Marion hangs on, turns away Searcy

5A-EAST BOYS MARION 56, SEARCY 51

SEARCY — Marion junior guard Jayden Forrest scored the last eight points, all from the free-throw line, to push the Patriots (14-3, 3-0 5A-East) to a 56-51 victory over Searcy on Friday night.

Forrest, who connected on all 10 of his free-throw attempts, recorded a game-high 18 points and handed out seven assists.

“I’m proud of my guys because they never got rattled, and they had chances to do so,” Marion Coach David Clark said. “We didn’t always play great defense or rebound the ball well, but we did everything well enough to win.”

Marion was slow out of the gates. Searcy forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter and led 9-2, but Searcy had to settle for an 11-8 advantage after three quarter.

The Lions led 22-14 with 4:31 left in the second quarter when Zyron Williams canned a three-pointer, but Marion closed on a 12-4 run behind seven points and two assists by Forrest. A Forrest layup beat the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 26-26.

Ryan Forrest, Jayden’s cousin, scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half, and Ryan Forrest’s assist to Kayden Nesbit gave Marion its first double-digit lead of the game at 38-28 with 1:51 left in the third quarter. The Pats led 4032 after three.

Marion led by 12 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, and by nine points with 2:12 left in regulation when Searcy made 3 three-pointers on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 48-48 with 58.2 seconds remaining.

Jayden Forrest gave Marion the lead for good at 50-48 with two free throws with 49.4 seconds left, adding two more following a Searcy turnover with 21.5 seconds remaining.

But an Isaiah Carlos three-pointer got Searcy within 52-51 with 9.8 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Jayden Forrest to make his last four free throws to close out the game.

Ryan Forrest scored 16 points for Marion, while Kayden Nesbit added 10 points.

Williams and Carlos each scored 11 points for Searcy.

GIRLS

MARION 68, SEARCY 38

Marion won its seventh straight game, dominating the second half.

The Lady Patriots (13-5, 3-0 5A-East) forced 27 Searcy turnovers and connected on 60 percent of their field goals.

Marion forced 11 Searcy turnovers in the first quarter to jet out to a 19-4 lead. The Lady Lions did not connect on a field goal until 0.9 seconds remained in the first eight minutes. The Lady Patriots led 34-21 at halftime.

Marion hit Searcy with a 16-2 run to start the third quarter, including 10 points by senior forward Daedrianna Cail. The Lady Patriots made 8 of 11 field goals in the third quarter to lead 52-26.

Cail paced Marion with 16 points and six rebounds, while Ny’Asia Jackson had 12 points and seven assists. Jessica Robins added eight points.

Searcy sophomore Eva Roberts scored 16 points, while Blair Henry had seven.