MJHS boys basketball tops Benton, stays unbeaten

MARION -- The Marion Junior High School boys basketball team found itself trailing Benton at halftime Tuesday night but went on a 14-0 run in the third quarter and beat the Junior Rangers, 38-29, to remain undefeated.
MJHS is now 10-0 overall.
Marion took the lead in the third quarter on a jumper by Devyn Wright, then Venson Newsom capped the big run with a pair of 3-pointers that gave the Wildcats a 29-17 advantage.
Benton cut the margin to 29-21 at the end of the period and got as close as 32-29 with 1:45 left, but Deavon Margrum put in a layup and Wright sank two free throws and an inside basket to push the lead back to the final margin.
Rayzhaun Bardo led the Wildcats with 12 points, seven of them coming in the second quarter. Wright added 10, while Newsom had six and both Isaiah McLorn and Margrum had four. Tariq Sanders also had a basket in the first quarter.
Marion won the seventh-grade game, 57-28. Jahmel Portee had 22 points, Benja Stone had 16 and Evan Noelle had 13.
MJHS plays Thursday at Harrisburg.