Pats sweep Rams

Marion boys, girls win in clash with Paragould

By Tyler Bennett

Marion School District The Patriots took care of business on Tuesday night against the Paragould Rams. Both teams had double-digit leads for the majority of their games while learning ways to better themselves as the conference schedule progresses.

Up first was the Lady Patriots’ (10-11 overall, 3-3 5A East) big first half against the Lady Rams (5-12, 1-5).

Paragould got hot from beyond the arch in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Pats had already pushed the lead too far for the Lady Rams to overcome it.

“First half, we did a really good job containing the three-point shooters. Second half, we got lost going under screens,” Marion coach Shunda Johnson said.

“We couldn’t afford to do that against any of them because any of those girls from that team could get hot.”

The Lady Pats had the size advantage against the Lady Rams and made the most of the difference. Marion’s paint attack fueled their 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, which lead to their 3317 lead at halftime.

“I think we did a pretty good job offensively,” Johnson said. “We penetrated the baseline and were looking for each other. We got it done in transition too. That’s our style of game.”

Marion’s defense was rock solid in the first three quarters, giving up only single-digit point totals in each of the first three quarters.

The Lady Rams scored nineteen points in the final quarter, including four three pointers, but the damage had already been done. The 59-45 win was the first home conference win for the Lady Pats.

Six Lady Patriots made their way to the scorer’s sheet, led by junior Jala Henderson with nineteen points.

The two other Lady Patriots in double figures were senior Keiana Delaney with eleven points, including a three-point make, and sophomore Daedrianna Cail with ten points.

The game that followed was a 73-28 rout by the Patriot boys (8-10, 4-2) in which their defense improved as the game went on against the struggling Paragould Rams (1-16, 0-6). The ten-point first quarter was the only double digit quarter for the Rams.

“We were okay defensively tonight,” Marion coach David Clark said. “We didn’t play with enough effort as I would’ve liked, but we did well enough to win the game.”

After the first quarter, Marion gave up seven, six and five points respectively in each quarter. The Patriots scored twenty-four in the first and nineteen in the second for a 43-17 halftime lead.

Marion’s fourteen-point fourth quarter was their lowest total, but it occurred with a running clock. Marion hit three shots beyond the arc against the Rams, including a buzzer-beater by junior Tim McDonald at the end of the second quarter. The other two Patriot threes came in the second half from junior Darrius Waterford and senior Detrick Reeves.

Nine different Patriots scored in the big win, four of which had double figures. Reeves led the team with twenty-three points, followed by senior B.J.

Johnson with twelve points and Boyce and McDonald with ten points each.

Up next is a Friday night road trip to Don Riggs Hurricane Gymnasium. Tipoff from Jonesboro is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. for the girls’ game with the boys’ game following at approximately 7:30 p.m.