Daedrianna Cail caught the ball on the block and spun to the baseline. The Marion senior positioned the ball over her head and drew contact from one of two West Memphis defenders. Cail's layup banked off the backboard and fell through, and her subsequent free throw gave Marion a 42-41 lead that the Lady Pats would never relinquish with 2:17 remaining. Marion's 46-41 victory Friday night in the conference opener at Fidelity Bank Arena improved the Lady Pats to 11-5 this season. Marion now owns victories this season over 5A East rivals Jonesboro and West Memphis (7-4, 0-1). Cail's old-fashioned three-point play sparked a closing 7-0 run for the hosts. On the two possessions following Cail's bucket, sophomore guard Ny'Asia Jackson hit two of four free throws to push the Lady Pats ahead 44-41 with nine seconds remaining. Cail punctuated the victory with a layup to set the final score. Marion started the game almost as well as the hosts finished it. The Lady Pats claimed a 9-3 lead midway through the first quarter behind four points from Jessica Robins, but the West Memphis response was quick. The Lady Blue Devils finished the opening stanza on a 6-0 run to knot the score at nine after the first frame. The West Memphis run reached 18-4 in the second quarter as the Lady Blue Devils connected on six of 13 field goals, which added up to a 21-13 halftime lead for the vistiors. At halftime, West Memphis junior guard Janiyah Tucker had nine points, and her passing led to easy baskets for teammates. After the break, Marion coach Shunda Johnson assigned guard Falencia Selvy to faceguard Tucker the length of the court in an attempt to deny the explosive guard the ball. It worked, as Tucker did not score after halftime, which allowed Marion to work its way back into the game in the third quarter. “That was our plan the whole game, but we didn't stick to it often enough,” said Johnson. “When we committed to it, it was effective.” The Lady Pats hit West Memphis with a 10-0 run out of the gates in the third quarter, as Cail poured in six points, the last of which gave Marion a 23-21 lead with 4:16 remaining in the frame, but West Memphis led 30-26 at the end of the quarter. “I was impressed how we played in the third quarter,” said Johnson. “We are still figuring out our identity right now, but that was a great stretch for us.” West Memphis led by as many as six points in the fourth quarter (39-33) with 4:12 left in the contest. That's when junior forward Kiera Neal scored four straight points, and Jackson logged a layup to tie the game at the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter. A pair of Clemisha Prackett free throws with 2:26 remaining gave West Memphis the lead, setting the stage for Marion's late heroics. Cail led all scorers with 16 points, in addition to five rebounds. Jackson scored eight points and handed out a team-high five assists. Neal pumped in 10 points. Alayiah Price paced West Memphis with 14 points, while Prackett and Tucker hit for nine. Marion hosts Nettleton Tuesday night at Fidelity Bank Arena. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will be livestreamed on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.