PARAGOULD --- Marion girls head basketball coach Shunda Johnson preaches defensive intensity in her program, and that emphasis was in focus for anyone to see here on Tuesday night. The Lady Patriot defense forced 31 Paragould turnovers, and turned many of them into points, to claim a 65-35 5A East victory at Doc Paynter Court. Marion got to 14-6 overall, including a flawless 4-0 mark so far in 5A East action, behind a balanced offensive effort, featuring 14 points from Jada Cheers, 13 points by Joniya Lewis, nine points by Mariyah Rucks, and eight points apiece from Summer Morgan, Madison Glaspie, and Ayanna Hayes. Marion forced 14 Lady Ram turnovers in the first quarter, helping the Lady Pats make 11 of 20 field goal attempts in the game's first eight minutes. Hayes scored six points in that frame, and the visitors led 23-10 after the game's lid-lifter. Lewis scored nine of her 13 points in the second period when the Lady Pats surrendered just two field goals and forced 12 more turnovers in the second stanza to push ahead 45-18 at halftime. Marion made its first eight shots from the floor in the third period to claim its first 30-point lead and trigger the Arkansas Sportsmanship Rule for the remainder of the game, and the Lady Patriots enjoyed a 63-24 bulge after three. Cheers led Marion with six points in the third. Glaspie accounted for Marion's only points in the fourth quarter. The Lady Patriots connected on 29 of 61 field goals at Paragould while committing only 13 turnovers, and Marion won the rebounding battle 23-21. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion continues its push through league action on Friday night when it hosts Batesville inside Fidelity Bank Arena. The junior varsity contests will tip at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity girls game at 6 p.m., then the varsity boys contest around 7:30 p.m. You can watch the Marion-Batesville varsity games for free on MarionPatriots.com, on the MPAN YouTube channel, and on the MPAN mobile app. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/21 Marion 65, Paragould 35 Greene Co. Tech 48, W. Memphis 35 Valley View 63, Searcy 26 Batesville 67, Nettleton 59 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/22 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Marion 4-0 Greene Co. Tech 4-0 Valley View 2-1 Batesville 2-1 W. Memphis 2-2 Nettleton 0-3 Searcy 0-3 Paragould 0-4 Top four teams make the state tournament at Greene Co. Tech March 4-8. 5A EAST GAMES ON 1/24 Batesville at Marion Valley View at Greene Co. Tech W. Memphis at Nettleton Paragould at Searcy