Marion and Nettleton have forged an old rivalry that dates back to the 1980s in most sports, but perhaps none are more fierce than the one in boys hoops. Tuesday night, Marion added another chapter to the tally. In a contest between the two top teams from last year's 5A East conference, Marion leaned on Nettleton for four quarters to pull away for a 53-44 victory at Fidelity Bank Arena that leaves the Patriots at 2-0 in league action with head-to-head victories over fellow conference-title contenders West Memphis and Nettleton. Marion topped Nettleton in a big game this time by doing the little things. The Patriots forced 14 Raider turnovers and won the rebounding battle convincingly, by a 38-23 margin. Of Marion's 38 rebounds, 17 came on the offensive glass. "I've been really fighting with our guys on who wins the loose ball war, and we have gotten outrebounded a lot this year," said Marion coach Emmanuel Wade. "I think we finally won the 50/50 ball tonight, but we still gave up too many easy bunnies. It's a work in progress, but our guys are getting after it.” The Patriots (9-2 overall, 2-0 5A East) got 10 points and eight rebounds from junior Mikell Lewis, nine points and seven rebounds from senior Jalen White, and 10 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks from sophomore LaDaryl Robinson, Jr. Marion senior forward Kayden Nesbitt racked up eight rebounds against Nettleton. Nettleton fell to 9-7 and 1-1 despite getting nine points apiece from Jakobe Jamison and Jamaree Thomas, and eight points from Taylor Smith. De'Shun Jackson finished with seven points and seven boards. Nettleton hit Marion with an early 9-4 run thanks to five points from Smith and four by Jackson, and the Raiders led 11-6 late in the opening stanza before Marion's David Brewer canned a three-pointer that beat the first-period buzzer that got the Pats within 11-9 entering the second. "If we could ever execute and follow the plan we'll be fine," said Wade. "We are making it harder than it has to be right now. But we played really tough tonight against a quality opponent, and that's the exciting thing." A Brewer stickback with 5:04 left in the first half gave Marion its first lead of the night at 12-11, and the Pats hit the Raiders with a 6-0 run for an 18-14 lead with 2:05 left in the second. A Lewis runner gave the Pats a 23-20 lead at halftime. Nettleton twice trimmed the Marion lead to one point early in the third period, but the Pats ripped off a 10-2 run featuring a White layup, a Nesbitt free throw, followed by a Nesbitt three-point play, a Brewer runner, and a Robinson layup, the latter of which gave the Pats their first double-digit lead (35-25) with 3:17 left in the third. A pair of T.J. Whitney free throws got the Raiders within 35-29, but a White stickback and a resounding dunk from Marion junior guard Lyndell Buckingham gave the Pats a 39-29 advantage heading to the fourth quarter. Nettleton worked within 39-34 when Thomas hit a three and Darius Thompson scored at the time, but Buckingham scored an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play just before dishing to White for a layup that pushed the Pats back in front 46-37 with 2:20 left. Marion's lead hit 12 points (53-41) when Buckingham found Robinson for a dunk, and a Thomas three-point capped the scoring for the Raiders. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion remains at home in this first run through 5A East play when Searcy comes calling on Friday night. The junior varsity boys game tips at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity girls contest, and then the varsity boys. The Marion-Searcy contests will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/9 Marion 53, Nettleton 44 Greene Co. Tech 57, Batesville 35 W. Memphis 45, Searcy 39 Valley View 64, Paragould 53 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/10 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Marion 2-0 Valley View 2-0 Nettleton 1-1 Searcy 1-1 Greene Co. Tech 1-1 W. Memphis 1-1 Paragould 0-2 Batesville 0-2 5A EAST GAMES ON 1/12 Searcy at Marion Greene Co. Tech at Valley View Paragould at Batesville W. Memphis at Nettleton