Patriot Arena withstands Hurricane

Patriot Arena withstands Hurricane

Marion boys, girls win against Jonesboro

By Tyler Bennett

Marion School District The first half of conference play for the Marion basketball teams ended with a Friday night home sweep of the Jonesboro Golden Hurricane. The Marion boys (14-3 overall, 7-0 5 A East) and the Lady Patriots (12-9,4-3) used big second half performances to gain important wins with postseason implications.

With the new conference realignments, only the top four teams in each division will go to the state tournament. The Patriot boys are currently first in the 5 A East with a 7-0 record.

Behind them is a threeway tie for second place between 5-2 teams West Memphis, Jonesboro, and Nettleton.

The Lady Patriots are also in a tie for second place, sharing a 4-3 conference record with Paragould, Jonesboro and Mountain Home. The Nettleton Lady Raiders are currently in first place in the 5A East with a perfect conference record.

Jonesboro’s boys (146, 5-2) came into Patriot Arena with sole possession of second place looking to play spoiler to the Patriots’ run at a perfect conference record. Jonesboro also had history on their side, having won the last 12 meetings between the schools.

Neither team seemed willing to cave in to the other’s style of play and the clashes that followed resulted in 12 fouls, including offsetting technical fouls, between the teams in the first quarter. The first eight minutes showed no clear advantage for either squad, ending with the teams tied at 14.

The defensive battle continued in the second quarter with Marion only scoring 11 more points in the quarter as they held the Canes to only nine points.

The Patriots would go into halftime with a 25-23 lead. However, Marion appeared to have the Jonesboro defense solved in the second half. They started the third quarter with a 9-2 run and answered every Hurricane bucket with one of their own until they went into the final frame with a 45-38 advantage.

The Patriots used a 12-1 run to increase the gap even further in the fourth quarter, finishing with a 66-54 final score to remain perfect in conference play.

Detrick Reeves scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter.

Senior forwards Timothy Ceaser and Tristan Haymon also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. “I think we played great in the paint (tonight),” said Haymon.

“With me down low, it can free up Tim to get some open shots and dunks and I think we executed well tonight.”

Senior guard Keyshawn Woods had to change his game offensively due to foul trouble, but still finished with eight points. “I just had to take whatever (Jonesboro) gave me,” said Woods. “They knew I wanted to drive the ball in the paint, so they would set up for charges.

I had to pull up and shoot jump shots.”

The Lady Patriots also had to fight to create seperation from the Lady Hurricane, but managed to reestablish a winning record in conference play.

The largest lead for either team in the first half was a five point Marion lead, but Jonesboro was able to close the gap and go into halftime with the game tied at 20.

Marion went on a 14-2 run out of the break, but Jonesboro finished the quarter with a 7-0 run of their own to trim the Lady Patriot advantage to five heading into the fourth quarter. Jonesboro extended the run to 16-2 and took a 38-36 lead in the later part of the quarter.

Jonesboro’s Destiny Salary converted a three point play with just over a minute left to take a 41-40 lead. Marion point guard Keiana Delaney answered with a running floater to regain the lead at 42-41 with less than thirty seconds left.

A Jonesboro player was fouled with seven seconds left, but a pair of missed free throws kept the Patriots in front on the scoreboard. The Lady Pats kept the ball out of Jonesboro’s hands for the remainder of regulation, wrapping up the exhausting game with a Lady Patriot win.

Marion guard Joi Montgomery led all scorers with 19 points. Senior forward Mikaya McAdory also finished in double digits with 13 points.

Friday’s games were the first of a three game homestand for the Patriot squads. The second set of games will welcome rival West Memphis to Patriot Arena on Friday. Marion won both meetings at Lehr Arena on Jan. 4 with scores of 47-43 in the girls game and 64-52 in the boys game. Tip off is at 6 p.m.

Keyshawn Woods (2) drives towards the hoop. The Patriots finished the first half of 5A East play with a 7-0 conference record.

Photos by Tyler Bennett

Tashlee Milow (3) makes a tough shot in transition. The Lady Patriots are currently tied for second place in the 5A East.