Patriots have a date with destiny in Hot Springs

Patriots have a date with destiny in Hot Springs

Marion set for first State Championship game since 1993

Marion School District The day Marion fans have waited all season for has finally come. The Marion Patriots (24-3 overall, 14-0 5A East) will try to prove their number one ranking in the state and play in their first state championship game since 1993.

Campus was buzzing Monday afternoon with conversations of travel plans, debates on who would score the most points and analysis of the previous week’s games.

Marion’s entire football team is planning on making the trip, even in the middle of their busy offseason schedule.

“We wouldn’t miss this for anything,” head football coach Keith Houston said on Monday about Thursday’s game. “Those boys earned a shot to play for a title, so we’re going to support them and represent Marion as best as we can.”

Another person that is excited for this game is the man that coached the last Patriot team to go to a championship game.

Coach Melvin Brown led his 22-10 Patriots to the state finals in 1993, and sees a lot of his squad in this year’s team.

“This is probably the most talented Marion basketball team I’ve seen in my nearly 30 years here,” Brown said on Monday. “They also play great defense and get along with each other really well just like my team.”

Brown also described his players the same way current coach David Clark describes his team after almost every game: selfless.

“There was no envy or jealousy between players when I coached and I don’t see any of that in the way these guys play now,” Brown said.

Marion beat Morrilton and Mills in the 1993 state tournament at Greene County Tech to earn their way into the state finals.

However, the Patriots were not able to overcome a 16 percent first half shooting performance and lost 43-41 to Dumas in the championship game. Marion’s opponent for the 2019 finals is one that the team has not played since 2012, but is a familiar name for the Patriot coaching staff. It’s a team that Coach Clark spent 11 years working for and the alma mater for assistant coach Ronald Talley.

The Little Rock Hall Warriors (23-6 overall, 13-1 5A Central) are a talented, senior led team that will be looking for their eleventh basketball championship since 1981.

Clark described them as an athletic team that plays without fear.

“They’ve got size and athleticism, and they’re coached well,” Clark said about the Warriors. “We taught a ‘no-fear’ attitude when I was there, but our guys won’t back down either.”

Hall started their tournament with a 67-53 win over the four-seed from the West, Alma. Hall then crushed Hot Springs, the two-seed from the South, 73-47 in the quarterfinals, but had a close call in their semifinal game.

It took a last possession stop on defense to hold back the West Memphis Blue Devils, the two-seed from the East. The 43-38 win was the fewest points the Warriors had scored since a 48-39 loss to Mills on December 7.

Hall’s lone conference loss came at Pine Bluff on January 18 with a score of 64-61. The Warriors are on a 13-game win streak since then.

Marion is also on a big win streak that increased to 18 games after the big week in Lake Hamilton.

The Patriots are also undefeated against teams from the Natural State, with their only losses coming from Raleigh-Egypt of Memphis and Olive Branch in Mississippi.

The team will leave for Hot Springs on Wednesday morning with a big sendoff celebration, but they will have to wait one more day after that for their chance at history. Tipoff for the 5A state championship game is scheduled for Thursday, March 7 at 4:00 pm.

By Tyler Bennett