Nettleton girls outlast Marion in tough road contest

Lady Patriots drop 5A East clash

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

JONESBORO — The road can be a lonely place, especially in the uber-competitive 5A East girls basketball league.

Marion found out the hard way here on Tuesday night.

The Lady Patriots battled for four quarters but came up on the short end of a 52-48 decision against league rival Nettleton at Raider Gymnasium.

Marion (16-9 overall, 6-3 5A East) lost despite getting 16 points from Madison Glaspie, 13 from Ayanna Hayes, and 9 from Jada Cheers.

Nettleton got 14 points apiece from Kaylee Franklin and Jessica Cullins and 12 from Kaeden Hardaway.

The Lady Patriot defense forced 21 Lady Raider turnovers, and Marion outrebounded Nettleton 28-20, but MHS shot just fourof- 14 from the free-throw line, while Nettleton was nine-of-12 from the stripe, including sevenof- eight in the fourth quarter.

Marion led 8-5 in the first quarter following a layup from Maryah Rucks, but Nettleton scored the final four points of the frame to claim a 9-8 lead after eight minutes.

Nettleton stretched its lead to 21-12 with 3:32 left in the second quarter, but Marion rallied when Hayes scored three straight points and Glaspie made it a 7-0 Marion run with a layup and the visitors worked within 21-17 with 1:11 left in the first half, and Nettleton enjoyed a 24-19 bulge at halftime.

The Lady Raiders took their largest lead of the night when Cullins canned a three-pointer with 3:17 remaining in the third quarter, but Marion rallied as Glaspie, Hayes, and Summer Morgan scored to get the Lady Pats within 37-35 late in the third quarter, and Nettleton led 39-33 after three.

Marion got within two points on three occasions in the fourth period, but Nettleton had a response each time.

A pair of Cheers free throws got the Lady Pats within 45-43 with 3:20 left in regulation, and a Glaspie layup with 2:26 left made the score 47-45 in favor of Nettleton.

A Glaspie runner with 41.4 seconds left got Marion within 50-48, but a pair of Cullins free throws with 12.1 seconds left set the final margin.

Marion and Nettleton split their regular-season series, with the Lady Patriots winning by five points at home in January, and the Lady Raiders winning by four on Tuesday, which would give the head-to-head edge to Marion should the teams wind up tied in the 5A East standings.

5A East results from 2/11

Nettleton 52, Marion 48 Greene Co. Tech 58, Searcy 45 Valley View 63, Paragould 42 W. Memphis 50, Batesville 25

5A east standings

Greene Co. Tech 9-0 Valley View 7-2 Marion 6-3 W. Memphis 5-4 Nettleton 5-4 Searcy 2-7 Batesville 2-7 Paragould 0-9 Top four teams make state tournament March 4-8 at Greene Co.

Tech.

Marion’s A’Laya Smith (13) looks to make a move with the ball during her team’s game Tuesday night at Nettleton.

Photo by Eryn Edwards/