Marion Athletics -

The winter storm ravaged parts of Arkansas over the past two weeks, but the Marion Patriots have proven impervious to such distractions.

Marion picked up impressive, decisive victories at Batesville on January 23 (78-40), at home over Valley View on February 3 (79-53), and on February 4 at Greene County Tech (61-32).

The Patriots (19-4 overall, 7-0 5A East) have now picked up four mercy-rule victories in conference action so far this winter, with only two games settled by single-digits.

Seniors Chandler Randle and Jalen Neal led the charge at Batesville with 22 and 17 points, respectively, while Karlyal Hyland added eight.

Junior Korbin Littlejohn dazzled Valley View on Tuesday evening, drilling seven three-pointers to account for his game-high 23 points, while Randle checked in with 18 and Neal finished with 12.

The Greene County Tech contest featured the last two unbeaten teams in the 5A East, but Marion claimed victory behind Hyland's 12 points, 11 from Randle, and 10 from Neal.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Marion plays at West Memphis on Friday, February 6, with the girls varsity contest tipping off around 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys game around 7:30 p.m.
If you can't make it to the West Memphis contest, you can watch the varsity games for free on the MPAN YouTube channel.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN
Marion finished its fourth week as the No. 2 team in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Overall Top 10 ranking on Sunday, and the Patriots were the No. 1 team in the Class 5A rankings for the third week in a row.

5A EAST STANDINGS ON 2/6
SCHOOL CONF. RECORD
Marion 7-0
Greene Co. Tech 6-1
W. Memphis 5-2
Nettleton 3-4
Valley View 3-4
Batesville 2-5
Searcy 1-6
Paragould 1-6
Top four teams qualify for Class 5A state basketball tournament at Farmington.

5A EAST GAMES ON 2/6
Marion at W. Memphis
Greene Co. Tech at Paragould
Searcy at Nettleton
Batesville at Valley Vie