WEST MEMPHIS --- For more than three quarters of last Friday night's game at West Memphis, the Blue Devils looked ripe for an upset over top-ranked Marion.
A raucous crowd inside Lehr Arena cheered the Blue Devils at every turn.
Marion flipped the script in the fourth period, however.
The Patriots scored 25 points in the final frame, including 15 from senior Jalen Neal, to rally for a 67-61 road victory that doubles as Marion's 20th victory of the 2025-2026 season, and pushed the Patriots to 8-0 against the 5A East, as Marion hunts a second straight league title, and a third in four seasons.
Marion (20-4 overall, 8-0 5A East) surged behind Neal's 22 points, while Chandler Randle scored 14, 10 from Korbin Littlejohn, and eight from Karlyal Hyland.
West Memphis (15-8, 5-3) got 22 points from Peyton Hampton and 21 from Anthony Vaughns, but no other Blue Devil scored more than Keavis Mills' seven points.
West Memphis closed the first period on a 6-0 run to lead 19-15 after eight minutes, and the Blue Devil lead reached 32-26 at halftime on a Mills layup late in the second stanza.
The Blue Devils led by as many as nine points in the third period, but that's when the Patriot rally began with three-pointers from Littlejohn and Randle, and took a brief lead with a Neal bucket before West Memphis scored for a 44-42 advantage after three quarters.
A Dexter Higgins, Jr. three-point play gave Marion a 47-44 lead, followed by a Neal layup with 6:02 left that pushed the Patriot advantage to 49-44, and when Neal canned a contested three-pointer with 5:23 left in regulation, Marion's largest lead became 52-44.
Marion's lead hit double-digits on the next possession when Higgins hit Jackson Black for a thunderous dunk, and the Patriots held the Blue Devils at bay with a Neal corner three-pointer and a Randle rebound and dunk.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Marion hosts Nettleton on Tuesday evening at Fidelity Bank Arena. The varsity girls contest will tip off around 6 p.m., followed by the boys game around 7:30 p.m. If you can't attend the Marion-Nettleton contest, you can watch it for free on the MPAN YouTube channel.
RANKINGS RUNDOWN
Marion maintained its stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's weekly Class 5A rankings, and the Patriots checked in at No. 2 in the ADG's Overall Top 10 for the third week in a row.
5A EAST RESULTS FROM 2/6
Marion 67, W. Memphis 61
Greene Co. Tech 48, Paragould 45
Nettleton 69, Searcy 57
Valley View 60, Batesville 49
5A EAST STANDINGS ON 2/9
SCHOOL CONF. RECORD
Marion 8-0
Greene Co. Tech 7-1
W. Memphis 5-3
Nettleton 4-4
Valley View 4-4
Batesville 2-6
Searcy 1-7
Paragould 1-7
5A EAST GAMES ON 2/10
Nettleton at Marion
Searcy at Greene Co. Tech
Paragould at Valley View
W. Memphis at Batesville
Top-ranked Marion bests W. Memphis for 16th time in 17 tries
February 9, 2026