Marion falls in semifinals

Patriots drop heart-breaker to Jacksonville

By THE TIMES SPORTS STAFF

news@theeveningtimes.com

The Marion Patriots will not be making back-to-back trips to the State Basketball Championship Game… but it was so close. So close it hurts.

Jacksonville Coach Victor Joyner was relieved after his team held on to defeat Marion 54-53 on Saturday in the Class 5A boys state tournament semi_nals at Cyclone Arena in Russellville.

Detrick Reeves, who scored a game-high 30 points for Marion, had an opportunity to win the game for the defending Class 5A state champions. But his jumper did not fall as time expired, and the Titans advanced to the Class 5A state championship, where they’ll face West Memphis on Saturday at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs.

“You’re at his mercy,” Joyner said of Reeves. “It’s Detrick’s show. We came up and knew he was going to drive it. We collapsed all _ve guys and let the chips fall where they may. He had to lean and couldn’t go straight up and line up the shot vertically.

“He got an open look, but we made him lean.”

Jacksonville (20-5) shot 20 of 34 from the oor. Davonte Davis, a University of Arkansas signee, led the Titans with 21 points and _ve rebounds. Christian Moore scored 13 points, while Ryan Maxwell had 12 points.

Joyner’s team had a 51-36 lead with 5:38 remaining, but the Patriots weren’t done.

The Patriots (16-14) embarked on a 14-0 run, capped by Reeves’ three-point play to pull his team within 51-50 with 3:14 remaining. Jacksonville had _ve turnovers during the run.

Maxwell’s layup with 2:33 left to play curbed Marion’s momentum and gave Jacksonville a 53-50 advantage.

But Marion cut the lead to 53-52 with 2:00 left to play on Reeves’ two free throws.

Davis hit one of two free throws to make it 54-52 with 1:05 remaining.

It was 54-53 Jacksonville with 28 seconds remaining when Davis drove and hit a jumper, but the basket was waved off because of a traveling call.

After Reeves missed a layup for Marion, Jacksonville turned the ball over with 6.3 seconds left to play, leading to the Patriots’ _nal shot.

Marion Coach David Clark said he was pleased with how the Patriots were able to get back into Saturday’s game and push the Titans to the brink.

“We played three games in three nights,” said Clark, whose team shot 16 of 41 from the oor. “To put up the same performance was tough to do. But they woke up in the second half and started playing fast. We came back, but it wasn’t enough to seal the deal.”

Detrick Reeves (0) makes a tough shot through contact. Marion fell in the semifinals of the 2020 5A state basketball tournament.

Photo by Tyler Bennett