Patriots hold off Blue Devils in Conference semifinals

Marion will rematch with Jonesboro for 5A East Title

WM School District It had all the makings of an upset.

The West Memphis Blue Devils had been trending upward in the last month.

After getting blown out by Marion on December 18, they played the Patriots much tougher in a 57-52 loss at Marion on Jan. 29.

With the old adage that it's hard to beat a team three times in one year, all of the above looked like it played into West Memphis' hands on Tuesday night at Patriot Arena.

Then the game started.

And that's when the Blue Devils couldn't make a trip down the offensive end of the floor without turning it over and then watching some Marion player make a crisp move to the rim for a basket.

By the 2:09 mark of the first quarter, the Blue Devils had 9 turnovers and just one shot attempt. It all added up to a 17-2 Marion lead.

That's how the first half went for the Blue Devils, before they made a desperate rally in the end, only to lose 72-62 in the 5A-East Conference Tournament semifinals.

The loss pits the Blue Devils (11-11) in Thursday night's consolation game for third place at Lehr Arena against Greene County Tech, which lost at Jonesboro on Tuesday night.

Game time on Thursday is set for 7 p.m.

Turnovers defined the early part of the game against Marion. West Memphis turned it over its first four trips down the floor.

Marion had just one turnover through the first six minutes of the game.

'You can't spot a team 20 points,' said Blue Devil head coach Marcus Brown. '(Marion) came out and hit us in the mouth and was way more aggressive. We just stood around like…ehhh.'

Marion (19-2) led 21-6 at the end of one quarter and 43-22 at halftime.

But the game flipped in the second half.

After the 10-turnover barrage in the first quarter, the Blue Devils turned it over just 7 times the rest of the game and they made a fierce comeback in the second half, outscoring Marion 40-29 in the second half.

'From the midway point of the second quarter through the second half I was really proud of the way we played,' said Brown.

'Proud of the way they fought back.'

Down 51-28 with 3:56 to play in the third quarter, the Blue Devils went on a 10-0 run to get Marion's attention, although the visitors still trailed 55-38 at the end of the stanza.

After committing only 5 turnovers in the first half, Marion mugged it 7 times in the third quarter and 12 overall in the second half.

Part of the reason was because Patriot head coach David Clark ordered his club to start milking the clock midway through the third quarter.

Consequently, the Patriots got too relaxed on the offensive end and the Blue Devils were in desperation mode on defense.

'We started trapping and doubling in the second half,' said Brown. 'We had to. We had no choice.'

After whittling the Marion lead down to 12 a couple of times early in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils actually had a glimmer of hope with 24 seconds remaining in the game after Calvin Butler, who was plagued by foul trouble all night, canned a 3-pointer to make it 68-62 Marion.

After a West Memphis timeout, the Blue Devils set up in their full-court press and fouled immediately. But JaMaury Mosley sank two free throws to cinch the decision.

The frustration became so overwhelming for the Blue Devils in the first half, that senior point guard Jordan Mitchell drew a technical foul when he got too animated after being called for a personal foul.

It wound up a four-point swing for Marion and a whopping 35-11 lead.

'That's probably why I've got some gray hairs coming in,' Brown joked.

Actually, the Blue Devils placed four players in double figures, led by twin brothers Kameron and Kaleb Barnes with 15 points apiece while Mitchell had 13 and Jalen Moore scored 10.

Sixty-seven free throws were shot in the game and both team sank 23 each, but Marion attempted five fewer and wound up shooting 74 percent while the Blue Devils hit 63 percent.

Marion got a game-high 18 points from Jayden Forrest while Darius Waterford had 15 and Ryan Forrest pumped in 13.

Marion will travel to Jonesboro tonight for the tournament championship game in search of a little redemption after the Hurricane put a 64-38 whooping on Marion last month.