Hot Springs was out-classed when it took on Marion in the second round of the Hot Springs Invitational Friday. The Lady Patriots routed the Lady Trojans 66-19.
The Lady Trojans struggled to get the ball past mid-court in the first quarter as Marion cruised to a 15-0 lead before Hot Springs attempted a shot. A block of senior Alix Frazier's 3-point attempt led to a 17-0 lead for the Lady Patriots.
Sophomore Kyabra Lomax put the Lady Trojans on the board first, drawing a foul on her shot but making both free throws. Marion's Daedrianna Cail put up a pair of layups, split by a pair of shots from the line by junior Jalena Griffith as Marion took a 26-4 lead into the second quarter.
Marion head coach Shunda Johnson pulled her starters for the second quarter, allowing the Lady Trojans to move the ball a bit better. Hot Springs hit a 7-0 run to start the quarter before Marion closed it out with a 7-4 spurt to take a 33-15 lead into the break.
"Pressing is probably gonna be our advantage because of our length," Johnson said. "And it's been paying off for us because we talked about, you know, using our length to get some deflections, to ... get in their range of vision and just trying our best to capitalize if we can force turnovers."
Hot Springs had some fortune early, getting the ball to start the half and making the first shot of the third quarter against the Lady Patriots' starters, but that was all the team could muster as Marion went on a 30-point run to take a 63-17 lead into the final frame and force a running clock.
Johnson said that in a tough 5A-East conference, playing in a tournament like the Hot Springs Invitational is beneficial to them when it comes time for conference play.
"Our league, 5A-East, is strong every night, so we're glad to be over here, to be honest," she said. "It helps out tremendously to know that when we play a tough non-conference schedule that when we go out to a conference, there's nothing we haven't seen."
Praylin Jones led the Lady Trojans with 8 points, Gabby Erby, Griffith and Lomax had 2 each, and Amiya Campbell and Denayshia Sanford rounded the scoring out with 1 each.
Cail led the Lady Patriots with 18 points with Kiera Neal putting up 14. Alyse Holliman and Jessica Robins added 8 each, and Ny'Asia Jackson had 7.