By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
BRYANT -- Maybe Arkansas Baptist should apply for membership to the AAAAA-East.
"They are a fundamentally sound basketball team," said Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton, whose Mustangs lost to the Eagles 56-46 Saturday in the finals of the Bryant Invitational Tournament. "It was good experience for us to get into the finals."
Arkansas Baptist senior forward Brian Ross scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds as the Eagles pulled away late from Forrest City to complete a three-game sweep of AAAAA-East Conference foes on their way to the championship.
Arkansas Baptist defeated Sylvan Hills, Little Rock Mills and Forrest City.
"Definitely not," said Arkansas Baptist Coach Steve Miller when asked if he wanted to join the bigger conference. "There's a lot of great teams and a lot of great athletes in that league. We were just very fortunate to win these last few games."
Arkansas Baptist (12-1) defeated Sylvan Hills in the opening round and used a last-second shot to upset Mills in the semfinals.
Against Forrest City (2-6), the Eagles outscored the Mustangs 18-6 in the final 6:03 of the game.
The Mustangs trailed 28-22 at the half but cut the deficit to 36-35 to start the fourth period in which they took a 40-39 lead.
The Eagles used an 8-0 run to regain a 47-40 lead and then hit their free throws (12-of-15 for the game) down the stretch.
"We had some shots to rim in and then out on some crucial possessions," Lofton said. "They hit their free throws and that was the difference."
Ross Spigner added 12 points and senior center Brett Hays added 10 points and seven rebounds for Arkansas Baptist.
DeAngelo "Buck" Braddock led Forrest City with 12 points while Vince Millen had seven rebounds. Nate Britt and Derrick Smith finished with seven points each for Forrest City, 2-6 for the year.
The Mustangs used 10 points from Smith and nine points from Millen to edge Stuttgart 49-47 in Friday's semifinal game.
Kerry Evans' jump shot with three seconds left gave the Mustangs the victory.
The Mustangs led by 11 points going into the final period before Stuttgart battled back to tie the game at 42-42.
Friday's win over Stuttgart was the first of the year for the Mustangs.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
PALESTINE -- Senior guard Nikki Bass put up a season-high 28 points Friday night that helped pace the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots to a 66-42 win over Cotton Plant.
Bass added nine rebounds as well in the game which saw the Lady Patriots end a four-game losing streak and improve to 3-6 for the year.
The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots and junior Lady Patriots also won their games friday making it a sweep for the home teams.
Beth Varvil added eight points for P-W and had four blocked shots while LaRhonda Bender and Brittney Flenory had seven points each and Libby Martin and Nikita Love each had six points.
"We are doing a better job matching than we were at the first of the season," said P-W Coach Beverly Bass. "Some of the younger kids are stepping up and beginning to help us."
The Palestine-Wheatley teams will travel to Earle tonight for a nonconference three-game set.
HUGHES -- Jermaine Davis drained seven, three-pointers Friday night to finish with 21 points in Hughes' 83-45 win over Brinkley.
It was the 6AAA Conference opener for the Blue Devils, who improve to 7-3 for the year.
Robert Davis added 18 points and Antonio Cotton scored eight in the win.
Hughes led 24-12 after the first period and 34-22 at the half.
The win over Brinkley was the fifth straight for the Blue Devils.
Victoria Doolittle and Deangela Smith combined to score 26 points Friday to lead the Lady Blue Devils past Brinkley 35-30.
Doolittle finished with 14 points while Smith added 12 to help the Hughes girls to their first win of the year.
Hughes led 11-6 after one period and 17-8 at the half.
Marley Lemons scored 14 points Friday and the Hughes Junior Lady Blue Devils posted a 35-20 conference win over Brinkley.
Jana Robinson added nine points in the win.
The same three Hughes teams will travel to DeWitt Tuesday night as conference action continues.
The Forrest City Blue Junior High basketball teams will host Jonesboro MacArthur tonight for a three-game set at Mustang Arena.
The White Junior Mustang teams will be on the road at Jonesboro Annie Camp.
In other area basketball games tonight, the Palestine-Wheatley junior and senior girls and senior boys teams will be on the road at Earle.