JONESBORO --- On an otherwise quiet Tuesday evening, Marion and Valley View got together for yet another installment of one of the hottest, fastest-growing basketball rivalries in the state. In a contest that went down to the wire, and perhaps even further, Valley View outscored Marion by five points in the fourth quarter to break a 31-all tie after three frames to score a dramatic 52-47 victory inside Blazer Arena. Valley View senior Gavin Ellis canned a three-pointer with 55.3 seconds left to give the hosts a 46-43 lead and the Blazers made six of eight free throws down the stretch to ice the contest. Valley View (18-2 overall, 6-0 5A East) got a game-high 20 points from guard Josh Burnett, including 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter. Oliver Barr added 14 points, while Max Manchester pumped in 10 of his own. Marion (15-6, 4-2) got 13 points from Chandler Randle, 12 from Mikell Lewis and 9 from Jalen Neal. Valley View scored the final four points of the first quarter when Barr made a couple of free throws and Manchester hit a layup and the Blazers led 12-8 after eight minutes. A Burnett triple gave Valley View a 17-10 lead early in the second period, but Marion turned the tables from there, outscoring the Blazers by 12 over the remainder of the first half for a 22-19 lead at the break. The Patriot run started with five straight points from Neal, followed by a Dexter Higgins three-pointer, a Neal layup, and a Jackson Black runner that beat the second-quarter buzzer to account for the Marion offense in the back half of the second. Marion pushed ahead 28-21 on a Lewis layup with 4:38 left in the third period, but Burnett got hot from there, scoring seven straight points before a Laird Cullen three-pointer gave the hosts a 31-29 lead late in the third, but a Black layup sent the game to the fourth quarter knotted at 31. The fourth quarter featured eight lead changes, with the largest lead being two points until Ellis's triple with less than a minute left on the clock. It was Ellis's only basket of the night. A Higgins layup got Marion within 47-45 with 19.6 seconds left, and the Patriots had a chance to tie the game when Barr split a pair of free throws, but Marion missed a pair of three-pointers before Lewis scored on a stickback to get Marion within 48-47 with 1.2 seconds left, but the Blazers made four free throws from there to set the final score. 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 52, Marion 47 Nettleton 71, Paragould 58 Greene Co. Tech 72, Batesville 56 W. Memphis 49, Searcy 42 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 1/29 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Nettleton 5-0 Valley View 5-0 Marion 4-2 Greene Co. Tech 4-2 W. Memphis 2-4 Paragould 2-4 Batesville 0-5 Searcy 0-5 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