Marion Athletics -

Sammie Lewis's Marion Patriots didn't flinch when Crittenden County rival took its first lead late in the second quarter Friday night at Fidelity Bank Arena.

Rather, his team battened down the hatches, closed the first half on a 7-0 run, and never looked back en route to a 57-48 victory over West Memphis in the 5A East opener for each team.

"This game is always going to be a tough one," said Lewis, who's in his second year as head coach at Marion. "Our schools aren't really far apart, and all our kids know each other. The strengths and weaknesses are always shown in a game like this. I'm just glad we did well enough tonight to win a game."

Marion (13-4 overall, 1-0 5A East) got a game-high 17 points with 6 rebounds from senior Jalen Neal, while Dexter Higgins, Jr. scored 9 points and Chandler Randle added 8.

West Memphis (9-6, 0-1) got 14 points and 5 rebounds from Donnell Johnson, 11 points from Anthony Vaughns, and six points from Peyton Hampton.

The difference in the game may have been Marion outrebounding West Memphis 24-17 and causing 17 turnovers while committing just 8 of its own.+

"It's definitely something we stress," said Lewis. "It's part of our identity to get stops, be tough, and rebound the ball. When we do that, it helps us get out in transition and get some easy baskets, and once we started doing that tonight, it turned the game."

Neal scored 8 points in the first quarter as Marion claimed an 18-13 lead to open the second period.
West Memphis hit Marion with a 6-0 run beginning with 5:01 left in the first half, starting when Jaylon Fowler hit a jumper, followed by a Vaughns runner, and when Vaughns made a pair of free throws, the Blue Devils enjoyed a 21-20 lead with 3:26 left in the first half.

But the Patriots clamped down there, not allowing another point in the second quarter, and a Randle free throw tied the game at 21 with 2:10 left in the frame, followed by a Higgins three-pointer that gave Marion the lead for good at 24-21, and when Higgins beat the halftime buzzer with a half-court triple, the Patriots took a 27-21 lead to the lockers.

"We have worked on that during the year is being a better third-quarter team, we think if we can win the third quarter, we can win a lot of games," said Lewis. "We want to come out of the lockers aggressive, playing smart, force some turnovers, and play our brand of ball in the second half."

Higgins opened the second-half scoring with another triple to give Marion its first double-digit lead (33-23) with 7:04 left in the third, and Neal pumped in 8 points in the third period to stake the Patriots to a 48-36 lead after three quarters.

The Patriots achieved their largest lead of the night (14 points) three times in the fourth quarter, the last time at 3:20, and Marion allowed West Memphis to stay close by making just 1 of its final 7 free throws down the stretch.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Marion continues 5A East play this week with a road trip Tuesday evening to play Nettleton, followed by a home date Friday night with Searcy. The varsity girls games at Nettleton and home for Searcy will tip off around 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys game around 7:30. You can watch the Nettleton and Searcy varsity girls and boys games for free on the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN
Marion moved up to No. 2 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's weekly Overall Top 10 rankings, just behind defending Class 6A state champion Bryant, which Marion beat 62-60 in overtime on December 13. The Patriots also moved up to No. 1 in the ADG's weekly SuperSix Class 5A rankings.

5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/9
Marion 57, W. Memphis 48
Greene Co. Tech 66, Paragould 59
Nettleton 66, Searcy 52
Valley View 62, Batesville 37

5A EAST STANDINGS AS OF 1/12/26
SCHOOL CONF. RECORD
Marion 1-0
Greene Co. Tech 1-0
Nettleton 1-0
Valley View 1-0
W. Memphis 0-1
Batesville 0-1
Paragould 0-1
Searcy 0-1
Top four teams qualify for 2026 state basketball tournament.

5A EAST GAMES ON 1/13
Marion at Nettleton
Greene Co. Tech at Searcy
Valley View at Paragould
Batesville at W. Memphis