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30 years gone by: A look at the 1993 Marion Patriots

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Boys basketball team first to play for a state championship but just missed winning it all

By Chuck Livingston

Marion School District

Though almost 30 years have passed since March 20, 1993, the hurt still plagues Melvin Brown and Corey Garrett.

Losing to a competitor is never easy, but a two-point defeat in a state championship game cuts especially deep.

While the current iteration of Marion basketball has established itself as one of the top boys programs in the state over the past 20 years, playing in a state-ofthe- art Fidelity Bank Arena en route to deep tournament runs, wasn’t always the norm.

For Brown and Garrett, that state runner-up finish was an odyssey that crested in the spring of 1993, and the team was one that no Marion resident or alum will ever forget.

What can Brown do for you?

Melvin Brown grew up in Marion as a very good athlete and was part of Phelix High School’s final graduating class prior to integration in 1970.

While attending Phelix, Brown excelled as a basketball player and track athlete, but football wasn’t an option at the school.

Brown enjoyed a productive basketball career at Ouachita Baptist University, where he enjoyed an excellent career, even helping the Tigers advance to the 1973 national tournament.

As he neared graduation at OBU, the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings worked Brown out on campus in Arkadelphia, and he attended a workout for the Dallas Cowboys.

As he prepared to exit Arkadelphia, he knew he wanted to coach, and he started what would prove to be a prosperous career in coaching at Blytheville.

After five strong years at Blytheville, Brown came home to Marion, taking over the junior high program and leading the junior Patriots to a pair of district championships.

Brown left Marion to serve as an assistant basketball and football coach for two seasons at West Memphis under legendary coach Larry Bray.

“There are things I ran my whole career that I learned from Bray,” said Brown.

“Flex offense, 2-2-1 full court press, and all that stuff. We ran it every day.”

Prior to the 1986-1987 school year, the Marion brass approached Brown about taking over their boys basketball program, this time as head coach, succeeding Tommy Bonds.

Awaiting him back at MHS was a totally different scene than most modern high school basketball programs. The facilities were fine, as the Marion High gym was just over a decade old, but off-season practices and workout regiments were rarely heard of. “Cheerleading had priority over basketball at the time during the off-season,” said Brown. “That made it more difficult for our guys to really develop as we needed them to.”

Additionally, Marion played in the super competitive 3AAA conference against state contenders Rivercrest, Wynne, Gosnell, and Osceola.

“Those were all tough places to go and play, and they were talented,” said Brown. “A couple of those years, Gosnell had two or three guys go play D1.”

Marion had proven competitive later in Bonds’ tenure as head boys coach, but Brown would be inheriting a team short on experience, but not talent. His first team would feature just two seniors and juniors, with a host of sophomores.

The results reflected the youth, too. Marion slogged through an 0-21 season in 1986-1987, but several young players emerged during the year.

Marion finished 6-16 in ‘87-’88 but “the parents kept showing up, as did the kids,” said Brown. “The circumstances were not easy, but the support was unreal.”

The table was set for a banner ‘88-’89 season with four returning starters.

Winning the district tournament in those days carried an automatic bid to the state tournament, regardless of record. But the Pats were slow out of the gates, starting just 99 against a heavy non-conference schedule featuring some of the better teams from Memphis, as well as Class AAAA contender Forrest City, and smallschool juggernauts Marked Tree and Earle.

Brown wasn’t concerned about the win-loss record

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Photo courtesy of Marion School District PATS

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as much as he was that his team continued to develop, and his third team did just that. After losing to Forrest City in the season opener by six, the Pats circled the wagons and slowed the mighty Mustangs five weeks later. Earle mauled Marion by 15 points in the first meeting before the Pats lost a heartbreaker by four to Earle over the Christmas break. Marion gave Gosnell all the Pirates wanted in early February before losing at the horn to the mighty Pirates.

“You could see the light go off for those guys and we never really looked back,” said the coach.

Marion proved its mettle down the stretch, winning its last five regular-season games before taking off in the district tournament. The Pats picked up Brown’s first signature win in the semifinals of the district tournament, downing Ridgecrest and Hall-of-Fame coach Doc Paynter before earning the district title against Wynne.

Once they arrived in Searcy for the state tournament, the Pats’ press proved difficult to prepare for. Marion won its first two state tournament games to make the state semifinals for the first time in school history. Only Malvern proved capable of beating Marion, doing so in the final four en route to the first of back-to-back state titles.

“It was different because we weren’t used to winning like that,” said Brown. “We go from struggling to beat anybody to advancing to the final four. That was rewarding for the kids because they’d worked so hard and come such a long way in three years.”

Brown is quick to credit the basketball support staff for the Pats’ success during his run.

“Our coaches at the lower levels were great,” said Brown. “Clyde Delamar was our junior high coach at the time and he was so organized and structured.

Buster Benton was our seventh- grade coach and he was excellent. When kids made it to the high school they knew how to play the game, and you can’t always say that at a lot of places.”

Following an historic tournament run that produced the first semifinal appearance in school history, there was newfound optimism and excitement around the program, and as luck would have it, the next great group of Patriots was on the horizon.

The Class of ‘93

THE CLASS OF ‘93 Six rotation players and four starters graduated following the 1989 tournament run. Brown’s 1990 team just missed the state tournament, but all eyes were on the junior high group that dominated that spring en route to the district title. The team that earned the gold medal included Corey Garrett, Keith Montgomery, Rickey Nicks, Tyrone Cunningham, and Brian Koester.

“Those guys complemented each other so well and all liked each other,” explained Brown. “We had speed, size, strength, and basketball IQ.”

The five sophomores meshed well in 1990-1991, qualifying for the state tournament while winning the Turrell Invitational.

Five seniors graduated in 1991, but just three starters. The 1991-1992 Patriots won 11 of their first 15 games, with losses in holiday tournaments at Russellville, and a thirdplace finish at the prestigious NEA Tournament in Jonesboro.

“We had to play those types of teams on the road,” said Brown. “We could have stayed at the house and beaten some of the weaker teams, but it wouldn’t have prepared down the line. We were disappointed to lose, but I think that fueled us later on.”

Marion’s 1992 team climbed as high as No. 4 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s comprehensive, weekly rankings, but bad luck loomed in March.

Standout players Greg Tanner and Tony Williams each went down with injuries, and Montgomery suffered a leg malady in the district final.

The Pats still had enough to win their second league crown in four seasons, but Siloam Springs picked off Marion in the opening round of the state tournament. In two years with that heralded group of hoopers, the Pats had yet to win a state tournament game.

“I actually thought at the time our team my junior year was the better team overall,” said Garrett. “We had a ton of talent, just those injuries were too much for us to come back from. That derailed our whole year, and it was disappointing.”

Despite the rough injury luck that plagued the 1992 Pats, there was still a fair amount of optimism around the ‘92-’93 outfit. Marion entered the season as the heavy favorite in the AAAEast with its top four scorers (Garrett, Montgomery, Cunningham, and Nicks) back, and surely the Pats would enjoy better injury luck?

“We liked the guys we had coming back because at that point they’d all played a lot together,” said Brown. “It was like 1989 in a lot of ways because they’d almost grown up together.

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They wanted to come together and have a special year.”

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect coming into the year,” admitted Garrett.

“We had some guys who we’d be counting on who hadn’t really played too much coming into the year.

Keith (Montgomery) and I had played since sophomore year, but I just didn’t really know what we had in the preseason, to be honest.”

Marion worked hard to find its footing in the early stages of ‘92-’93. The Pats sat at 11-8 at the end of January against another stiff non-conference schedule and an early league loss to Marianna. To many, it didn’t have the look of a team that could make a serious run.

That’s when the Pats gelled, running the table in February to earn the league’s regular-season crown. The run included victories over conference heavies Wynne, Marianna, Ridgecrest, and Osceola.

“It seemed like we kind of took off at the right time,” said Garrett. “We hit our stride finally. Guys bought into their roles, and the older guys took it up a notch. It all sort of fell into place.”

A dramatic loss in the district tournament final to Osceola meant Marion had to settle for the No. 2 seed at the state tournament, but the team and coaches were optimistic about their prospects in March.

“We talked a lot about just winning one game in the state tournament,” said Garrett. “Just to get the pressure off. We felt if we could win one then we could be really dangerous.

We even told Coach Brown that. We felt like we were prepared. We found out we had the right talent as the year went on. We were definitely capable.”

Marion Madness

Aiding Marion’s case for a deep run was the setting of that year’s state tournament, at Greene County Tech’s brand-new, state-ofthe- art gym where the Pats had already won twice that season.

Awaiting Marion in the first round was Lake Hamilton, a team that had competed well in state tournaments previously and was enjoying an extended run of good athletes in 1993.

But that meant little on this day. The Patriots overwhelmed the Wolves with their stifling brand of defense, turning turnovers into points over and over again. Marion registered its second straight 20-win season with a rout of Lake Hamilton.

“Lake Hamilton, we were unconscious. We pressed them all night, and they couldn’t keep up,” said Brown. “We always played good defense at that time, but that was one of our better performances that whole season.”

“I remember we might have been a little nervous before the game,” said Garrett. “But once we got out there and got going, we felt like it was game on.

We thought we were better than them and we felt like we could beat anybody at this point.”

Now that Marion had earned its first state tournament win since 1989, the Pats would face powerful Morrilton, a conference champion that the Pats had seen the previous year at the Russellville tournament.

“We knew that we’d have to play one of our better games to get them,” said Brown. “They were big, sound, and well-coached.

They had a deep team and they played in a tough league.”

While Marion succumbed to the injury bug in 1992, a Morrilton injury played a factor a year later when the Devil Dogs’ second-leading scorer left with a leg injury and did not return.

As for the game itself?

“It was a dogfight,” said Brown. “They’d hit a big shot, then we’d hit a big shot. We’d force a turnover, they’d force a turnover. It was an intense atmosphere.”

“It was a knock-down, drag-out slugfest,” said Garrett. “We just could never shake them. Neither team wanted to go home. It was probably the best game I’ve ever played in.”

Ultimately, clutch shots from Garrett, Montgomery, and Cunningham gave Marion the lift it needed to earn a two-point decision in the quarterfinals. Marion would be in the semifinals for the second time in five seasons.

“Now, we’re really feeling it,” said Garrett. “We go from wondering if we can even win a game at state to now we’ve won two. We’re playing well, making the plays down the stretch. We were playing with a ton of confidence.”

In addition to confidence, Marion wasn’t staying overnight in Paragould, electing to drive back and forth on the day of the game, while most other schools had to find creative ways to practice and handle their studies.

“We never broke our routine,” said Garrett. “We’d play a game at the normal time, come home, go to school, go play a game, and come back. It was just like a normal trip for us.”

Marion’s semifinal opponent also earned a conference title, and the Little Rock Mills Comets were ranked No. 1 for several weeks by the Democrat-Gazette during the ‘92-’93 season.

For many across the state, it was widely accepted that Mills would make quick work of upstart Marion.

After all, even Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin at midnight.

“We were aware of the talk that the Little Rock area schools were perceived to be much stronger than the rest of the state,” said Brown. “We watched them play, and of course we were impressed, but we never thought they were unbeatable.”

“I’m not sure if they underestimated us or whatever because at that time we weren’t really known for being a juggernaut or any-

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thing,” said Garrett.

“Honestly, I’m not so sure we didn’t play with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder because of that.”

Whatever the case, Marion mauled favored Mills from the opening tip to the closing buzzer. When the smoke cleared, the Pats would play for a state title for the first time in school history.

‘Like Homecoming on Steroids’

The news of Marion’s run to the Class AAA final spread like wildfire throughout the town, but in a unique twist, the Pats would have to wait a week to play the big game.

However, that did little to quell the feeling at Marion High during the five school days following the Mills rout.

“Going to school that week was like a homecoming on steroids,” said Garrett. “It was fun for us because everyone knew we were on the team and they were so excited. Everyone was making plans to go to the game. It was a big deal and everyone let you know how big a deal it was that Marion was playing for a state title. It was just a great feeling.”

The week off helped stoke the flame of excitement in town, but it created issues with the team’s preparation. Marion had worked its way into a strong routine and rhythm in Paragould, but now the Pats wouldn’t play for seven days, and in an arena, to boot.

Brown tweaked his practice schedule, calling for competitive scrimmages on Tuesday and Thursday to try and emulate a game situation.

“It was strange to try to prepare for one game, but that’s just how it was,” said Brown. “The kids did great with it leading up. We had some intense, focused practices.”

Little Rock’s Barton Coliseum was the place to be on March 20, 1993, as Marion pursued the crown, and the Pats would play Dumas in the last basketball game in the state that Saturday evening in front of 3,098 fans.

Brown made the call on the way to the capital city to treat the team to a nice meal at a sit-down restaurant, a move that later backfired.

“Looking back, I wish we’d just stuck to pizza and hamburgers as we’d had at the state tournament,” said Brown. “I figured some green stuff might do us some good, but it just made most of us sick.”

Also making Brown and company sick on this night was the Dumas Bobcats.

With the game tied at 10 after the first quarter, Dumas outscored Marion 14-4 in the second stanza to claim a 24-14 halftime lead. The Pats managed to make just three of their 18 field goals in the first half for a chilly 16.7 percent shooting performance.

“We’re looking around the locker room and saying ‘what are we doing here, we’re way better than this,’” said Garrett. “We did absolutely nothing in the first half, and Coach Brown let us know that in the locker room.”

Backs to the wall, Brown realized that his troops could get back into the game by playing suffocating defense, and he dialed up his favored full-court press.

Garrett and Cunningham wreaked havoc on Dumas ballhandlers after halftime, combining for seven steals, often leading to easy hoops.

“Tyrone and Corey were something else in that press,” said Brown.

“Tyrone, in particular, played almost a centerfield for us. He could almost cover the whole court baseline to baseline.”

Marion won the third quarter 10-9, and actually tied the game once in the fourth quarter before Dumas scored for a two-point advantage.

Brown called for time and drew up a nifty out-ofbounds play for Koester, who inbounded the ball and got it back for an open jump shot that just missed.

Dumas snagged the rebound and ran out the clock for a dramatic 43-41 victory that gave the Bobcats the crown.

Marion’s historic season ended at 22-10.

“Koester was our best shooter, so we liked that aspect of it,” said Brown.

“Now, would I do things differently today? If I could do it again, I might give it to Corey Garrett in that situation and told him to do what he’d been doing his whole career.”

Garrett was brilliant in defeat, scoring a game-high 16 points while playing all 32 minutes. The senior allstate performer added eight rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Cunningham checked in with 11 points and four boards, but no other Patriot scored more than four points.

“We had every opportunity to win that game, and I guess that’s why it hurts,” said Garrett. “I wish I could have made one more play in that game to put us over the top.”

Thirty Years Later

Brown retired as the school’s all-time winningest coach following the 2003-2004 season.

Since Brown’s retirement, Irving Clay guided the Patriots to four state semifinals and ushered in a new era of Marion basketball when the Pats moved into Fidelity Bank Arena in 2009.

Marion finally returned to finals on March 7, 2019, when David Clark’s first team earned the first boys basketball state championship in school history, outlasting Little Rock Hall 57-54 in overtime. Clark’s 2022 team also played in the final.

“It really makes me proud to see how the program has continued to grow and get better and better,” said Brown. “I played a very small part in it, but just being from here and being associated with our basketball team here has been great to watch.”

Garrett, who was an allstate performer in football and track at Marion, started coaching following college, and he guided the Earle girls program to state championships in 2016 and 2018 while advancing to the state semifinals in 2017 and 2019. He returned home to Marion this school year to coach seventhgrade basketball and football.

“Things have changed so much here since I played, and it’s all for the better,” said Garrett. “Our administration believes that we can be as successful as anyone, and they want to make sure we get there. It’s exciting to be back here after being away for so long.”

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