Marion holds off Jacksonville in quarterfinals of Class 5A girls basketball state tournament; Jonesboro cruises

By Kyle Sutherland I Photos by Ted McClenning

SHERIDAN - As one of three senior players on Marion’s roster who only will play two more games at most for the Lady Patriots, Jessica Robins refused to lose as she proved scoring the final basket Friday with just seconds remaining to defeat Jacksonville 42-41 and move on in the Class 5A state tournament.

Robins, who scored all her 17 points in the second half, had 13 in the fourth quarter.

“The first half just was not like us,” Robins told the Arkansas Sports Network. “I am one of three seniors, and I told them at halftime that we ain’t leaving so I made sure of that. [Coming down the floor] I just looked up at the clock and thought it is now or never.”

With 20 seconds remaining, Jacksonville inbounded the ball and Lia Jackson brought it up from half court and attempted a shot, but it was no good, and the ball got lost in traffic in the paint. Robins ended up with it and took it the distance with a left-handed finger roll to all but seal the victory.

“We looked a little rattled earlier, but were able to stay composed,” Marion head coach Shunda Johnson said. “They believed in their defense, and they believed in themselves and we just tried to get down and score as fast as we could.”

After ending the first quarter tied at six, Marion trailed the Lady Titans 23-16 at halftime before Robins and Kiera Neal combined for ten points in the third quarter and found themselves down just six heading into the fourth.

Neal was second only to Robins with 14 points.

Alexis Rowe led Jacksonville with 13 while Lia Jackson added 11.

Marion will square off against Greenwood at noon in the semifinals in the opening game of the day.

Little Rock Christian 49, Paragould 24

This one had the makings of another exciting, close matchup but following a manageable 20-16 LRC halftime lead, that turned out to just be an illusion. The Lady Warriors’ (24-4) defense stepped up in a huge way holding Paragould (17-10) to just eight points in the second half compared to 29 scored on the offensive side.

Ashley Hopper led all scorers with 21 points while Ashton Elley added 9.

For the Lady Rams, Carson Defries led the team with nine points in her final high school game and Keimauri Brown finished right behind her with eight.

Little Rock Christian will play defending state champion Jonesboro today at 6 for a trip to the state championship game.

Jonesboro 52 Vilonia 33

Coming off one of the best performances in the state tournament, the big question was could the Lady Eagles (23-5) slow down Memphis signee Destiny Thomas in the post. Though Thomas was still very effective, Vilonia came out with a good game plan leading 14-13, but from there Jonesboro would find its groove leading 27-16 at halftime.

Though Vilonia showed plenty of fight, the Lady Hurricane (21-6) just proved to be too much and came out on top 52-33 to advance to the semifinals.

Destiny Thomas led all scorers with 15 points.

Freshman Sidni Middleton led the Lady Eagles with eight points.