Lady Patriots defeat Lady Titans to begin postseason run

Lady Patriots defeat Lady Titans to begin postseason run

In the opening round of the 6A East Girls Tournament, the Marion Lady Patriots fought off a stingy Jacksonville team

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The two-seed Marion Lady Patriots (21-8 overall) earned an opening round victory of the 6A East Girls Tournament, defeating the feisty seventh seeded Jacksonville Lady Titans (12-20) 56-47 at Patriots Arena.

Marion enjoyed a 5-point lead for much of the opening half before the Lady Titans clawed their way towards to their first lead at the 1:35 mark of the second quarter as Martina Knight scored from the low post.

Lady Patriots Head Coach Shunda Johnson praised the Lady Titans preparation heading into the contest.

“I feel like Jacksonville was very prepared,” Johnson said. “That was one of the things that I was impressed with about them. I just feel like Jacksonville, at the end of the first half, wanted it more than we did.”

The Marion ladies, who trailed by as much as five points during the second quarter, resumed the play that earned them the second overall seed in the district tournament midway through the second stanza.

A conventional three-point play by Jakyya Clay precluded a beautiful over the shoulder assist by Marie Hunter to Clay who tied the contest up at 33 apiece from the low-post with 4:15 left to go in the third quarter.

Swishing in a three-ball from the right arch, Angel Davie gave the Lady Patriots the lead back, 3635, on Marion’s next possession.

Clay, who led all scorers with 25 points, gained momentum late in the regular season due to a position change by Johnson.

“The reason I moved her to small forward is because she’s drawing double teams,” Johnson said. “What she did in the second half is she made herself available. She crashed the offensive glass and was able to get those put-backs for us.”

The Lady Titans scored two more points, a free throw line jumper by Allison Seats, in the third quarter before the Lady Patriots put the clamps on the visiting team defensively.

Marion held the Jacksonville without a single point for nearly 8 minutes of game time, going from the 2:55 mark of the third quarter to the 2:37 mark of the fourth.

By that time the Lady Patriots had built a 7-point advantage.

Johnson believes Marion’s defensive dominance came from keeping the Lady Titans’ guards out of their defensive zone.

“Their guards were able to penetrate and get in the ‘gut of the zone’ (in the first half),” Johnson said. “Once we actually contained their guards, I feel like that actually helped us shut them down from the perimeter.”

To close games out, the Lady Patriots usually get the ball into the hands of Hunter who typically puts on an incredible dribbling display until the opposing team reluctantly fouls her and sends her to the free throw line.

However, with Hunter fouling out in the fourth quarter, it was Angel Davie who stepped up to carry the Marion ladies down the stretch. Johnson felt very comfortable with Davie handling the rock to close out the victory.

“We want the ball in her hands,” Johnson said. “She’s really a clutch free throw shooter for us. We were glad that Angel was the one that was getting fouled.”

Davie sank 5 of 8 shots from the charity stripe in the last minute of the contest to secure the victory in the opening round of the 6A East Girls Tournament for the Lady Patriots.

Behind Clay’s game leading 25 points, Hunter finished second on the Marion team in scoring by pumping in 12 points. Davie chipped in 8 points for the Lady Patriots in the victory.

The Lady Patriots, who sealed a spot in the 6A Girls State Tournament with the win, move on to face the Mountain Home Lady Bombers (17-11) in the Semifinal round of the 6A East Girls Tournament tonight in Patriots Arena.

Tip-off between the Lady Patriots and Lady Bombers is slated for 6 p.m.

By Collins Peeples