By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CABOT--Forrest City picked up a rare Tuesday night win against Cabot, winning 68-53 over a very pesky Panther team in their final league game of the year.
It is only the second time this conference season the Mustangs have won on a Tuesday night against five losses. The Mustangs are perfect in Friday night conference matchups at 7-0.
Under fifth-year coach Dwight Lofton, the Mustangs ran their record against the Cabot Panthers to 9-1.
Now, the Mustangs must face a nine day layoff before opening play in the Class AAAAA State Tournament. The Mustangs, seeded third from the East, will take on Camden-Fairview Thursday, March 1, at 5:30 p.m., at Mustang Arena.
It is the second straight year the Mustangs have qualified for the state tournament and the third time under Lofton.
A year ago, Forrest City lost in the first round to Little Rock Central. The Mustangs lost to Springdale in the first round of the 1997-98 state tournament.
The Mustangs used a 17-0 run in the second half to shut down Cabot.
Cabot led 46-45 following a Tommy Williams basket with 41 seconds left in the third quarter.
Forrest City center Josh Brown started the run with a three-point play with 11.3 seconds left in the quarter.
Daffy Norment scored five straight points to start the fourth quarter which helped Forrest City to a 53-46 lead.
James Johnson followed with two free throws before Norment hit another three-pointer. Brandon Cochran hit a basket and Brown hit two free throws to account for the run.
Cabot finally got on the board in the fourth quarter when Williams got free inside for a layup with 3:08 left.
Forrest City outscored the Panthers 20-to-7 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
The Mustangs end regular season at 12-11 and 9-5 in the conference.
Cabot falls to 1-12 and 8-15 and has one game left to play against Sylvan Hills on Friday.
Norment led Forrest City with 22 points while Johnson had 16. Brown finished with nine and Jason Jones and Cochran had seven points each. Kevin King had three and Kwantin King, back in the lineup after missing several games, had two points as did and Damion Atwater.
Williams led Cabot with 18 points. Nick Roberts had 11. Michael Sease had 10.
Cabot led 13-11 after one quarter and by nine at 27-18 midway through the second quarter when Cochran ignited a 7-0 run with a basket to pull the Mustangs to within two at 27-25.
Cabot's Richard Murphy gave the Panthers a 29-25 halftime lead when he hit a shot late in the first half.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CABOT -- No one can quite recall the last time the Forrest City Lady Mustangs notched a win over Cabot.
That changed Tuesday night. Forrest City erupted offensively for a 77-69 win over the Lady Panthers in the season-ending AAAAA-East Conference tilt at Cabot.
With past records incomplete at times, the Lady Mustangs were 0-12 against the Lady Panthers since the 1994-95 season. The streak may be longer than that.
It is also the first time in several seasons the Lady Mustangs have put 77 points on the scoreboard. They scored 63 in a win over Jonesboro during the 1995-96 season.
The Lady Mustangs ended their season at 6-15 overall, the best mark since the 1996-97 season and 2-12 in the conference.
Forrest City avenged a 73-46 loss to Cabot on Jan. 26.
Kanetra Pendleton led the Lady Mustangs with 20 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter as Forrest City outscored Cabot 20-13 to secure the victory.
Pendleton's floater with 1:17 left to make the score 70-65 put the game away after Cabot had rallied to lead twice in the final frame.
Deosha Agnew added 18 points and hit 6-of-11 free throws. She grabbed seven rebounds and had one blocked shot.
"Deosha drove inside consistently all game for us," said Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe. "She made some good things happen for us."
Senior LaQuisha Cunningham had 15 points (two threes) and struck for 10 of her point total in the third quarter.
Her three-pointer at the end of the quarter gave Forrest City the lead for good at 57-56. Caronica Randle had 10. Leslie Jayroe had eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Katrina Floyd added five points.
Forrest City led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter and held a 24-15 lead at the end of the first period.
The Lady Mustangs continued the good play in the second quarter and led 37-30 at halftime.
"We shot the ball much better than we have all season and we cut down on our turnovers (16) which may look too impressive, but for us is a vast improvement," Jayroe added.
Jayroe singled out the play of Floyd, who also had four rebounds.
"Katrina started instead of Agnew for us but both played very well," Jayroe said. "Cunningham had her shot working in the second half, after I convinced to shoot the ball. She wouldn't put it up in the first half. When she did, she helped us."
In the second half, it appeared Cabot decided to show up and went on a 15-4 run to lead 45-41 with 3:56 left in the third quarter.
The Lady Mustangs recovered to lead 57-56 at the end of the third quarter.
"It was important for the future of this team and this program to end the season on a positive note," Jayroe said. "And to end with a win on the road is exciting. The girls played hard and deserved to get the victory."