As the game clock hurdled toward zero, Marion's student section roared to life. Were they happy that their classmates were about to dispatch Greene County Tech by double digits to improve to 5-0 in league action? Almost surely. Beyond that, however, was the added significance of Marion's 67-49 conquest of one of its older rivals. The Patriot rout marked 100 victories for Coach David Clark, who took over the Marion boys basketball program in time for the 2018-2018 season. Clark's teams have advanced to the semifinals three times, played for two Class 5A state titles, and won the 2019 Class 5A state championship with a sterling 25-3 final record. The Little Rock native's first team also claimed the 2019 5A East title with a 14-0 mark. “I can't thank everyone who's helped us make this possible, every coach, every administrator, all the players,” said Clark. “This is an achievement for the school more so than it is for me personally because it takes us all to make this happen.” Marion topped Tech by doing the dirty work, namely forcing 23 turnovers and winning the rebounding edge 31-20, led by junior Kayden Nesbitt's heroic 15-rebound performance, including seven offensive caroms, and five rebounds. “Kayden has been a warrior for us all year long,” said Clark. “He's a little undersized but that has never stopped him. He's relentless.” Marion (16-5 overall, 5-0 5A East) senior Donnie Cheers, III poured in a game-high 24 points, while Lyndell Buckingham scored 10 points with six assists, and David Brewer added nine. Senior forward Benji Goodman paced Greene County Tech (17-5, 1-4) with 16 points, while Ripken Tucker hit for nine and Tyler Vincent added eight. Marion opened the game on a 5-0 run, but resilient Tech responded by scoring 11 of the next 13 points, highlighted by three-pointers from Goodman and Vincent, to take an 11-7 lead with 4:15 left in the opening frame. The Patriots took the lead back with 23.4 seconds left in the opening stanza when Jalen White scored on a layup and converted an old-fashioned three-point play. A Cheers steal and layup gave Marion a 17-12 lead after the first quarter. But Tech didn't blink in the second quarter, a stanza that featured three times and three lead changes. A Tucker three-pointer tied the game at 26 with 2:56 remaining in the first half. A Brewer triple immediately sparked a 10-0 Marion run featuring paint points by Buckingham, Cheers, and Nesbitt, the latter of which gave the Pats a 36-26 bulge with 1:37 left in the first half. A Buckingham steal led to a dunk, and junior Jermiah Miller added a pair of layups to give the hosts a 44-29 lead at halftime. “They hit some shots early, especially some threes,” said Clark. “Once we were able to settle in there, especially on defense, we thought we might be able to wear them down, and that's what it felt like at that time.” Tech opened the third quarter by scoring eight straight, and 11 of 13 points, to crawl within 49-40, but Cheers had the answers, embarking on a personal 6-0 run, capped by a steal at half court leading to a dunk, and Marion enjoyed a 55-40 advantage after three quarters. Marion took its largest lead of the night (65-44) when Buckingham found White for a layup with 5:03 left in the fourth quarter. “We wanted to get them (Greene County Tech) back because they beat us here last year, and we don't like losing at home,” said Clark. “A goal of ours every year is to protect our house no matter who we play, and we did that tonight.” Clark became Marion's third boys basketball coach in as many seasons in the summer of 2018. The Patriots were fresh off back-to-back losing seasons but gelled quickly under Clark. Marion finished 25-3 in 2018-2019, capped by a 57-54 overtime victory over Little Rock Hall to earn the school's first boys hoops title. Clark's teams advanced to the semifinals in 2019, 2020, and 2022. Last year's Patriots also played for a state title for just the third time in school history. Clark's teams are 100-35 in five seasons. JONESBORO 50, MARION 43 Less than 24 hours after the Tech contest, Marion hosted old rival Jonesboro in a non-conference contest at Fidelity Bank Arena. In the game of the week in Arkansas high school basketball, No. 4 Jonesboro forced eight sixth-ranked Marion turnovers and made 7 of its 11 field goal attempts in Saturday's fourth quarter to erase a 35-30 deficit entering the decisive frame for a 50-43 non-conference victory at Fidelity Bank Arena. "It was a much better job of our guys playing tough and staying tough in the fourth quarter than it was before that," said Jonesboro coach Wes Swift. "We played with much better composure, which we needed to do to beat a quality team on the road." Jonesboro (18-3 overall, 4-1 6A Central) senior Isaac Harrell logged a game-high 15 points, while Deion Buford-Wesson added 13 points. Nesbitt paced Marion (16-6, 5-0 5A East) with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Cheers added 12 points and Jalen White added nine points. Jonesboro led 11-4 in the first period when four players scored, but Marion scored the final five points of the frame to work within 11-9 after eight minutes. The second period featured four lead changes and three ties as the teams struggled to pull away. Marion took the lead on a pair of Lyndell Buckingham free throws followed by a Martavius Davis steal and layup, but a Harrell stickback barely beat the halftime buzzer and Jonesboro carried a 23-22 lead to the break. Five Cheers points and a White three-point play conspired to give Marion a 30-27 lead with 2:20 left in the third quarter, and the Patriots took their largest lead of the night when Nesbitt hit a layup with 4.1 seconds left in the third period as Marion led 35-30 entering the final quarter. Jonesboro opened the fourth period on an 11-2 run, including steals by Devarius Montgomery and Tillman that led to layups. A Buford-Wesson three-pointer gave the visitors a 41-37 lead with 3:25 left in the game and forced a Marion timeout. A Nesbitt stickback got the hosts within 41-39 following the stoppage, but C.J. Larry hit a three-pointer and a layup, followed by a Buford-Wesson layup and the Golden Hurricane led 48-40. Buford-Wesson canned a pair of free throws to help Jonesboro close the game out. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion travels on Tuesday to play Paragould in another 5A East conference game. That contest will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app. The tip of the boys game will be around 7:30 p.m. Paragould enters play on Tuesday 8-12 overall and 2-3 in the 5A East. RANKINGS RUNDOWN Marion remained No. 1 in Class 5A and No. 6 in the state in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's comprehensive weekly rankings. The Patriots have held the top spot in the Class 5A Rankings for the past five weeks. 5A EAST STANDINGS FROM JANUARY 20 Marion 67, Greene County Tech 49 Nettleton 70, Batesville 42 Valley View 65, Searcy 48 West Memphis 52, Paragould 36 5A EAST STANDINGS (Top four teams make playoffs) SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Marion 5-0 Nettleton 4-1 Searcy 3-2 Valley View 3-2 Paragould 2-3 W. Memphis 2-3 Greene County Tech 1-4 Batesville 0-5