – Shunda Johnson has made quite the name for herself over the past several years as the head girls basketball coach at Marion, but on Friday night, she sounded more like a college professor.

Following a 65-33 5A East victory over Batesville at Fidelity Bank Arena, Johnson pulled out her phone to explain giving her team a B+ overall grade.

“Our guards completed three of their four goals that we gave them this morning,” said Johnson. “Our bigs completed two of three, so I think a B+ is fair.”

Marion scored the game’s first 14 points and never looked back in staying perfect in the 5A East on Friday night, forcing 22 Batesville turnovers in the 32-point romp.

Marion (15-6 overall, 5-0 5A East), which already owns head-to-head victories over league rivals West Memphis, Nettleton, and Searcy already this season, got points from eight players, including double-digit efforts from Jada Cheers (17 points), 13 from Ayanna Hayes, 12 from Joniya Lewis, and 11 from Summer Morgan. Lewis and Cheers led the way with eight rebounds apiece.

Batesville fell despite getting 11 points from Serenity Patterson, 10 from Eryn Pennington, and six from Briley Pulliaum.

Marion took its first double- digit lead early in the first quarter when Cheers swished a three-pointer as the hosts led 10-0 while forcing four Batesville turnovers, and a Morgan triple gave the Lady Patriots a 19-7 lead after one quarter.

The run continued into the second quarter as the hosts claimed their first 20-point lead of the night when Madison Glaspie came up with a steal and threw an outlet pass to Hayes, who finished over a taller player at the rim for a 34-13 Marion lead midway through the second, and the Lady Pats led 41-19 at halftime.

Marion forced 15 first-half turnovers while allowing Batesville to make just 5 of 22 shots from the floor prior to halftime.

“We challenged our girls to match their intensity tonight because Batesville is a team that always plays very hard,” said Johnson. “We were going to have to match their effort if we wanted to win, and I thought we did that most of the night, definitely in the first half.”

Marion kept the pedal down in the third, taking its first 30-point lead of the night when Hayes scored on backto- back layups for a 53-23 lead with 4:18 left in the period, and the Lady Pats toted a 61-27 lead to the fourth quarter.

What’s Next?

Marion hosts the Eagles of Greene County Tech. The girls varsity game will tip around 6 p.m., followed by the boys varsity contest at approximately 7:30 p.m. You can watch the Patriot varsity girls and boys contest for free on the MPAN YouTube channel, on the MPAN mobile app, or on MarionPatriots.com.

Rankings Rundown

For the third straight week, the Marion Lady Patriots were ranked No. 6 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Class 5A SuperSix rankings on Sunday morning. Farmington, Greene County Tech, Mountain Home, Vilonia, and Little Rock Christian are ranked 1-5 this week, respectively. Marion hosts Greene County Tech on Friday, January 31.

5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/24

Marion 65, Batesville 33 Greene Co. Tech 70, Valley View 44 Nettleton 58, W. Memphis 56 Searcy 54, Paragould 42

5A EAST STANDINGS

Marion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-0 Greene Co. Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-0 Valley View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 Batesville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 W. Memphis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Nettleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 Searcy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 Paragould. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-5 Top four teams make state tournament March 4-8 at Greene County Tech.

Marion junior Madison Glaspie (10) finishes a layup at the rim earlier this month.

Photos by Eryn Edwards

Marion guard Ayanna Hayes (15) contests a Paragould shot during action on Tuesday night.