Patriots bow out of 5A playoffs with semifinal loss
Marion boys top El Dorado, Sylvan Hills, lose to Benton to end tourney run
By CHUCK LIVINGSTON
Marion School DIstrict
PARAGOULD — Perhaps the defining trait of the 20242025 Marion boys basketball team is resiliency.
Playing under a third coach in as many seasons, Marion ripped off a stellar 12-4 mark in non-conference play.
After a pair of January 5A East losses, including a rare home defeat, Marion sat at 4-2 and in third place in the league standings.
But the Patriots gelled from there, winning their last eight conference games to claim the outright 5A East title, a dominant victory over El Dorado in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament.
The Pats may have saved their grittiest best for Thursday night.
Playing in the first boys quarterfinal contest of the 2025 state tournament, Marion swapped haymakers with the Sylvan Hills Bears inside Greene County Tech’s Eagle Arena, eventually topping the Bears 54-50 to advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 2022.
Marion (26-6 overall) got a game-high 17 points with six rebounds from senior Mikell Lewis, 12 points and seven boards from junior Chandler Randle, 10 points and six boards from Jalen Neal, nine points and six assists from Dexter Higgins, Jr., and six points and six rebounds from Jackson Black.
Sylvan Hills got 14 points from Deryeus Fowlkes, 10 from Devonte’ West, and seven from P.J. Davis.
The Bears made half of their 12 field goals in the first quarter, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer from West, and Sylvan Hills claimed a 16-12 lead entering the second stanza.
Marion countered and took a second-quarter lead on a Black layup with 2:14 left in the quarter, and the teams accepted a 26-26 tie at halftime.
A Lewis dunk preceded a Higgins steal and layup, and when Black turned an offensive rebound into a layup, a 6-0 Marion run gave the Pats a 34-29 lead, and when Neal hit a long jumper, it was 36-29, and MHS enjoyed a slim 38-36 lead entering the
INVITATION TO BID
fourth period.
The final frame featured four lead changes and two ties, but Marion took the lead for good when Neal made a free throw, and Lewis closed out Sylvan Hills with five points down the stretch, including a dunk off an inbounds play.
Marion made five of seven free throws in the fourth quarter to punch its ticket to Saturday’s semifinal.
The win over the Bears set up a showdown between two No. 1 seeds in the state semifinals at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon between Marion and Benton, again at Greene County Tech’s Eagle Arena.
Unfortunately, the Patriots seemed to have left it all on the court against the Bears, and the Marion squad just could not keep up with the Panthers, falling 71-59 to end their postseason run.
Still, a successful year for the Patriots by any measure, with an overall record of 26-7 and a trip to the state semifinals. Benton moves on to play Maumelle this Friday night for the 5A State Boys Basketball Championship at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs.
Marion’s Jalen Neal (3) rises for a dunk during his team’s run at last week’s state tournament.
Photo by Eryn Edwards
