SHERIDAN --- For one quarter, Hot Springs Lakeside almost matched Marion blow for blow. The Lady Rams connected on four of their nine field goal attempts, and though Marion led 12-10 after the opening stanza, neither team had pulled away. But Marion tightened the screws up on defense in the second quarter and never looked back. The Lady Pats (20-10 overall) allowed Lakeside (17-13) to make just four of its final 28 field-goal attempts as Marion pulled away for a 57-27 mercy-rule victory in the opening round of the Class 5A state basketball tournament at Yellowjacket Arena in Sheridan. Marion forced 17 total Lakeside turnovers, 15 over the last three stanzas. Marion will play in the quarterfinals for the sixth time in eight seasons when it plays 5A Central champion Jacksonville Friday at 1 p.m. That game will be streamed live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app. "We're proud of how the girls have played and the effort they've given every night," said Marion coach Shunda Johnson. "Advancing to the quarterfinals is great, but our main goal is always the finals." Junior Marion forward Kiera Neal led all scorers with 16 points with six rebounds, while junior Alyse Holliman logged 11 points and eight rebounds while senior Jessica Robins went for 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Lakeside bolted to leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in the first quarter before Neal and Holliman combined to score five straight points to give Marion its first lead at 8-5 with 3:03 left in the first quarter. A Neal layup pushed the Lady Pats in front 10-8, and Marion never trailed again. Marion opened the second quarter on an 11-2 run as Neal poured in six points and Robins hit for four. The Lady Pats did not allow a field goal in the last 6:55 of the second quarter and the No. 3 seed from the 5A East took a 25-14 lead to the halftime lockers. "We came out pressing, and Lakeside was expecting that," said Johnson. "So we switched to a full-court man-to-man. Coach (Renaldo) Clay and I told them that we did not want them scoring any layups or three-pointers out of their half-court sets." Marion hit Lakeside with a 12-0 run, bridging the third and fourth quarters to put the game away. The spurt opened when Robins hit a runner, Neal converted a layup, and Ny'Asia Jackson turned a steal into two points as Marion led 37-20 after three quarters. Marion took its first 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter when Jackson hit a layup for a 41-20 lead with 7:25 left in the game. The Lady Pats triggered the sportsmanship rule when Robins hit Falencia Selvy for a short jumper to give Marion a 53-22 lead with 2:54 left in regulation.