By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
JONESBORO -- The top boys' seeds in the boys' 55th Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament are more than just the best basketball teams in this corner of the state. They are among the very best in the state overall.
That is why Osceola, Hughes and Turrell are the favorites to win their divisions when the NEA tips today at the ASU Convocation Center in Jonesboro.
In all, 43 games will decide 2001's three champions at the NEA.
Four boys' games will be played today. The tournament runs through Saturday, Dec. 29, when the championship games in the A-AA, AAA and AAAA-AAAAA divisions will be played.
Izard County and Sloan-Hendrix will open the tournament at 4:30 p.m. Delaplaine and Lynn play at 6 p.m., Rector and Black Rock play at 7:30 in the A-AA division.
Valley View and Trumann play the AAA nightcap at 9 p.m.
The top tournament seeds won't tip for at least one more day, but they have the resumes to back up their lofty billing.
Hughes is the top seed in the AAA tournament. They are the defending AAA state champions as well as the NEA's defending AAA champs.
In the AAAA-AAAAA division, Osceola, the top seed, appears to be the team to beat.
The Seminoles captured the Class AAAA state title and won their division of the NEA tournament last year, losing just one game all season.
Turrell is the top-seeded team in the A-AA division, winning back-to-back Class A state titles in 1999 and 2000.
The Rockets followed that with a state runner-up finish last year while moving up a classification to AA and finished second to eventual AA state champion Marked Tree in last year's NEA tournament.
If there is one common denominator among the tournament's top three seeds, it's that all three teams are not shy about playing the game.
Hughes, Turrell and Osceola play full court basketball -- at a fast and furious pace.
Slowing down the flow of the game is not within the game plans of either team.
Seven teams make up this division. Osceola is the favored team to win a second straight NEA title
The Seminoles, 11-3 overall, have a first-round bye while the other six teams open tournament play Dec. 26.
Osceola has won eight straight games.
Blytheville is the division's No. 2 seed and is considered the best of the rest. Osceola has already beaten the Chickasaws twice by scores of 77-58 and 72-51.
The two could see each other once more in the finals.
Osceola is scoring more than 79 points a game and are holding their opponents to 50 points or less.
Shooting guard David Hughes leads the team in scoring at 18 points a game while power forward Jerry Long is next with an average of 12. Post Octavius Bailey and point guard Dan Newson are each averaging 11 points a game while shooting forward Chris Baker is at 10 a game.
Osceola will await the winner of fourth-seeded Jonesboro vs. Newport. Blytheville opens with Stuttgart and No. 3 seeded Nettleton battles Batesville in the other half of the bracket.
Hughes will have to win four games in four days to repeat as NEA champs. Osceola needs only two wins to take the NEA title. Turrell gets a break between games.
Hughes, after a regular-season nonconference matchup tonight at Earle, will open the at the NEA on Wednesday, Dec. 26, against the Harrisburg-Corning winner.
Hughes first-year coach Brad Brannen said his team comes into the tournament with confidence, but is plenty aware that it will be no cakewalk to winning another NEA crown.
The Blue Devils have reason to be optimistic heading into the tournament.
At 9-3 on the season and sporting a seven-game win, the Blue Devils are showing signs of overcoming their early-season struggles and are gelling as a team.
Senior shooting guard Robert Davis is the team's only returning starter on the court, since senior teammate Lonnie Smith has been on the injury shelf with a broken leg, and he has contributed in a big way with an average of 21 points a game.
Three players return from last year to form the core of the rest of the starters while 6-foot-3 power forward Antonio Cotton -- a transfer from West Memphis -- has made an impact since the start of the season.
Cotton is averaging 12 rebounds and six blocks a game while scoring nine points a night. He is joined by Chris Crawford, Jay Doolittle and junior returnee Jermaine Davis.
East Poinsett County, 9-1, is the field's No. 2 seed while Valley View, 15-2, is the No. 3 seed and Rivercrest is the No. 4.
EPC opens against Highland Dec. 22 while Valley View takes on Trumann Dec. 20 and Rivercrest begins with Brookland Dec. 21.
The Turrell Rockets are the only top-seeded team in the boys' NEA field that aren't reigning state champions.
But the Rockets have plenty of tradition with state titles in 1999 and 200 and a runner-up finish to Marked Tree last year.
Turrell enters the A-AA division of the tournament with a 19-1 record and riding a four-game winning streak. The Rockets' only loss of the season came in a 64-58 defeat at Memphis Briarcrest.
Turrell opens the tournament Friday against today's Rector-Black Rock winner.
Turrell has already played twice this week, winning back-to-back games against Augusta Monday and Tuesday, defeating the Red Devils 52-49 at home and 57-55 on the road.
Undefeated River Valley (19-0) is the No. 2 seed in the 22-team field of the A-AA division tourney.
Marmaduke is the division's No. 3 seed and will meet the winner of Walnut Ridge-Biggers-Reyno Dec. 22 while Armorel is the fourth seed and will play the winner of ICC-Sloan-Hendrix on Dec. 21.
The Forrest City-Wynne basketball games, set for Friday night at Yellowjacket Gym, will begin at 6 p.m. instead of 5 p.m., as originally scheduled.
The junior varsity boys' game has been cancelled and the two teams will play only a senior girls and senior boys' game.
Last Friday, at Mustang Arena, the Lady Mustangs defeated Wynne while the Yellowjackets defeated the Mustangs in the first meeting between the two schools since the 1999-00 season.
* PREP BASKETBALL
High School
Thursday, December 20
Hughes at Earle, 5 p.m.
(Jr. Girls, Sr. Girls, Sr. Boys)
Friday, December 21
Forrest City at Wynne, 6 p.m.
(Sr. Girls, Sr. Boys only)
* TOURNAMENTS
High School Basketball
Northeast Arkansas Invitational at ASU Convocation Center, Jonesboro
Thursday, December 20
A-AA Boys
Izard County vs Sloan-Hendrix, 4:30 p.m.
Delaplaine vs Lynn, 6 p.m.
Rector vs Black Rock, 7:30 p.m.
AAA Boys
Valley View vs Trumann, 9 p.m.
A-AA Girls
Walnut Ridge vs Izard County, 6 p.m.
BIC vs Bay, 9 p.m.
AAA Girls
Piggott vs Trumann, 4:30 p.m.
Cave City vs Harrisburg, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, December 21
A-AA Boys
Turrell vs Rector-Black Rock winner, 1 p.m.
Armorel vs ICC-Sloan-Hendrix winner, 3 p.m.
Bay vs Salem, 4:30 p.m.
BIC vs Riverside, 6 p.m.
Biggers-Reyno vs Walnut Ridge, 7:30 p.m.
AAA Boys
Rivercrest vs Brookland, 12 noon
A-AA Girls
Swifton vs Marked Tree, 4:30 p.m.
Lynn vs Salem, 6 p.m.
Riverside vs Rector, 7:30 p.m.
Biggers-Reyno vs Black Rock, 9 p.m.
AAA Girls
Rivercrest vs EPC, 12 noon
Valley View vs Brokokland, 1:30 p.m.
Hoxie vs Gosnell, 3 p.m.