Marion vs. Little Rock Hall this afternoon for State Title

Marion vs. Little Rock Hall this afternoon for State Title

Marion set to take on Warriors in Hot Springs for 5A Championship

By the Times Sports Staff

sports@theeveningtimes.com To give you an idea of how big today’s basketball game is, the Marion School District has cancelled classes.

The Marion Patriots (24-3 overall, 14-0 5A East) are in Hot Springs this afternoon to play in first state basketball championship game since 1993.

The Patriots will be facing the Little Rock Hall Warriors (23-6 overall, 131 5 A Central), a talented, senior-led team that will be looking for their 11th basketball championship since 1981.

The plan, in cancelling classes, is to allow as many Patriots fans as possible a chance to make the three-hour trip to Hot Springs for the title game.

Part of that red, white and blue wave will be Marion’s entire football team.

“We wouldn’t miss this for anything,” head football coach Keith Houston said about the championship 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 led the last Patriots team to go to a basketball championship game, Coach Melvin Brown led his 22-10 Patriots to the state finals in 1993, ultimately losing to Dumas.

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

The Patriots, 5 A East champions, used strong second half performances in all three of their tournament games in Lake Hamilton to earn a trip to Bank OZK Arena.

In all three games, the Pats would keep the game close in the first half, with many fans taking to social media, worrying about the pace of play. However, the second half of all three games would see Marion clamp down defensively and shut their opponents down.

“They’re sticking together,” Coach David Clark said about what has impressed him the most about his team.

“No matter what gets thrown at them, they’re doing a great job preparing for these teams and they believe in each other.”

Their tourney run started last Tuesday against the Benton Panthers (14-12), the four-seed from the 5A South. The Pats only led 12-11 after the first quarter and gave up some threepointers in the second quarter to keep the Panthers in the game.

After leading 30-27 at halftime, the Patriot defense showed up in the second half. Marion outscored Benton 30-12 in the second half, including a fourth quarter where the Panthers only scored two points: a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left in the game.

Marion senior center Timothy Ceaser was the leading scorer of the game with 17 points. Senior guard Keyshawn Woods finished with 14 points and junior guard Detrick Reeves had 11 points.

Thursday’s quarterfinal game was a rematch from November as the Pats took on the Parkview Patriots (18-10), the three-seed from the 5A Central.

Marion won the first meeting in Little Rock’s Battle of the Barrow tournament.

The game saw the return of senior forward Tristan Haymon after a hand injury. Haymon started the game, but played limited minutes to make sure he did not put too much strain on his hand.

Parkview had a 10-9 lead after the first quarter, but Marion would outscore Parkview 14-10 in the second quarter, including a two-handed dunk from Ceaser at the end of the second quarter to take a 23-20 lead into the break.

The Patriots outscored Parkview 35-30 in the final two quarters for the 58-50 final score. Ceaser was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks.

The win set Marion up for a Saturday meeting with host team, the 5A South champion Lake Hamilton Wolves (25-3). In the first quarter as the Pats took a 16-15 lead into the second quarter. The defenses seemed to settle down in the second as Marion outscored the Wolves 10-8 in the quarter to take a 2623 lead into halftime.

The third quarter was also tightly contested with Marion only outscoring the Wolves 18-17, but the Marion defense stood tall in the fourth quarter. The Pats outscored Lake Hamilton 16-6 in the fourth quarter for the 6046 final score. Reeves was the leading scorer with 25 points.

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.

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 team left for Hot Springs on Wednesday morning with a big sendoff celebration. Tipoff for the 5A state championship game is scheduled for this afternoon at 4 p.m.

In the team’s first year under Coach David Clark, the Marion Patriots are 24-3 overall, 14-0 in the 5A East, ranked number one in the state and 24th in the nation by MaxPreps.com, and are set to play for the State Championship this afternoon in Hot Springs. The Patriots are playing in their first state championship game since 1993. The school district cancelled Thursday’s classes in order to accommodate the large number of students and faculty members that want to make the trip.

Photo by Londa Hamrick