By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Don't think for a second that the Hughes Blue Devils are taking today's Class AAA State Tournament first-round game lightly.
The Blue Devils, ranked seventh in the latest Associated Press basketball poll, second in Class AAA and 31-1 overall for the year, will face Dardanelle today at 5:30 p.m., at Riverview High School in Searcy.
"It will be a test for us," Hughes Coach Wes Swift said. "They (Dardanelle) have one of the best offensive rebounders in their conference and have played some tough competition during the year. We will have to be on top of our game."
Each team reached the state tournament very differently.
Hughes won their conference, won their district and won the regional to become the No. 1 seed into today's game.
The Sand Lizards finished fourth in the conference, fourth in the district and fourth in the regional.
Their game revolves around 6-2 senior forward Roderic Chaten.
"He's a muscled-up player who bangs inside and is tough on the boards," Swift said.
Hughes isn't without their offensive weapons either.
While Chaten is Dardanelle's go-to man, the Blue Devils have several scoring threats -- Lonnie Smith, Robert Davis, Tim Jones, Paul Doolittle, DeMarcus Burks and Lonnie Davis -- just to name a few.
Swift expects the Sand Lizards to use a zone against his Blue Devils.
The winner of today's game gets the Hamburg-Valley View winner Friday at 2:30 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
This is the time of year that Palestine-Wheatley Coach Beverly Bass and her Lady Patriots live and breathe for.
It's the time when all the line drills, practice and toil pays off. It's state tournament time.
The same can be said for Clay Reeves and his Greenland Lady Pirates.
Both teams are very familiar with one another.
They have met in the Class AA championship game the past two years. Greenland has been to the championship game five straight times and owns both victories over Palestine-Wheatley.
Greenland is looking to continue that reign. The Lady Patriots are still hoping for a coup that would leave them as "Queens of Class AA Basketball."
Last Saturday Palestine-Wheatley won their third consecutive regional tournament title. Likewise, Greenland won their fifth straight regional title.
If a third straight state title is in the cards for Greenland, and if the Lady Patriots hopes of winning their first state title sees fruition, they will have to defeat someone other than each this time around in the final at Pine Bluff.
A restructured state tournament bracket placed Palestine-Wheatley and Greenland in the lower half instead of on opposite sides as in the past two years.
The lower half also houses Marmaduke, Kingsland, Lewisville, Vally Springs, Magnet Cove and Newark.
Should both P-W and Greenland survive to play on Saturday, they would meet in the lower semifinal.
Today, both teams start the trek toward a possible Saturday showdown.
The Lady Patriots (31-1) are ranked second in the Associated Press poll, first in Class AA and 13th in one national poll.
They will battle Lewisville in first-round action today at 4 p.m., at Danville High School.
A Lady Patriot win may indeed put them against Marmaduke in Friday's quarterfinal.
Later, at 7 p.m. Greenland (28-4) opens play in the Class AA State Tournament at Danville against Magnet Cove.
A Greenland win brings the Lady Pirates back on Friday for a potential matchup against Kingsland.
Provided each of the four No. 1 seeds advance past the first round, that is.
This is the Lady Pirates' seventh-consecutive trip to the state tourney.It is the third consecutive trip for the Lady Patriots.
Both teams have already proven they are among the best of the best in the state and have taken on and defeated all comers at all classification levels and in the process have built a great rivalry between the two programs.
One, that still may have one more chapter to be played out.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs evened their record at 1-1 by defeating the West Helena Cougars 14-4 in prep baseball action last Friday.
The Mustangs opened the season last Tuesday with an 8-1 loss to Searcy.
The scheduled doubleheader today at Wynne against the Yellowjackets has been rained out.
"We would like to play, but a rain out now isn't so bad," said Mustang Coach Reggie Murphy. "We expected to lose a couple here and there due to weather."
The Mustangs will start play Thursday in the North Little Rock Invitational Tournament against North Little Rock at 6:30 p.m. at the Lakewood Complex.