The Marion Patriots knew they were facing a gauntlet to open 5A East play in 2025 with a road visit to county rival West Memphis, followed by a home date with Nettleton. For the first seven quarters of action against two of the presumed state-tournament teams in the league, Marion probably exceeded expectations, beating West Memphis and taking an eight-point lead to the fourth quarter on Tuesday night against Nettleton. But that's when the Raiders buckled down on defense, limiting Marion to a single field goal in the final frame, to escape Fidelity Bank Arena with a 65-61 victory. Marion (13-5 overall, 1-1 5A East) got 20 points and nine rebounds from junior Chandler Randle, 14 points from senior Mikell Lewis, and eight from Karlyal "Duck" Hyland. The Patriots played their second game in a row without two-time all-conference performer LaDaryl Robinson, Jr., who's limited by injury. Nettleton (15-2, 1-0) got a lift from junior guard T.J. Whitney's game-high 26 points, including 15 in the second half. Senior Jakobe Jamison added 15 points and 6 rebounds and TeJay Daley added 13 points. The teams battled to a 16-16 tie after the first quarter, but Marion made 5 of 6 free throws and made 4 three-pointers in the second period, the last of which was a Randle triple from the top of the arc to give the hosts a 37-28 lead at halftime. Nettleton worked within 3 points in the third period, but Marion again finished the frame strong, not committing a turnover in the frame and getting timely offense to carry a 56-48 lead to the fourth quarter. Nettleton trailed 56-49 when Whitney canned a corner three-pointer to get the Raiders within 4 points and the Raiders got even closer on a Jamison stickback layup, getting within 58-56 with 3:24 left in regulation. The Raider rally was complete with 1:58 left when Daley hit a runner on the right side of the lane as Nettleton took its first lead (59-58). A pair of Nettleton free throws extended the lead to 3 points with 51.8 seconds left, but the Patriots dramatically tied the game at 61 apiece when Lewis hit a cutting Jalen Neal, who scored on a layup through contact and converted the old-fashioned three-point play with 35.2 seconds left. Nettleton got the ball to Whitney, who hit a short jumper on the right block with 5.3 seconds remaining, and Whitney capped off his night with a steal and dunk to clinch the final 4-point margin. 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 checked in at No. 10 in last week's Overall Top 25 rankings by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and on ScoreBookLive.com. The Patriots also enjoyed a No. 4 ranking in the ADG's Class 5A Super Six rankings. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/14 Nettleton 65, Marion 61 Greene Co. Tech 74, Searcy 40 W. Memphis 71, Batesville 50 Valley View 76, Paragould 64 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/15 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Greene Co. Tech 2-0 Nettleton 1-0 Valley View 1-0 Marion 1-1 W. Memphis 1-1 Batesville 0-1 Searcy 0-1 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