Marion knocks off top-ranked LR Christian

For the second-straight year, the No. 4 seed from the 5A-East had a first-round upset over the No. 1 seed from the 5A-Central.

Marion (11-15), despite struggling early, found its footing in the second half and took a 60-54 double-overtime win at Trojan Arena over Little Rock Christian (22-2), handing the Lady Warriors their second loss of the season.

The Lady Patriots trailed 2617 coming into the second half until sophomore Kiera Neal came out of her shell, scoring

11 of the team’s 20 points in the third quarter.

“She’s a sleeper to me,” said Marion head coach Shunda Johnson. “She’s a sophomore — streaky, streaky. We’re just grateful. She’s trying to play a little bit more toward her potential. We knew that when she came in that she had the potential to have — she really had a high ceiling, but it just took her a little longer to acclimate to high school level.”

Also aiding Marion’s turnaround was junior Daedrianna Cail who finished with 10 points,

13 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, three steals and three charges taken.

“She said, ‘My tailbone’s gonna be hurting a little bit.’ I said, ‘I’m glad of that. You can concentrate on the ACT tomorrow.’ No. 25, because of volleyball, you know, her leaping ability and her reaction time and her verticality is just, you know, just — we’re just glad that she has that reaction, you know, and that timing, and she gives us a lot defensively,” Johnson said.

With the score knotted at 37 going into the final eight minutes of regulation, thanks in part to a

3-pointer by Marion freshman Ny’asia Jackson with 8 seconds left, the Lady Patriots took their first lead since the five-minute mark on a jumper by senior Santia Robinson.

The spread hovered around a single point until Marion hit a

5-2 spurt to push out to a 44-40 lead with 1:27 left. Little Rock Christian senior Wynter Rogers stole the ball, and junior Katelyn Harris was sent to the line after drawing a foul, making both.

Senior Dionna Woodson was sent to the line for Marion with

22.2 seconds left, making just one of her two attempts, and junior Ashton Elley hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Marion tried to take control of the game in the extra period with Neal hitting a bucket off a dish from Cail just 14 seconds into the period, but the Lady Warriors held on with Rogers hitting one of two at the free throw line with 9.0 seconds left to knot the score at 50 and force a second overtime period.

This time, the Lady Patriots opened the period up on a 7-2 run to take a 57-52 lead with 1:40 left. Harris was sent to the line to pull Little Rock Christian within 3 points with 56.9 seconds to go, but Robinson and Jackson sealed the win at the line.

“Six quarters,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t expecting six, but it was, it was a great game.”

After taking a 6-2 lead early in the first quarter, Elley hit three straight 3-pointers to kickstart a 15-point run by the Lady Warriors. Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 36 seconds remaining to pull Marion within 17-9 at the end of the quarter.

“That was one of my scouting reports to make sure we get to (Elley), run her off the shot with active hands,” Johnson said. “But she got that, and she knocked them down. She got those three threes down in a row heading out the first nine.”

Neal led Marion with 18 points, five rebounds and an assist, Robinson had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Jackson had 10 points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Rogers led all scorers with 27 points, nine rebounds, two steals and an assist, Elley had 17 points, five steals and four rebounds, and junior Ashley Hopper led the team in rebounds with 11.

Marion awaits the winner of Wednesday’s game between Lakeside and Russellville. Their second-round game is set for Thursday at 10 a.m.

JONESBORO 52, BEEBE 35

Destiny Thomas scored 19 points to lead Jonesboro past Beebe in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament at Trojan Arena.

The Lady Hurricane got off to a strong start, jumping to a

10-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Lady Badgers battled back to pull within 21-14 at halftime. Jonesboro outscored Beebe 21-11 in the third to set up the final eight minutes.

Chasity Jackson added 8 for Jonesboro, Ereauna Hardaway had 7, and T’Kera Anderson finished with 6. Joey Babel led Beebe with 11 points, Mya Bradley and Madelyn Atkins had 7 apeice, and Emily Berill had 5.

Jonesboro will play its second-round game Thursday at

4 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Greenwood and Hot Springs.