Often times in the rugged 5A East girls basketball conference, games come down to the latter stages of the fourth quarter to decide a winner. Nobody knows that better so far in 2025 than the Marion Lady Patriots. For the second game in a row, Marion punched and counterpunched with a league opponent on the hardwood on Tuesday night inside Fidelity Bank Arena against Nettleton. For the second game in a row, Marion made all the plays down the stretch to pull out a victory, this one 61-56 over the Lady Raiders. Marion improved to 12-6 overall, and most importantly 2-0 in the 5A East for the first time since 2022, behind 22 points from junior Jada Cheers, 12 points from Madison Glaspie, and Joniya Lewis and Ayanna Hayes hit for seven points apiece. Nettleton got 15 points from Kinsley Patterson, 10 from Kadyen Hardaway, and nine points from Taylor Thomas. Marion made 7 of its 8 free throw attempts in the first quarter to carry a 13-8 advantage to the second stanza. The Lady Patriots turned the Lady Raiders over 6 times in the second, turning them into 7 points, as the hosts took a 24-18 lead to the halftime locker room. Marion's lead was 43-36 after 3 quarters, but Nettleton made it a game in the fourth quarter, scoring the first 7 points of the frame to tie the game at 43, getting the equalizer on a Patterson jumper with 6:28 left in the game. Nettleton achieved its first lead since the first quarter (48-46) on a Hardaway three-pointer with 5:07 left. Marion took a 53-52 lead with 1:57 left in the game on a Jalee Meeks three-pointer, but a Patterson layup pushed the visitors back in front by a point with 1:49 left. That's when Glaspie scored 4 straight points to give the Lady Pats the lead for good, and she capped the scoring by making a pair of free throws with 7.8 seconds left in the fourth. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion continues its initial jaunt through 5A East action on Friday night when the Patriots play at Searcy. The girls varsity contest will tip around 6:00 p.m., followed by the boys game around 7:30 p.m., and each varsity contest will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com, on the MPAN YouTube channel, and on the MPAN mobile app. RANKINGS RUNDOWN Marion earned a No. 6 ranking this week in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's weekly Class 5A Super Six rankings. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/14 Marion 61, Nettleton 56 Greene Co. Tech 65, Searcy 29 Valley View 64, Paragould 31 W. Memphis 42, Batesville 33 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/15 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Marion 2-0 Greene Co. Tech 2-0 Valley View 1-0 Nettleton 1-1 W. Memphis 1-1 Searcy 0-1 Batesville 0-2 Paragould 0-2 5A EAST GAMES ON 1/17 Marion at Searcy Greene Co. Tech at Nettleton Valley View at W. Memphis Batesville at Paragould