PARAGOULD --- Despite the obvious chill in the air the past week around town, the Marion Patriots are somehow heating up. The latest example was Tuesday night against old rival Paragould on Doc Paynter Court. Marion made 31 of its 51 field goal attempts (61 percent) in its second straight conference road date to earn a 76-62 victory. The Pats' shooting helped them overcome a similarly hot night for Paragould, which connected on 13 of 26 three-point attempts in the loss. Marion (15-4 overall, 3-1 5A East) got 18 points from Chandler Randle, 15 from Mikell Lewis, 13 by Jalen Neal, and 11 from Rylan Johnson. Johnson scored all of his points after halftime, including a 3 of 5 showing from three-point range. Marion's stellar offensive evening began with the first quarter as the Patriots made 11 of their 14 shots from the floor to fashion a 25-11 lead after eight minutes. But Paragould didn't back down, and the Rams limited the Pats to just four field goals in the second stanza, while the hosts countered that by making four three-pointers alone to get within 35-28 at halftime. Johnson roared to life in the third period, making all three of his three-pointers in that quarter to stake his team to a 51-39 lead to open the fourth quarter. Lewis helped close out the Rams with seven fourth-quarter points. 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 76, Paragould 62 Nettleton 66, Batesville 61 Valley View 73, Searcy 43 Greene Co. Tech 74, W. Memphis 65 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/22 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Nettleton 3-0 Valley View 3-0 Marion 3-1 Greene Co. Tech 3-1 W. Memphis 1-3 Paragould 1-3 Searcy 0-3 Batesville 0-3 Top four teams make the state tournament March 4-8 at Greene Co. Tech. 5A EAST GAMES ON 1/24 Batesville at Marion Valley View at Greene Co. Tech W. Memphis at Nettleton Paragould at Searcy