JONESBORO --- For three quarters Tuesday night at Blazer Arena, the Marion Lady Patriots looked poised to coast to their best win of the 2024-2025 season. Entering the fourth period, Marion was in control of the contest, leading 51-35 after producing a 25-point third quarter. But the fourth frame belonged to the Lady Blazers. Valley View forced eight Marion turnovers in the game's final eight minutes while allowing their visitors to make just a pair of field goals in a dramatic 60-58 loss. Marion is now 15-7 overall in '24-'25 and 5-1 in 5A East play ahead of a Friday home date with Greene County Tech at Fidelity Bank Arena. The tip-off of the girls game is around 6 p.m. Marion fell despite getting 17 points from Jada Cheers, 14 from Summer Morgan, and 10 from Joniya Lewis. Annika Wilbanks led the Valley View attack with a game-high 22 points, while Allanah Orsbt added 17 and Bella Seaman scored 11. The wild second half came on the heels of a nip-and-tuck first two quarters. The game was knotted at 26 at halftime, and Valley View took a 31-29 lead on a Ruby Reynolds three-pointer with 6:16 left in the frame, but the Lady Pats took off on a 12-0 run to take their first double-digit lead (41-31) following a pair of Madison Glaspie free throws with 4:24 left in the frame. A Morgan three-point play led to a pair of Lewis free throws, and when Ayanna Hayes scored the last three points of the frame, Marion's lead was 51-35 after three quarters. Lewis gave the Lady Pats a 53-37 lead with 7:16 left in regulation when she scored on a layup, but Valley View immediately embarked on a 13-0 run to get back into the contest. A pair of Orsbt free throws got the Lady Blazers within 53-48 with 3:35 left in regulation, and Valley View got over the hump to take its first lead (57-56) of the second half following a pair of Wilbanks free throws with 1:19 left. Two Orbst free throws pushed the Lady Blazer lead to 3 points, and Marion's Jalee Meeks got the visitors within 59-48 with 5.7 before Bella Seeman set the final when she split a pair of free throws. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion hosts league-leading Greene County Tech on Friday at Fidelity Bank Arena. Tip of the girls game is scheduled for approximately 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys around 7:30. You can watch the Marion-Greene County Tech varsity games for free on the MPAN YouTube channel, the MPAN mobile app, or on MarionPatriots.com. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 1/28 Valley View 60, Marion 58 Greene Co. Tech 55, Batesville 23 W. Memphis 56, Searcy 47 Nettleton 68, Paragould 50 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/29 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Greene Co. Tech 6-0 Marion 5-1 Valley View 3-2 W. Memphis 3-3 Nettleton 2-3 Batesville 2-3 Searcy 1-4 Paragould 0-6 Top four teams make state tournament March 4-8 at Greene Co. Tech. 5A EAST GAMES ON 1/31 Greene Co. Tech at Marion Valley View at Nettleton W. Memphis at Paragould Batesville at Searcy