Patriots top Nettleton for key 5A East conference win

Marion continues hot streak with road victory over Raiders

By Chuck Livingston

Marion School District

JONESBORO — To a lot of teams, playing the first 18 games of the season away from home could be considered a huge negative. But the way the 2022-2023 Marion Patriots are playing right now, they may never want to return to the friendly confines of Fidelity Bank Arena.

Top-ranked Marion’s latest road conquest came Tuesday night at No. 5 Nettleton’s Raider Gym, a 60-48 victory that leaves Marion in prime position to make a run at the 5A East crown after opening league action with victories at perennial contenders West Memphis and Nettleton.

Marion senior swingman Donnie Cheers, III scored a game-high 31 points, while sophomore Lyndell Buckingham hit for 10 points with four assists, junior Jalen White scored six points with five rebounds, and David Brewer struck for five points.

“We feel like we’re in a good position right now after having won at West Memphis and now Nettleton,” said Clark. “We knew this would be a good environment tonight, and a good test, but I’m proud of how we handled some adversity against one of the better teams we will see this year.”

Cheers poured in eight points in the first quarter, scoring in a variety of ways. The senior Southeast Missouri State football signee gave the visitors a 5-2 lead with 4:18 left in the first when he converted an offensive rebound immediately into a layup.

Cheers sank a free throw later in the frame before connecting on a mid-range jumper for a 10-4 Marion advantage. He capped the scoring in the first quarter with a three-pointer with 1:07 left in the frame as the Pats led 13-4 after eight minutes of action.

The Pats harassed the Raiders into one-of-eight shooting in the game’s opening frame while forcing six Nettleton turnovers. “Once again, our defense carried us through some tough times,” said Clark.

“We knew this would be a hostile environment tonight against a quality team, and to win those types of games you have to play dominant defense. We were pretty close to that most of tonight.”

While Marion (13-5 overall, 2-0 5A East) set the

See PATS, page A14

Photo by Will Zheng

Marion senior guard Martavius Davis (21) finishes a shot at the rim during last week's victory at West Memphis.

From page A6

tone in the opener, Nettleton (12-5, 1-1) punched back in the second stanza, making seven of its nine field-goal attempts to work within 25-21 at halftime.

Nettleton got eight points from Jordan Pigram and seven from Taylor Smith to spark the run.

Cheers opened the second half with a three-pointer before stealing the ball from Smith near midcourt on the ensuing possession and turning it into a layup for a 30-23 Marion lead.

A pair of Cheers free throws and a Martavius Davis layup gave the Pats their first double-digit lead at 34-23 with 4:18 left in the third.

“We knew they had a good team, but we’ve been playing good teams all year already,” said Cheers. “We knew if we wanted to win a conference title that we had to win this game, and I knew what I needed to do for us to win and I just wanted to do it.”

A Derondrick Morton layup beat the third-quarter buzzer as Nettleton trimmed the Marion lead to 38-30 entering the fourth frame.

A Pigram layup moved Nettleton within five points (40-35) with 6:26 left in regulation, but Marion responded with an 8-0 run highlighted by four points apiece by Cheers and sophomore Lyndell Buckingham. A pair of Buckingham free throws gave Marion a 48-35 lead with 4:19 left in the fourth.

Nettleton twice cut the Marion lead to single digits following Buckingham’s charities, but the Patriots slammed the door on the Raiders when Buckingham and Cheers combined to make seven of eight free throws in the game’s final 51.4 seconds.

Smith paced Nettleton with 22 points, while Pigram added 15.

Up Next

Marion finally plays a home game Friday night when the Patriots host Searcy to continue 5A East play.

The winner of the 7:30 p.m. boys’ game will sit alone in first place in the league standings, and that contest will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com.

Rankings Rundown

Marion has earned the top spot in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s comprehensive weekly rankings for the past three weeks.

Marion’s victory on Tuesday night at Nettleton came against the ADG’s No. 5 team.

Around the 5A East

Marion 60, Nettleton 48 Searcy 58, West Memphis 52 (OT) Greene County Tech 69, Batesville 47 Paragould 57, Valley View 49

5A East Standings w/Conference Record

Marion 2-0 Searcy 2-0 Greene County Tech 1-1 Nettleton 1-1 Paragould 1-1 Valley View 1-1 Batesville 0-2 West Memphis 0-2

Photo by Chuck Livingston