Marion's roller-coaster season will once again end in the state tournament. Despite an 0-3 start to 5A East play, and a 3-14 mark overall, Marion's 44-39 victory on Tuesday night at Fidelity Bank Arena over Paragould means the Lady Pats have earned wins in eight of their last 10 outings to qualify for postseason play. The 2023 state-tournament bid is the ninth in Coach Shunda Johnson's 10 seasons at the school. Johnson's teams earned conference titles in 2017 and 2018, and Marion won the 2017 Class 6A state championship. Once again, Marion had to rely on its defense to clinch victory. The Lady Pats (11-13 overall, 8-5 5A East) harassed the Lady Rams (19-8, 9-4) into a chilly six of-26 shooting performance in the first half to take a 12-point halftime lead before holding on for the five-point final margin. Senior forward Kiera Neal led the way for Marion (11-13 overall, 8-5 5A East) with 15 points and eight rebounds. Senior Alyse Holliman checked in with 10 points and five boards, while Brianna Dyson added five. Dixie Williams paced Paragould (19-8, 9-4) with 15 points, but no other Lady Ram scored more than Shakira Brown's eight points off the bench. Marion hit Paragould with the first four points of the game and finished the opening frame out on a 7-3 run to lead 13-10 after eight minutes. Dyson sparked Marion in the second stanza, scoring five straight points on a jumper and a three-pointer, and when Holliman scored on a stickback, Marion enjoyed its first double-digit lead (24-14) with 1:30 left in the first half. A Neal layup capped the first-half scoring and the hosts led 26-14 at the halftime break. After two frames, Marion had forced 16 Paragould turnovers, turning them into 10 easy points on the other end. The Lady Pats earned an 18-10 halftime advantage in rebounds. Paragould peppered the net from long range in the third period, making three of its five attempts from distance, and the Lady Rams crawled within 37-27 after three frames. The Paragould long-range display continued into the fourth quarter as Shakira Brown and Williams hit triples on back-to-back possessions, the latter with 5:15 remaining, and the visitors moved within 37-33. That's when Neal went to work, assisting on layups by Holliman and Jordan Johnson before splitting a pair of free throws to give Marion a 42-35 advantage. Marion won by forcing seven fourth-quarter turnovers and outrebounding Paragould 10-6 in the decisive frame. Marion's victory completes a season sweep of Paragould, which would give the Lady Patriots the head-to-head tiebreaker should the teams finish the regular season tied with the same conference mark. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion concludes its regular season on Friday night at Valley View (8-16 overall, 3-11 5A East). Marion downed Valley View 65-50 on January 27 at home. Due to limited space at Valley View's arena, the Marion Patriots Activities Network will not be showing the ballgame, but MPAN will provide Valley View's home broadcast as soon as it is available. POSSIBLE STATE TOURNAMENT SEEDS Marion could finish anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4 depending on the results of Friday night's season finales in the 5A East. Marion is just one game out of second place, but the Lady Pats own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Paragould by virtue of a season sweep. A Paragould loss on Friday and a Marion victory would boost the Lady Pats into the No. 2 playoff seed. Marion is currently tied with Nettleton as each boast identical 8-5 league marks, but the Lady Pats own the tiebreaker on the Lady Raiders on margin of victory against the other. Nettleton downed Marion by three points in January while Marion mauled Nettleton by 20 in February. A Marion loss coupled with wins by Paragould and Nettleton would drop the Lady Pats to the No. 4 playoff seed and a first-round date with defending Class 5A state champion Greenwood. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM FEBRUARY 21 Marion 44, Paragould 39 Nettleton 49, Valley View 41 Searcy 58, Batesville 51 W. Memphis 58, Greene Co. Tech 45 5A EAST STANDINGS ON FEBRUARY 22 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD (Top 4 teams make playoffs) W. Memphis 13-0*+ Paragould 9-3* Marion 8-5* Nettleton 8-5* Searcy 6-7 Greene Co. Tech 5-8 Valley View 3-11 Batesville 1-12 *clinched playoff berth +clinched conference title