By Chuck Livingston Marion School District JONESBORO --- To erase a 17-point, first-half deficit to win in double overtime on the road requires contributions from up and down anyone's roster. The Marion Patriots are no different. Tuesday night at Raider Gymnasium against Nettleton, Ryan Forrest scored a game-high 29 points, while Jayden Forrest hit for 15, and junior guard Donnie Cheers filled out the stat sheet with 22 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore swingman Kayden Nesbitt hit for 11 points, none bigger than a game-tying layup with less than a second remaining in the first overtime to tie the game at 71, and force a second extra period. Senior guard Zyon Parnell drew two charges, played stellar perimeter defense, and capped the scoring with a layup to clinch the victory. Freshman Terrion Burgess scored six points, recorded seven rebounds, and handed out three assists in his first action since November. It added up for a dramatic 86-77 Marion victory, which improves the Pats to 17-6 overall, 7-1 in the 5A East, while Nettleton falls to 15-8, 3-5. While Marion finished faster than Nettleton, the Raiders were the aggressors early on. The hosts hit Marion with a 13-0 run in the first quarter, featuring three three-point makes by three Raiders. The third connection from long range gave Nettleton a 13-2 advantage with 4:12 left in the first quarter. Nettleton made five of its nine field goals in the first quarter, while Marion managed just five of 12 from the floor, and the Raiders led 22-10 after eight minutes. The Nettleton advantage hit 17 points when Davares Whitaker, Jr. scored on a layup for a 27-10 advantage with 7:11 remaining in the second quarter. That's when Marion hit the comeback trail by attacking the basket and making five of seven free throws, while forcing six Raider turnovers. When Ryan Forrest beat the halftime buzzer with a layup, Marion trailed only 36-25. Nettleton stretched its lead back to 15 points when Whitaker canned a three-pointer with 5:46 left in the third, and the Raiders maintained a 12-point advantage late in the quarter when Marion made its move. Ryan Forrest sparked a 15-0 Marion run that bridged the third and fourth quarters by hitting a three-pointer, and skying for three highlight-reel dunks. Nesbitt added four points during the run, while a pair of Jayden Forrest free throws gave Marion its first lead (52-51) since 2-0 with a pair of free throws with no time remaining in the third period. That final frame featured four ties and three lead changes. The last tie came when Nettleton's Jeremiah Turner hit a triple with 1:01 remaining to even the score at 64. The teams came up empty on their final possessions to force overtime. Nettleton took a three-point advantage in the first bonus period when Curtez Smith hit a triple with 2:01 left, and the Raiders had the ball with 1:24 remaining when Burgess came up with a steal near midcourt and hit Cheers for a layup to trim the Raider advantage to a point. Nettleton had an opportunity to put the game out of reach, but the Raiders missed all four free throws in the first overtime period, and missed all six combined in the extra periods. The Raiders' fourth free-throw misfire was rebounded by Burgess, who got the ball to Jayden Forrest, who pushed up court before giving up to Cheers. Cheers drove the lane and dished to Nesbitt for a layup that tied the game at 71 to force the second overtime. A Jayden Forrest layup gave Marion a 77-75 lead that it wouldn't relinquish. Cheers hit for seven in the second extra period alone. Marion returns home to Fidelity Bank Arena Friday night to host Searcy. The girls game will tip at approximately 6 p.m., followed by the boys around 7:30. Both varsity games will be streamed on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.