Patriots playing Holiday Tourney

Patriots playing Holiday Tourney

Marion hoops squad takes to the hardwood for the first time in a week in Bartlett Holiday Tournament

sports@theeveningtimes.com

The Marion Patriots (4-3 overall, 2-2 5A/6A East Conference) began the post-Christmas portion of their schedule last night against the Senatobia Warriors (4-8) at Bartlett High School.

The second season matchup between the Patriots and Warriors represented the opening game of the Bartlett Holiday Tournament. The Patriots are slated to play three times over three days, in the tournament. Marion Patriots Head Coach Irving Clay hopes the tournament will help his players shake off any Christmas break rust before the Patriots return to their conference schedule.

“It’s always good to play games before you get into the conference again,” Clay said. “That’s definitely a plus. So if they’re rusty, that’s their own fault.”

The Patriots and Warriors squared up for the second time in 10 days. The Patriots defeated the Warriors 60-44 the last time these two teams met, but Clay understands the perils of playing a team a second time.

“Anytime you see a team for the second time it’s going to be tougher,” Clay said. “They’ve had time to watch tape and see what they did wrong and what we did wrong. So, they’re going to try and correct those mistakes.”

After starting the year off 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the 5A/6A East Conference, the Patriots stumbled into the Christmas break going 1-2 and 0-2 in conference play during their last three games. The Nettleton Raiders most recently defeated the Patriots on the last game before Christmas break. Having had a full week to stew in the pain of that 66-63 loss to the Raiders, the Patriots try get back to a winning style of basketball and a positive mindset tonight. However, obtaining a winning mindset is something that is up to the players according to Clay.

“That’s an individual thing,” Clay said.

“Winning is always positive. That’s what we want to do. But, we’ll just have to see when they hit the court tomorrow if it (the hunger to win) is in their play.”

In order to return to a winning style of play, Clay hopes to see improvements in several areas by his players.

“We’re looking (during the tournament) to get better at some of the mistakes we were making early on,” Clay said. “Hopefully we can correct those things and have better continuity on offense as well as better communication on defense. You have to work on these things every day. All we can do is bring these things to the player’s attention and now it’s up to them to change it. If nothing changes on the court, nothing changes.” Although the Patriots travel to Bartlett for the tournament, the road should not effect the team from Marion. The Patriots are 3-1 on the year away from Patriots Arena, the team’s only road loss coming in their last contest against Nettleton.

After the Bartlett Holiday Tournament, the Patriots return home and jump back into conference play against the Forrest City Mustangs (2-8, 0-4).

See tomorrow’s Times for coverage from the Bartlett Holiday Tournament.

Sports briefs

• Arkansas Razorbacks Football — The University of Arkansas Razorbacks (7-5) will take on No. 18 ACC Coastal Division champion Virginia Tech (9-4) on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 4:30 p.m., on ESPN in the 2016 Belk Bowl, from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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• Texts from Riverside Raceway — The easiest way to sign up for text messages from Riverside International Speedway is to Text RIVERSIDE to 84483 to Riverside International Speedway.

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• Delta Gymnastics classes — Classes available for ages 2 and up on Thursdays @ 5:15. For more information please contact Delta Gymnastics at 870-735-5900. John Beaumont – jbeau.younglife@gmail.com, Sara Fenter – sfenter@fenterpt. com, or Jerry Fenter jfenter@fenerpt.com.

By Collins Peeples