Patriots pick up pair of conference wins

Marion boys top Paragould, Batesville in 5A East action

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

The Marion Patriots earned two pivotal wins last week in the super-tight 5A East, picking up a road win over Paragould and coming out on top at home over Batesville.

Patriots 76 – Rams 62

PARAGOULD – Despite the obvious chill in the air the past week around town, the Marion Patriots are somehow heating up.

The latest example was Tuesday night against old rival Paragould on Doc Paynter Court.

Marion made 31 of its 51 field goal attempts (61 percent) in its second straight conference road date to earn a 76-62 victory.

The Pats’ shooting helped them overcome a similarly hot night for Paragould, which connected on 13 of 26 three-point attempts in the loss.

Marion (15-4 overall, 3-1 5A East) got 18 points from Chandler Randle, 15 from Mikell Lewis, 13 by Jalen Neal, and 11 from Rylan Johnson. Johnson scored all of his points after halftime, including a 3 of 5 showing from three-point range.

Marion’s stellar offensive evening began with the first quarter as the Patriots made 11 of their 14 shots from the floor to fashion a 25-11 lead after eight minutes.

But Paragould didn’t back down, and the Rams limited the Pats to just four field goals in the second stanza, while the hosts countered that by making four three-pointers alone to get within 35-28 at halftime.

Johnson roared to life in the third period, making all three of his three-pointers in that quarter to stake his team to a 51-39 lead to open the fourth quarter.

Lewis helped close out the Rams with seven fourth-quarter points.

Patriots 59 – Pioneers 34 Many around Marion’s boys basketball team felt like this year’s outfit could be one of the better shooting teams the school has seen in some years.

Friday night’s home game inside Fidelity Bank Arena against Batesville was proof.

The Patriots made eight three-pointers en route to a scorching 24 of 50 shooting performance from the floor in a 59-34 conquest of the Pioneers.

“Really good win for us in a lot of areas,” said Marion coach Sammie Lewis. “We gave up 21 points in the first half and just 18 in the second half. The team that guarded in the second half is the team I expect to guard all the time, so I’m proud of them for doing that.”

But early on, Batesville seemed intent on making it a game.

The Pioneers claimed an early 10-4 lead, forcing Lewis to call for time.

“That conversation was just about everything they were doing, which were things we’d scouted on them so far this year,” said Lewis. “They’re good at all those things, and we knew that, but we weren’t doing a good job defending that stuff. When we started to lock in is when we were able to get back into it and make a run.”

The Patriots forced 14 Pioneer turnovers after the first quarter while committing just four of their own to pull away at home.

Marion (16-5 overall, 4-1 5A East) got 15 points from Mikell Lewis, 14 from Jalen Neal, and 10 from Chandler Randle, while Lewis approached a double-double with eight rebounds.

Batesville got 14 points from Ransom Dunlap, 11 from Talen Foree, and seven from Rafael Thomas in defeat.

Batesville made six of its 13 field goals in the first quarter, running out to a 10-4 lead before Marion hit the Pioneers with a 10-3 run to close the quarter for a 14-13 lead after 8 minutes.

Marion claimed its first double-digit lead (32-21) with 1:17 left in the second quarter on a Karlyal Hyland layup, and a Lewis stickback off an offensive rebound gave the Patriots a 34-21 halftime lead.

Batesville trimmed the Marion lead to 10 points (39-29) after a pair of Thomas free throws in the third, but the Patriots scored the last 5 points of the frame to take a 44-29 lead after three quarters.

Marion allowed Batesville to make just one of its eight field goal attempts in the fourth quarter to pull away.

What’s Next?

Marion hosts 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 Valley View varsity girls and boys contest for free on the MPAN YouTube channel, on the MPAN mobile app, or on MarionPatriots.com.

5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/24

Marion 59, Batesville 34 Nettleton 65, W. Memphis 58 Valley View 79, Greene Co. Tech 54 Paragould 49, Searcy 45

5A EAST STANDINGS

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

Marion guard Korbin Littlejohn (15) initiates the offense during his team’s win last week at Paragould.

Marion senior guard Rylan Johnson soars to the basket during his team’s Tuesday victory at Paragould.

Photos by Eryn Edwards