Marion girls rally to beat West Memphis in final seconds

Called timeout with none remaining dooms Lady Devils

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

Shunda Johnson’s message to her team was a simple one, even during the most dire of times here on Friday night against county rival West Memphis.

Even when her Lady Patriots fell behind by eight points early in the fourth period, Johnson stayed calm.

“Our message is always to keep playing hard, and don’t give up,” said Johnson. “Everything won’t always go your way, but if you keep pushing then good things can happen.”

Johnson’s words rang true as her team rallied in the _nal frame to claim a 47-45 victory over West Memphis to complete a season sweep of the Lady Blue Devils in front of what’s believed to be more than 1,700 fans inside Fidelity Bank Arena.

Marion (16-8 overall, 6-2 5A East) got 15 points from junior Jada Cheers, 11 from sophomore Summer Morgan, including eight in the fourth quarter, 10 points and eight rebounds from Joniya Lewis, while senior Maryah Rucks pulled down eight rebounds.

West Memphis got a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds from senior Tyra Taylor, 14 from junior Presley McPherson, and six from Aliyah Price.

Marion trailed West Memphis 4544 with 42.6 seconds left in regulation, but Cheers got behind the Lady Blue Devils defense after a missed shot, and Madison Glaspie hit Cheers in stride.

Cheers missed the layup, and Price collected the rebound and called timeout near the baseline, but West Memphis was out of timeouts.

The Lady Blue Devils were assessed a technical foul, which gave Marion a pair of free throws and the ball with less than 40 seconds on the clock.

Cheers sank both technical charities to give the hosts a 46-45 lead, and Marion was able to drain the clock down to 4.7 seconds left when Morgan split a pair of free throws.

West Memphis got the ball to Price, whose three-quarters court heave came up just short to end the ballgame.

“Unfortunate play for them of course,” said Johnson. “That was a great ballgame, and we knew it would be because it’s always close with West Memphis, and tonight was no different. What can you say about Jada making those free throws, and then we were able to hold the ball. This was just a really strong performance all around, and I’m proud of the girls pulling it out.”

Marion closed the game in a urry, but West Memphis opened in one, scoring nine of the game’s _rst 11 points, including seven from McPherson, but Marion closed the _rst frame on a 13-0 run to lead 15-9 after a quarter.

Marion made just one of its 15 _eld goals in the second stanza and that allowed West Memphis to get within 20-19 at halftime.

Taylor got it going in the third quarter, scoring 9 points and pulling down 6 rebounds to give the visitors a 33-31 lead entering the fourth frame.

A short Taylor jumper with 4:41 left gave West Memphis its largest lead of the night (44-36), but that’s when Marion rallied up.

Morgan hit a contested layup with 3:33 left to get the Lady Pats within 44-38, and she followed that up with a three-pointer from the top of the key on her team’s next possession to trim the West Memphis lead to 44-41.

After Price split a pair of free throws, Lewis recovered a missed Cheers three-pointer and turned it into a layup to get Marion within 4543 with 2:21 left in regulation.

Rucks came up with an offensive rebound of her own before drawing a foul and splitting a pair of free throws with 1:37 left to set up the _nal, furious sequence.

What’s next?

Marion continues 5A East play on Friday night when the Patriots host Searcy. The girls game will tip around 6 p.m., followed by the boys at approximately 7:30. You can watch the Marion-Searcy girls and boys games for free on the MPANYouTube channel, at MarionPatriots.com, or on the MPAN mobile app.

5A East results on 2/7

Marion 47, West Memphis 45 Greene Co. Tech 62, Paragould 30 Valley View 57, Batesville 26 Nettleton 52, Searcy 46

5A East standings

Greene Co. Tech 8-0 Valley View 6-2 Marion 6-2 W. Memphis 4-4 Nettleton 4-4 Searcy 2-6 Batesville 2-6 Paragould 0-8 Top four teams make state tournament March 4-8 at Greene Co. Tech.

Marion’s Nia Prude (14) battles for a loose ball during her team’s dramatic victory last Friday night over West Memphis.

Photo by Londa Hamrick