Shunda Johnson has made quite the name for herself over the past several years as the head girls basketball coach at Marion, but on Friday night, she sounded more like a college professor. Following a 65-33 5A East victory over Batesville at Fidelity Bank Arena, Johnson pulled out her phone to explain giving her team a B+ overall grade. "Our guards completed three of their four goals that we gave them this morning," said Johnson. "Our bigs completed two of three, so I think a B+ is fair." Marion scored the game's first 14 points and never looked back in staying perfect in the 5A East on Friday night, forcing 22 Batesville turnovers in the 32-point romp. Marion (15-6 overall, 5-0 5A East), which already owns head-to-head victories over league rivals West Memphis, Nettleton, and Searcy already this season, got points from eight players, including double-digit efforts from Jada Cheers (17 points), 13 from Ayanna Hayes, 12 from Joniya Lewis, and 11 from Summer Morgan. Lewis and Cheers led the way with eight rebounds apiece. Batesville fell despite getting 11 points from Serenity Patterson, 10 from Eryn Pennington, and six from Briley Pulliaum. Marion took its first double-digit lead early in the first quarter when Cheers swished a three-pointer as the hosts led 10-0 while forcing four Batesville turnovers, and a Morgan triple gave the Lady Patriots a 19-7 lead after one quarter. The run continued into the second quarter as the hosts claimed their first 20-point lead of the night when Madison Glaspie came up with a steal and threw an outlet pass to Hayes, who finished over a taller player at the rim for a 34-13 Marion lead midway through the second, and the Lady Pats led 41-19 at halftime. Marion forced 15 first-half turnovers while allowing Batesville to make just 5 of 22 shots from the floor prior to halftime. "We challenged our girls to match their intensity tonight because Batesville is a team that always plays very hard," said Johnson. "We were going to have to match their effort if we wanted to win, and I thought we did that most of the night, definitely in the first half." Marion kept the pedal down in the third, taking its first 30-point lead of the night when Hayes scored on back-to-back layups for a 53-23 lead with 4:18 left in the period, and the Lady Pats toted a 61-27 lead to the fourth quarter. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion travels on Tuesday night to play the Valley View Blazers in Jonesboro. The girls varsity game will tip around 6 p.m., followed by the boys varsity contest at approximately 7:30 p.m. You can watch the Valley View varsity girls and boys contest for free on the MPAN YouTube channel, on the MPAN mobile app, or on MarionPatriots.com. RANKINGS RUNDOWN For the third straight week, the Marion Lady Patriots were ranked No. 6 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Class 5A SuperSix rankings on Sunday morning. Farmington, Greene County Tech, Mountain Home, Vilonia, and Little Rock Christian are ranked 1-5 this week, respectively. Marion hosts Greene County Tech on Friday, January 31. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/24 Marion 65, Batesville 33 Greene Co. Tech 70, Valley View 44 Nettleton 58, W. Memphis 56 Searcy 54, Paragould 42 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/27 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Marion 5-0 Greene Co. Tech 5-0 Valley View 2-2 Batesville 2-2 W. Memphis 2-3 Nettleton 1-3 Searcy 1-3 Paragould 0-5 Top four teams make state tournament March 4-8 at Greene Co. Tech. 5A EAST GAMES ON 1/28 Marion at Valley View Greene Co. Tech at Batesville Searcy at W. Memphis Nettleton at Paragould