Pats split with Raiders

Pats split with Raiders

Boys win, girls lose on the road in Nettleton

By Tyler Bennett

Marion School District Raider Gymnasium became a land of extremes on Tuesday night with both games between the Marion Patriots and Nettleton Raiders ending in routs.

The Lady Patriots (9-7 overall, 1-1 conference) fell to one of the top girls teams in the state, while the Patriots boys team (9-3, 2-0) added scenes to their highlight reel.

“We knew (Nettleton) would come out hard and physical, so we made it a goal to play even tougher than them,” said Marion boys head coach David Clark. “We were able to rebound and control the paint enough to make this an easy victory.”

After the big win last Friday at West Memphis, the Patriots knew that there was an opportunity for a hungry Nettleton team (7-4, 1-1) to surprise the Patriots. Coach Clark told his team before the game to not let the win over the Blue Devils linger in their minds for too long.

“I considered this a trap game,” said Clark. “The Raiders have a good team, so I did not want to get behind early in this one. We started strong and never stopped.”

The Patriots repeated an incredible defensive feat, holding Nettleton to only eight points at the end of the first quarter, the same amount they held the Blue Devils to last Friday. Marion got an early boost from senior forward Tristan Hay man, who scored eight of Marion’s first ten points. “We have so many weapons on this team,” said Clark. “Our team is full of scorers, and Tristan is one of them. You can’t afford to double team any of our guys defensively, because it will open up somebody, and Tristan got to benefit off of that early.” Marion had a 21-8 lead at the end of the first, but the Patriots could not afford to get comfortable. The Patriots have given up big second quarter runs in the past, such as last Friday’s 16-0 run by West Memphis to trim Marion’s lead to one.

However, no such run was made by the Raiders and the Pats led by as many as 19 in the second frame. The Pats weathered the storm and took a 37-22 lead into half-time.

The second half started at a frantic pace with both teams running multiple fast breaks, but no points were scored until almost two and a half minutes into the third quarter. “I didn’t call a timeout, but I told them to slow down,” said Clark. “We may have been trying too hard to make pretty plays, because we missed six or seven point blank shots to start the half.

When they settled down and ran the plays, the scoring started again.”

Marion’s dominance continued throughout the game and was capitalized with a highlight reel play in the fourth quarter that was the number seven play on ESPN’s Top 10. The Pats were running a three-onone fastbreak when Makyi Boyce threw a no-look, behind the back pass to Detrick Reeves. Reeves threw the ball off the glass in the perfect spot for Timothy Ceaser to jam the ball home with two hands.

“I didn’t have to teach them that at all,” said Clark while laughing. “Our guys love to run down the court and play fast. They made a great play.”

The 66-46 win was a great way to cap a night that started off rough for Patriots fans after the Nettleton Lady Raiders (13-1, 2-0) took care of the Lady Patriots. The Lady Raiders came into the game as the fourth best team in the state according to Maxpreps and proved it with an 83-33 win over the Lady Pats.

The Lady Patriots got into foul trouble early in the game, putting the Lady Raiders in the bonus with six minutes left in the first half. Nettleton’s frequent trips to the line, dominance in the paint, and nearly perfect performance from Lady Raider guard Elauna Eaton were too much for the Lady Patriots to overcome.

Up next for the Patriots are their first home games since Nov. 8 as they welcome the Searcy Lions. Tip off from Patriot Arena on Friday for the girls game is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the boys to follow at 7:30 p.m.