By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
PARAGOULD -- The last time the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots lost the first game of the McDonald's Shootout was the first year they played in the Paragould tournament -- 1998.
They fell to Greenwood, rebounded to beat Izard County and lost to Marion.
They finished sixth that year and returned in 1999 to finish second. Last year, they won the title.
Thursday afternoon, in their first round game against Jonesboro, the Lady Pats fell behind 8-0 in the opening minutes and were unable to overcome their early struggles, fading even further late, despite a game-high 16 points from senior point guard Nikki Bass.
On the other hand, 13 different players scored for the Lady Hurricane (9-1) who went on to blow away the Lady Patriots 62-37.
Jonesboro eases into today's winner's semifinal game Bentonville at 8:30.
Bentonville downed Greene County Tech 51-20.
The Lady Patriots will face Greene County Tech at 5:30 p.m., today in a loser's semifinal.
JHS started strong, with a steal and four quick points from Lydia Nelson, giving Jonesboro an 8-0 advantage.
Bass answered by starting an 8-4 run to get P-W close at 14-10. Jonesboro's Sarah Lehman scored four of her 11 total points just before halftime as the Lady Hurricane led 34-21 at the break.
Jonesboro came out smokin' in the third period and outscored the Lady Patriots 14-to-4 and forced 11 turnovers in the decisive quarter which left Jonesboro with a 48-25 lead to start the fourth period.
For the game, P-W suffered 33 turnovers and shot just 34 percent from the floor, hitting 15-of-44 shots.
Latoya Wortham led Jonesboro with 14 points and Lehman had 11. Allison Taylor added seven, Rachel Simmons had six while Aquasha Anderson, Lydia Nelson and Tiffany Cole each had four.
Libby Martin was the only other P-W player to finish in double figures with 10. LaRhonda Bender had six while Nikita Love added three. Bass was named the player of the game for P-W.
"We played well enough to hang with them during the first half," said P-W Coach Beverly Bass. "But the second half they just came out and took it to us."
Bentonville 51, GCTech 20
The Bentonville Lady Tigers rolled to a 51-20 victory over Greene County Tech Thursday night in the first round of the McDonald's Shootout at Paragould High School.
The Lady Eagles (2-5) rallied early in the third but a 17-2 Bentonville run slammed the door on GCT's hopes for an early upset.
GCT faces Palestine-Wheatley today at 5:30 p.m. while Bentonville goes against Jonesboro at 8:30 p.m.
Pocahontas 49, Paragould 44
Despite being outscored 17-14 in the fourth period, the Pocahontas Lady Redskins upended Paragould's Lady Rams 49-44 in the McDonald's Shootout Thursday night.
The two teams played an even first quarter, with Pocahontas taking a slight 10-8 advantage at the end of the quarter when Pocahontas player of the game Ali Carter hit a layup with just over a minute left in the frame.
The Lady Redskins led 25-17 at the half.
The two teams came out of the locker room in the third and matched swapped buckets, but by the end of the third Pocahontas led 35-27.
Carter led all scorers with 23 points.
Poplar Bluff 68, Obion County Central 41
The Poplar Bluff Lady Mules improved to 8-0 on the season, defeating the Obion County Central Lady Rebels to reach the semifinals against Pocahontas.
Nicole Rivers led Poplar Bluff with 19 points.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City White Junior Lady Mustangs lost their second straight game of the season Thursday night, falling to West Memphis East 37-23 at Mustang Arena.
It marks the first time this season, the White Lady Mustangs have dropped back-to-back games.
Overall, the White Lady Mustangs slip to 6-4.
East placed two in double figures, Marquette Hollins and LaToya Dotson, both with 14 points.
Sequoria Grady led Forrest City with 10 points while Viveca Kimble had seven and Shari Rogers added four points.
East led 16-7 after the first period and pushed that lead to 24-9 at the half.
The White Lady Mustangs rallied in the third period to get within 30-17 after putting together an 8-to-2 run.
In the eighth-grade girls' game, East rolled to a 30-3 win over Forrest City.
Jasmina Morton hit a three-pointer for Forrest City in the first period.
Junior Boys
WMemphis East 54, FCity White 42
Terrance Gilmer and Jonathan Patterson each scored 15 points to lead West Memphis East past winless Forrest City White 54-42 Thursday.
Taurus Moore led Forrest City with 15 points while Kyle Metcalf scored 13 -- 11 of that total coming in the first period. Metcalf scored his only other points in the third period.
Forrest City led 13-10 after the first period and both teams battled to a 23-23 tie at the half.
East used a 16-to-9 run in the third period to lead 39-32 to start the final period.
They held Forrest City to 10 points in the final frame to nail down the win.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs and Lady Mustangs will host the Wynne basketball teams tonight in a nonconference affair at Mustang Arena.
The Wynne Yellowjackets bring a 4-2 record into the game while Lady Yellowjackets are 2-6 for the year.
Dwight Lofton's Mustangs are 2-6 for the year while Sue Jayroe's Lady Mustangs are 1-4 for the year.
The Mustangs have not played since Saturday when they lost to Arkansas Baptist in the finals of the Bryant Invitational Tournament.
Tonight's three-game set begins with a JV girls' game at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Hughes Blue Devils, coming off back-to-back 83-point games, will host Dumas tonight at Blue Devil Gym for a 6AAA Conference game.
* PREP BASKETBALL
Junior High
Thursday's Scores
Junior Boys
WM West 51, FCity Blue 50
WM East 54, FCity White 42
Junior Girls
WM West 42, FCity Blue 20
WM East 37, FCity White 23
Friday, December 14
Wynne at Forrest City, 5 p.m.
Dumas at Hughes, 5 p.m.
Blytheville at Osceola
Clarendon at Barton
Cotton Plant at Crawfordsville
Jacksonville at North Little Rock
Tournament
Outlaw Shootout at Dierks
Friday, December 14
Senior Boys
Palestine-Wheatley vs Mineral Springs, 6 p.m.
Emerson vs Dierks, 9 p.m.
Saturday, December 15
Palestine-Wheatley vs Nashville, 2 p.m.