Marion head girls basketball coach Shunda Johnson preached a fast start before her team's home date Tuesday evening with league rival Batesville. It's safe to say she got her wish. The Marion Lady Patriots scored the first eight points of the game, and led 29-7 after one quarter, in last night's 61-40 victory over visiting Batesville at Fidelity Bank Arena. "We came out tonight with energy, effort, enthusiasm," said Johnson, who guided Marion to the 2017 Class 6A state title. "I'm ecstatic that we made layups tonight for a change. We finished through contact, and just really played a good game." Marion (12-7 overall, 4-3 5A East) forced 27 Batesville (10-11, 1-6) turnovers, outrebounded the Lady Pioneers 26-19, and connected on 25 of its 55 field goal attempts in the victory. Four Lady Patriots hit double-figures, led by sophomore guard Madison Glaspie's game-high 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Marion senior all-state guard Ny'Asia Jackson netted 12 points and a game-high six assists, Junior forward Joniya Lewis scored 12 points with eight rebounds, and sophomore guard Jada Cheers finished with 11 points. Melania Hendrix led Batesville with 12 points, while Briley Pulliam hit 11 points and five rebounds. Serenity Patterson led the Lady Pioneers with 11 boards. Marion scored on its first three possessions against Batesville, opening the scoring with a Jackson three-pointer, followed by a Glaspie layup, and when Jalee Meeks canned a three of her own, the Lady Pats led 8-0 with 6:45 left in the first quarter. Following a Hendrix triple, Marion went back to work with a Cheers jump shot, another Glaspie layup, and a Lewis layup that gave the Lady Pats their first double-digit lead (14-3) with 3:56 left in the opening frame. The Marion run continued when Cheers hit a long two-pointer, Lewis scored in the paint, and Glaspie connected on a jumper from the free-throw line for a 20-5 Marion lead. The Lady Pats closed out the dominant first quarter with three-pointers from Glaspie and Jackson, and three Cheers free throws in four attempts for a decisive 29-7 lead after eight minutes. "We felt okay after the first quarter, but we knew they had shooters," said Johnson, whose teams have advanced to the last three state semifinals, and five in all. "A lot of their lineups, all five players can take and make three-pointers, so we knew we had to protect for that." Jackson and Ayanna Hayes scored the first five points of the second stanza for Marion as the Lady Pats claimed their largest lead to date at 34-7 with 7:02 left in the first half. But Batesville battled back from there as Pulliam scored six points in the second frame, including a short jumper with 8.3 seconds left in the second, to pull the Lady Pioneers within 38-15 at the break. A 6-0 Marion run in the third quarter featured layups by Lewis and Hayes, and a pair of Jackson free throws as the Lady Pats claimed their largest lead of the game (52-23) with 3:08 left in the third, and the hosts settled for a 52-27 bulge entering the fourth quarter. Following a jump shot from Batesville's Hadley Cunningham to open the fourth-quarter scoring, Marion scored the next six points for a 56-29 lead before mass substitutions. In all, 10 Lady Patriots recorded rebounds, and nine scored. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion opens its second run through 5A East play on Friday night at West Memphis. The evening begins at 5 p.m. with a junior varsity boys game, followed by the varsity girls contest around 6 p.m., and then the varsity boys game at approximately 7:30 p.m. The West Memphis ballgames can be viewed live on MarionPatriots.com and the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/30 Marion 61, Batesville 40 Greene Co. Tech 80, Searcy 77 (2OT) W. Memphis 59, Valley View 44 Nettleton 56, Paragould 14 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/31 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Greene Co. Tech 7-0 Searcy 5-2 W. Memphis 5-2 MARION 4-3 Nettleton 4-3 Valley View 2-5 Batesville 1-6 Paragould 0-7 Top four teams make state tournament in Searcy 5A EAST GAMES ON 2/2 Marion at W. Memphis Nettleton at Greene Co. Tech Valley View at Batesville Searcy at Paragould