Following a 26-7 final record, an outright 5A East conference championship, and the school's first semifinal trip since 2022, five Marion basketball players earned postseason awards, while first-year coach Sammie Lewis earned the 5A East's Outstanding Coach of the Year for the 2024-2025 basketball season. Marion senior Mikell “Twin” Lewis and junior Chandler Randle nabbed all-state nods from 5A East coaches, while juniors Jackson Black, Dexter Higgins, Jr., and Jalen Neal earned all-conference nods. Lewis capped a prolific basketball career at Marion by turning in his best season to date. The three-year varsity contributor led the Patriots in scoring in his team's 54-50 quarterfinal victory over Sylvan Hills (17 points and six rebounds), as well as his team's semifinal defeat against Benton (21 points and eight rebounds). Randle enjoyed his breakout season this year, emerging as an accurate shooter and powering the Marion offense on most nights while finishing as the team's second-leading rebounder. Randle paced the Patriots in their first-round state tournament victory over El Dorado with a game-high 21 points with five rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and he added 12 points and seven rebounds in the quarterfinals against Sylvan Hills. Black started most games of the games as Marion's top post threat, playing his best basketball in February, including an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double in his team's crucial victory at Nettleton. Black finished with six points and six boards in the quarterfinal win over Sylvan Hills. Higgins earned some varsity minutes as a sophomore, but he really blossomed as a junior, pacing the Pats in assists. The junior logged six points, six assists, and three rebounds in the opening round of the state tournament against El Dorado, and he followed that up with nine points, six assists, and four steals against Sylvan Hills in the quarters. Neal produced his breakout season this winter, finishing near the top of Marion's charts in scoring and rebounding while also playing tenacious perimeter defense. The Junior tossed up 17 points and seven rebounds against El Dorado in the first round, and he racked up 10 points and six boards in the quarterfinal victory over Sylvan Hills. He capped his all-league year with 21 points, four rebounds, and two assists against Benton in the semifinals. Lewis became Marion's third head basketball coach in as many seasons last spring, and the Jonesboro native guided the Patriots through a daunting non-conference slate with a 12-4 mark, with holiday tournament championships at Cabot and the Bad Bad Mowers Ronnie Brogdon Invitational at Highland. His Patriots were 4-2 against the 5A East following a January 28 loss at Valley View, and Marion was in third place by itself following that game. Rather than giving up, Lewis's club circled the wagons by winning their last eight conference games, including avenging early league losses to Nettleton and Valley View, to guide Marion to its second conference championship in three seasons. At the state tournament at Greene County Tech, Lewis's Patriots easily topped El Dorado in the tournament's opening round before winning a slugfest with Sylvan Hills in the quarterfinals to punch its ticket to the final four. Marion's 26 victories this season are its most since the 2022 Patriots finished 25-8 and played for the Class 5A state championship.