Lady Patriots clip Eagles

Marion girls looking to clinch a postseason playoff berth

By Chuck Livingston

Marion School District

Ny’Asia Jackson knifed to the basket and shot a runner over a much taller player in the painted area.

Even before the ball whispered through the net, she faced the home crowd, screamed, and pumped her fist. The all-state senior point guard’s clutch basket went down as one of the game’s bigger plays of No. 17 Marion’s 45-39 victory over No. 12 Greene County Tech on Friday night inside Fidelity Bank Arena.

Marion improved to 15-10 overall and 7-5 in 5A East action with the victory, while the defeat was Greene County Tech’s (23-6, 11-1) first loss in league action.

“I thought we did our best job tonight of closing and putting together three, maybe three and a half quarters,” said Marion coach Shunda Johnson.

“Everyone who we sent in there did their job and did something to help us win. Everybody didn’t score, but they didn’t have to. Everyone did their job and lifted the team.”

Jackson netted a game-high 22 points with six assists for Marion, while

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Jalee Meeks hit for 11 points, and Jada Cheers scored 10 points and collected six rebounds.

Tech got 15 points from Jacey Edrington, eight from Sophia Gonzalez, and seven from Weslyn Burnside in defeat.

Marion came out gunning in the first quarter against Tech, connecting on four of seven attempts from three-point range in the game’s first eight minutes.

Jackson gave the Lady Pats their first lead with a triple for a 3-2 lead with 6:16 left in the opener, leading to Meeks hitting her first jumper from bonus range for a 6-4 lead.

That led to Jackson’s second triple of the first quarter on the next Marion possession, giving the hosts a 9-4 lead, and Meeks capped off a 12-4 Marion run with 4:08 left in the first quarter when she hit a triple that forced a Lady Eagle timeout, and the Lady Pats led 14-8 after the first quarter.

But Tech tightened up in the second quarter, limiting Marion to a meager one field goal on 14 attempts, while turning the Lady Pats over six times in the second stanza.

The Lady Eagles capitalized in that frame by closing the quarter on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 17 heading to the lockers.

Burnside sparked the run with a layup that got the visitors within 16-10, before Gonzalez and Ava Carter each hit a free throw to get Tech closer.

That’s when Edrington scored on a runner and a threepointer to tie the game at 17 with 1:04 left in the second.

Brooklyn Bowdler and Edrington combined to score the first five points of the second half, but Marion responded with a 13-2 run late in the second quarter.

That tear opened with a Meeks layup, a pair of free throws from Cheers, three straight points from Joniya Lewis, and paint points by Cheers, Maryah Rucks, and Lewis as Marion claimed a 30-24 bulge entering the fourth quarter.

“The help-side defense tonight was huge,” said Johnson. “We did a good job fronting their bigs, didn’t have to double anything, and we contained everything. The defense played extremely well.”

Tech three times got within four points in the fourth quarter, including with 4:30 left on a Burnside layup, but Marion closed out with a Jackson three-pointer, a free throw, and when Marion’s lead guard hit a layup with 2:05 left in the game, the Lady Pats had their first double-digit lead (41-31) of the night.

5A EAST STANDINGS

Greene Co. Tech 11-1 Searcy 9-3 West Memphis 8-4 Marion 7-5 Nettleton 7-5 Batesville 3-9 Valley View 3-9 Paragould 0-12