Patriots rout Pioneers

Marion boys notch lopsised victory over outmatched Batesville

By Chuck Livingston

Marion School District

BATESVILLE —- Basketball coaches for decades have preached the importance and peaking at the right time, or when it gets close to the playoffs.

With just three regular-season games left on their schedule, the 2023-2024 Marion Patriots may be ascending right when fans would want them to.

For the second straight game, Marion went on the road and overwhelmed the opposition, battering Batesville 52-22 on Tuesday night inside Pioneer Gymnasium.

The Patriots scored the game’s first eight points, never trailed, and limited Batesville to just seven-of-34 shooting, while forcing 23 turnovers at Batesville.

Marion blocked seven shots, four by senior Jalen White and three from sophomore LaDaryl Robinson.

“We finally got some tempo going in the second half,” said Marion coach Emmanuel Wade. “I thought we just settled in and played some basketball and had some fun there finally. That was really good to see.”

White paced Marion (15-4 overall, 9-2 5A East) with 17 points, eight rebounds, and those four blocks, while David Brewer scored nine points, and Mikell Lewis hit for eight.

Batesville got nine points from Ransom Dunlap and six from Rafael Thomas.

White set the tone in the first period, hitting a short jumper to start the scoring before dishing to Robinson for a dunk and a 4-0 Marion lead.

Four straight points from Lewis gave the Pats an 8-0 lead with 2:24 left in the opening frame, and Marion took a 10-6 advantage to the second.

Two White free throws gave Marion its first double-digit lead (18-8) of the night, and the Patriot advantage hit 20-8 in the second stanza when Kayden Nesbitt scored a layup. Marion led 20-10 at halftime.

“They gave us kind of a different zone, almost like a triangle and two,” said Wade. “It did throw us off a little bit and typically when you don’t shoot in rhythm those shots

See PATS, page A10 PATS

From page A7

don’t always go in.”

Marion opened the third period with backcourt pressure, which helped the visitors force 12 third-period turnovers, many of which turned into easy buckets.

The Patriots opened the second half on a 17-3 run that put the game out of reach.

The spurt started when White converted a three-point play, followed by a Brewer runner, and a short White jumper gave Marion a 27-10 lead with 6:18 left in the third.

A Robinson layup gave the Pats their first 20-point lead of the night (33-13) with 4:47 left in the third, and Marion took a 46-16 lead to the fourth quarter when Brewer swished a three-pointer with 7.9 seconds left in the third period.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Marion hosts Greene County Tech on Friday night inside Fidelity Bank Arena. The junior varsity contest will tip at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity girls contest at 6, and the varsity boys tipping at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The Greene County Tech games will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel.

5A EAST RESULTS ON 2/13

Marion 52, Batesville 22 Nettleton 67, Paragould 56 Valley View 43, W. Memphis 39 Greene Co. Tech 75, Searcy 50

5A EAST STANDINGS

Nettleton 10-1* Marion 9-2* Valley View 9-2* W. Memphis 5-6 Searcy 4-7 Batesville 3-8 Greene Co. Tech 2-9 Paragould 1-10 *clinched state tournament berth 5A EAST GAMES ON 2/16 Greene Co. Tech at Marion Paragould at W. Memphis Batesville at Nettleton Valley View at Searcy