By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City and Jacksonville have made a habit of working overtime in conference play.
Tuesday night, the two AAAAA-East teams went overtime for the third time in their last eight meetings.
After ending regulation tied at 46-46, after junior guard Nick Smith's last-second jumper rolled off the side of the rim, Jacksonville got a big offensive rebound and putback by Steve Murdock with two seconds to play in overtime to lift the Red Devils to a 54-52 win Tuesday night at Mustang Arena.
Overall, under fifth-year Head Coach Dwight Lofton, the Mustangs are 3-7 against Jacksonville and 1-2 in the three overtime games. It was also the third time the Mustangs have lost to the Red Devils by two points.
All but eliminated from postseason play, Jacksonville (10-13 and 5-7) didn't have anything to lose headed into the game. Forrest City had just a little more on the line.
The Mustangs (10-11, 7-5) who are still in contention for one of the four playoff spots in the East, were looking to solidify their third-place position in the standings.
Instead, the loss leaves them in a tie with Jonesboro (15-9, 7-5), a loser to Blytheville Tuesday.
The loss also makes Friday's home game against West Memphis much more important.
West Memphis defeated Sylvan Hills Tuesday 62-42 to improve to 6-6 on the year.
A West Memphis win over Forrest City would leave the Mustangs in a tie with the Blue Devils for fourth place.
A win over West Memphis would clinch a playoff berth for the Mustangs, who will close out the season on Feb. 20, at Cabot.
Jacksonville trailed at the half by six, 25-19 and fell behind by eight in the third period, 27-19, before Jacksonville scored seven unanswered points to cut the Mustang lead to 27-26 on a steal and layup by Cory Stirgus.
Forrest City's Daffy Norment scored the next six points (a three-pointer, a two point field goal and one free throw) to put the Mustangs back in front 33-26 with 4:28 showing.
Jacksonville closed out the quarter with a 6-0 run to trail 36-34 to begin the fourth period.
A scoop layup by Smith tied the game early in the fourth and an inside layup by Murdock put Jacksonville in front 38-36.
Forrest City tied the game at 38-38 and 40-40 before going in front 44-40 after three straight Forrest City turnovers.
Jacksonville tied the game at 44-all with two minutes left and took a 46-44 lead with 45 seconds to play.
The Mustangs missed three shots under the goal but James Johnson hit two free throws with 27 seconds showing to force the fourth tie of the period at 46-46.
Jacksonville then went to Smith for the last shot which slipped off the rim, sending the game into overtime.
The Red Devils used a baseline layup by Smith for a 48-46 lead and extended their lead to 50-46 with two Smith free throws at the 2:22 mark.
Johnson worked hard inside for a basket but missed the free throw after being fouled to get the Mustangs back within two points at 50-48. A Jacksonville turnover allowed Jason Jones tied the game at 50-50 with 1:52 to play.
Smith, who lived at the free throw line (8 of 13) sank two more as the Red Devils went up 52-50 with 1:22 to play.
Johnson drove the length of the floor after forcing a turnover and completed the soft layup with 1:03 to play to knot the game at 52-52.
Jacksonville inbounded following a Forrest City time out and worked for the last shot.
Playing man-to-man defense, the Mustangs held off Jacksonville until Smith drove into the paint with 5.3 seconds on the clock and got off a pull-up jumper.
The shot bounced from rim to rim before Murdock grabbed the rebound and got the put back with two seconds showing.
Forrest City's last inbounds baseball pass was intercepted by Murdock at the buzzer.
Mustang Coach Dwight Lofton said letting Jacksonville take the last shot, was just one of those decisions.
"They were over the foul limit and everything was an automatic two-shot foul," Lofton said. "And we were playing good defense, so it was just one of those judgment calls not to foul them in the final minute."
Johnson led the Mustangs with 24 points, including a pair of three-pointers while Norment finished with 12 points. Jason Jones added six and Millen finished with five.
Smith led Jacksonville with 18 points and Murdock added 12 points. Melvin Harrison added seven points and Xanus Robinson had six.
Forrest City will host West Memphis Friday night while Jacksonville will host Cabot, Blytheville will be at LR Mills and Jonesboro will travel to Sylvan Hills.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Jacksonville Lady Red moved another step closer to returning to Forrest City in two weeks Tuesday night by putting down the Lady Mustangs 68-48.
Jacksonville (13-9, 7-5) is locked in a tie with Blytheville in the AAAAA-East Conference standings and are battling for the third-place seed into the state tournament, which will be played at Forrest City beginning Feb. 27.
Rachel Townsend scored 14 points (12 in the first half) Tuesday to lead the Lady Devils.
Deosha Agnew led Forrest City with 14 points, five rebounds and three steals while Leslie Jayroe finished with nine points, seven rebounds and one blocked shot.
Forrest City fell behind 23-8 after one period and trailed at the half 44-28 after cutting the Lady Red Devil lead to 10 points twice in the second period.
Both teams stayed even in the third period, each scoring 11 points, which left Jacksonville in front 55-39 to start the final period.
With Jacksonville leading 61-43 with 4:50 to play in the game, both benches went to their reserves.
Leading 8-3 with 5:54 left in the first period, jacksonville scored the next 11 points to push their lead to 19-3, before Caronica Randle hit one free throw and LaQuisha Cunningham connected for a jumper.
The Lady Mustangs missed five straight free throws and three jumpers in the final 56 seconds of the first period.
The Lady Mustangs put up 20 points in the second period but still trailed by 15 at the half.
The Lady Mustangs shot just 28 percent (18-of-63) from the field for the game and just a little better than 30 percent from the free throw line (10-of-33).
Randle finished with five points and seven rebound while Kanetra Pendleton had five points. Cunningham added six points in the game.
Jacksonville got 13 points and three rebounds from Brandi Rodgers and 10 points from Alicia Yancy.
Forrest City falls to 1-11 in the conference and 5-14 overall.
Forrest City will host West Memphis Friday.
West Memphis downed Sylvan Hills 76-20 Tuesday night.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The seventh-ranked Hughes Blue Devils will battle Pine Bluff Dollarway Thursday night in one of two semifinal games at the 6AAA District Tournament at Lonoke.
Tuesday night, Dollarway defeated DeWitt 76-26 to advance to Thursday's game.
The No. 1 seeded Blue Devils (27-1) won the 6AAA Conference title and earned a bye to Thursday's semifinal game.
A year ago, Hughes, seeded second into the district ousted Dollarway 78-42 in the semifinals before losing to Lonoke in the finals 52-49.
Hughes reached the semifinals of the Class AAA state tournament before being eliminated -- once again by Lonoke.
The Blue Devils rolled through the conference schedule undefeated.
Lonoke, this year's No. 2 seed, will face Dumas in Thursday's other semifinal game. Dumas eliminated Brinkley 76-59 Tuesday.
The two winners will advance to Saturday's championship game at 7:30 p.m.
In girls' action Tuesday, the Pine Bluff Dollarway Lady Cardinals moved to Thursday's semifinal round by ousting Brinkley 74-25.
Dollarway will take on No. 2 seeded Dumas in one semifinal while England, a 48-33 winner over DeWitt Monday, will take on No. 1 seed Lonoke in the other semifinal.
The Hughes Lady Blue Devils ended their season on Monday when they lost to Brinkley 44-37 in a first-round matchup.
The girls' championship game will be played Saturday at 6 p.m.
In the 6AA District Tournament at Elaine, the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots defeated Gillett 79-48 Tuesday.
Leroy Bell led P-W with 22 points, Michael Barnes had 19 and DeVille Pickett and Oliver Smith had 10 each.
P-W will play Barton, Thursday at 8:15 p.m.