After the Lady Lions defeated Marion, the Patriots took their revenge in the jungle gym, dealing a crushing defeat to the boys, with a score of 52 to 39.

Coach Bryant Turney knows the Lions have done better, but he is proud of the team’s heart and perseverance throughout the game.

“I thought the guys really competed hard, especially that second half,” said Turney. “We got down on a run, we missed a bunch of shots, that we normally would make and it would have been easy to kind of fold up.

Turney said they  got a good run out of them in the fourth quarter and cut them back where the team had the chance to get back in the game.

“The guys just battled all the way through,” Turney added. “Even with some diversity and injuries, they never gave up and kept fighting.”

It was obvious that Marion outplayed the Lions, but Turney did not give up on the team, because of their perseverance and hustle down the court.

Fans felt the only way to get over the game was to get a win soon.

“You always have to bounce back, after a loss like this. Tonight,   credit it  to Marion, really a lot more about them and what they did well,” said Turney.

“I’m not sure about 20 points,” said senior Jay Reynolds. “I’m probably going to cope with this, you know, going home crying a little bit; hoping we can do better next Tuesday whenever we play Little Rock.”

It was obvious to the fans and teams that the Lions made some mistakes on the court, but the coaching staff has already made corrections to prepare for future games to prevent the same outcomes.

“Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds,” said Reynolds. “We did not get very many rebounds, at all. We needed work on that big time.”

“In basketball, you don’t have to wait long. We get to turn around and play again on Tuesday night. We got a really good North Little Rock team coming in here, and the next friday, Jonesboro,” said Turney.

Turney said the next two games are going to be really similar to this one; both teams are really athletic and play defensively.

“This was actually a good game for us to prepare for those two, because we are going to see the same sort of stuff,” Turney said. “We are going to spend a lot more time working on pressure defense.”

Be sure to support your Lions, next friday.