Marion girls nearly double up on Hernando

Pats defense too much for Tigers in lopsided victory

Marion School District The Marion Lady Patriots rode a stifling defense to a season-opening win Tuesday night against Hernando, Mississippi.

Marion (1-0 overall) forced 33 Hernando turnovers, leading to 23 fast-break points in a 68-35 victory at Fidelity Bank Arena.

Sophomore guard Ny’Asia Jackson poured in a teamhigh 18 points while senior Jessica Robins chipped in 13 points. Kiara Neal hit for eight points. Senior Daedrianna Cail pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.

“I was glad to see groups going in and getting out in transition, run and stretching the court,” said Marion coach Shunda Johnson. “I thought we shared the ball and set up some layups.”

Marion hit Hernando early, ripping off a 10-0 firstquarter run to lead 14-8 after the opening stanza.

The Lady Pats got points from six players in that frame, and connected on four of nine attempts from the field and limited the Tigers to a chilly three of 12 performance on defense.

ContinuedonPage9 GIRLS BASKETBALL (cont.)

Marion’s run continued into the second quarter as the hosts forced 11 Hernando turnovers to set up a 13 of 18 shooting performance from the field.

Jackson copped four steals in the second quarter, turning all of them into layups on the other end.

The Lady Pats led 45-16 at halftime.

“I asked her (Jackson) how she thought she played tonight,” said Johnson.

“She felt she played ok on defense because she moved her feet a lot better and got into position, and we talked about that after the Little Rock Hall game.”

The Lady Pats went to work on the offensive glass in the third period, recording seven offensive rebounds to outscore Hernando 14-7 entering the fourth quarter. Marion surrendered only two field goals in the third quarter and forced 10 more turnovers.

“We started out slow with our first group tonight, but the second group brought us a ton of energy, finished around the basket, and gave us a lift,” said Johnson.

“They were looking for each other and defensively they got stops.”

Marion plays at the Mount St. Mary’s tournament beginning next week.