Marion's 61-36 victory Friday night at Fidelity Bank Arena over West Memphis was historic in several ways. For starters, the Pats' (12-3 overall, 1-0 5A East) 25-point conquest over the Blue Devils (8-5, 0-1) was the school's largest in the history of the series (since 2007). Marion has won seven of the last eight meetings with its Crittenden County rival. The game also marked the return of Irving Clay, who's in his first season as West Memphis head coach. Clay coached Marion from 2004-2017. Clay coached the Pats to four state semifinals (2005, 2006, 2010, and 2011), as well as the 2005 4A East conference title. Marion students attended the game with a cutout of Clay's face. Marion forced 16 West Memphis turnovers in the league lid-lifter, while limiting the Blue Devils to 13 of 39 shooting from the floor. The Pats opened the game on a 20-1 run, not allowing West Memphis to make a shot until there was 1:09 remaining in the first quarter. "Team defense is what we've been preaching since the preseason," said fourth-year Marion coach David Clark. "Our guys have stepped it up the last few games. In the games we lost, we simply didn't perform on defense. When we defend like this, we're tough to beat." Marion junior guard Jayden Forrest scored a team-high 13 points, with seven assists and three rebounds. Junior Ryan Forrest, cousin to Jayden, hit for 11 points, and four rebounds. Senior Omareion Jefferson tallied 12 points and four rebounds, while junior guard Donnie Cheers went for 10 points. West Memphis senior Keiarris Townsend scored 13 points, while Demetrius Barrett pumped in nine points. Marion wasted little time jumping its visitors, scoring the game's first seven points, featuring five from Ryan Forrest. When Cheers recorded a steal and finished on the other end for a layup, Marion led 7-0 with 5:30 in the opening frame, while West Memphis called for time. Marion's advantage hit 20-1 when Cheers scored a layup with 1:13 remaining in the first frame, and the Pats led 24-5 after one. But West Memphis pushed back in the second quarter, limiting Marion to a single field goal on eight attempts, but the hosts led 31-16 at halftime. Jayden Forrest took center stage in the third quarter, scoring five straight Marion points to push the lead to 37-20 with 3:37 in the stanza, and he dished a pair of assists to help the Pats claim a 45-29 lead entering the fourth quarter. Marion took its first 20-point lead of the evening when Kayden Nesbitt scored on a layup for a 50-30 advantage with 5:27 left in the fourth quarter. The Pats claimed their largest lead of the night (59-30) when Jayden Forrest connected on a pair of free throws with 2:45 left in regulation. Marion continues its run through league play Tuesday night when it hosts Nettleton at Fidelity Bank Arena. The boys game will tip at approximately 7:30 p.m., and it will be livestreamed on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.