By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Last year, the Forrest City Mustangs did not lose a AAAAA-East Conference game on their home floor.
This season, so far, the Mustangs have not lost a conference game played on a Friday night.
They are 5-0 on that night of the week. On Tuesdays, they are 1-4.
Thank God, it's Friday.
The Mustangs (9-10 and 6-4) travel to Jonesboro tonight to take on the Hurricane in what can only be called "a serious conference matchup."
The Mustangs are in fourth place in the conference standings while the Hurricane at 7-3 are holding on to third.
Tonight's game could ultimately decide the third-place seed into the class AAAAA state tournament.
Forrest City holds one season victory over Jonesboro -- beating the Hurricane 57-37 at Mustang Arena on, you guessed it, Friday, Jan. 12.
Since that time, the Mustangs have won four of seven and more importantly, three of their last four.
Jonesboro has also caught fire of late, winning four of their last five games to keep in postseason contention.
A Forrest City victory tonight would give the Mustangs the tie-breaker over Jonesboro, should it come to that to determine a postseason candidate.
"This is not a 'do or die' game for us," said Mustang Coach Dwight Lofton, "but it is an important game. Naturally, a win would benefit us a great deal as we head into the stretch run in the league, but a loss won't sink our ship completely."
Six East teams remain in contention for postseason play -- LR Mills, Blytheville, Jonesboro, Jacksonville, West Memphis and the Mustangs.
Tonight's three-game set begins at 5 p.m. when the JV boys tip.
The Forrest City Lady Mustangs won't be making a postseason appearance. At 1-9 in the league, they have been eliminated.
But they will be making the trip to take on Jonesboro (21-2, 10-0) tonight.
Coach Sue Jayroe's goals are simple.
"We want to work hard and break their press so we can get to our end of the floor and score," Jayroe said. "Anything can happen in conference play. A win would be nice, but being out of the state tournament race, we're working toward getting better and showing improvement in our play."
The Lady Mustangs are 5-12 overall for the year.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Five Palestine-Wheatley Patriot players scored in double figures Thursday night, led by Leroy Bell's 18-point performance in a 76-57 win over Elaine.
It was the final regular-season conference game for the Patriots who end the regular season at 9-12 overall and 6-6 in the 6AA Conference.
Preston Fingers, starting in place of Derrick Franklin, who has been sidelined with an injury, scored 12 points as did Michael Barnes and Oliver Smith. Roman Harris added 13 points and DeVille Pickett finished with six points.
The Patriot win ended a three-game losing streak.
The Patriots will advance to next week's 6AA District Tournament, which will be played at Elaine. At press time today, the team's seeding into the tournament bracket had not been determined.
The four Palestine-Wheatley seniors -- Fingers, Franklin, Bell and Barnes -- were honored, along with their teammates, during pregame ceremonies as part of "Parent's Night" at the school.
The four seniors were playing their final game on the Patriot Gym home floor.
The Patriots led 18-10 to start the second period and outscored Elaine 16-to-8 to extend their cushion to 34-18 at the half.
Much like previous games, the Patriots at times, employed their version of the "four-corner" offense to protect their lead.
Midway through the third, the Patriots led 49-31 and increased that to 52-37 to start the fourth period.
P-W put up 24 points in the final frame to secure the win.
With four minutes left in the game, the Patriots led 60-43 and with two minutes to play, they were up by 18.
Elaine never got closer that 12 points in the final eight minutes.
The Patriots were the sixth seed into the district tournament a year ago and defeated Elaine in the first round before losing to Clarendon in the second round to end their year at 5-19.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
LONOKE--Hughes will be well represented Saturday at the 6AAA Junior High District Tournament.
The Junior Blue Devils turned back Pine Bluff Dollarway 48-36 Thursday in semifinal action to reach the tournament finals.
In junior girls' action Thursday night, the Hughes Junior Lady Blue Devils advanced to Saturday's championship by holding off DeWitt 34-33.
Hughes will be playing in the district championship game for the third straight year when they take on Dumas at 7:15 p.m., Saturday night.
Dumas reached the finals by defeating Lonoke 30-22.
The Junior Blue Devils will be looking for a little payback against Dumas, a team that defeated them in regular season.
Andre Walker led Hughes in the winning against Dollarway with 15 points while David Dowden chipped in 11 points. Courtley London added seven points and Jerome Thomas had six.
Hughes and Dollarway ended the first period in a 12-12 tie before Dollarway edged in front 24-23 at the half.
Hughes used a 12-to-6 scoring run in the third to ink back in front 35-30 to start the final frame.
Both teams were locked in a 36-36 tie with three minutes to play before the Junior Blue Devils ended the game with a 12-0 run to post the final.
Junior Girls
Hughes 34, DeWitt 33
The Hughes Junior Lady Blue Devils held off DeWitt 34-33 Thursday in the semifinals of the 6AAA Junior District Tournament at Lonoke.
Shemiko Porter led Hughes with 12 points.
Hughes will play Lonoke in the championship game Saturday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m.
Senior High
The Hughes Blue Devils and Lady Blue Devils will complete their regular season conference schedule tonight when they host Pine Bluff Dollarway at Blue Devil Gym.
The Hughes Blue Devils will be trying to cap an undefeated conference run.
Each team's seniors will be honored tonight in pregame activities.
The two-game set tips at 6 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots ended regular-season play Thursday night with an exclamation mark.
Make that several exclamation points.
Playing in front of a capacity "Parent's Night" crowd, the No. 2 ranked Lady Patriots hit the century mark for the third time this season in a 104-34 win over the Elaine Lady Panthers.
The Lady Patriots move to 27-1 for the year on the strength of their 20th consecutive win.
The P-W girls also put the cap on their third straight 6AA Conference title.
P-W has not lost a conference game since switching to the 6AA for the beginning of the 1998-99 season. They are 36-0 in the league and once again are the No. 1 seed into the district tournament. They will receive a bye all the way to the tournament finals -- which means a nine-day layoff.
Each of the Lady Patriot seniors -- Erica Smith, Melanie Baker, Carlene Gardner, Tammy Griffin, Sheryl Moore, Kristen Wilburn and Markita Tomlin -- were honored, along with their teammates during a pregame ceremony.
The seniors were playing their final game on the Patriot Gym floor.
From here on out the Lady Patriots will be on the road -- at Elaine next week for the district tournament, then at Harding Academy for the regional tournament and finally at Danville for the state tournament.
It took exactly six minutes for the Lady Patriots to put the game on ice, so to speak.
One of the team's goals in each game is to score 20 points each period.
With two minutes left in the opening period Thursday, the Lady Patriots led 22-6, well on their way to a 33-9 lead to open the second period.
The P-W starters, Smith, Baker, Moore, Gardner and junior guard Nikki Bass, played only the first and third periods while the bench handled the second and fourth periods.
By halftime, P-W led 49-20, helped by Tomlin's six, second-period points. She finished with 10, one of four P-W players to hit double figures for the game.
Smith led with 28 while Bass added 20 and Gardner finished with 12. Baker had nine, Brittney Flenory seven, Beth Varvil six, Moore and Libby Martin, four each while Andrea Cooper and Griffin finished with two points each.
Smith, who will play her college ball at Louisiana Tech, had 12 points in the first period and 14 in the third and two in the final minute, when the starters went back in to end the game.
It was Gardner's steal and layup with less than a minute to play that put the Lady Pats at the 100-point plateau.
The Forrest City Recreation Department is looking for coaches for the youth baseball league.
Anyone interested in coaching a team, in any of the age divisions, who have not signed up for a coaching spot, can do so by contacting Kenneth Taylor at (870) 633-3667.
The registration effort continues for the youth baseball and softball leagues as well as for the adult softball summer league.
Registration deadline for men's and women's softball is March 2.
Deadline to register for the youth baseball and softball league is March 2.
Youth league fees are $15 per player for those living inside the Forrest City city limits and $25 a player for those living outside the city limits.
For more information call 633-3667.
Cameron King, of Forrest City, completed his basketball season with the Bishop-Byrne Red Knights In Memphis.
The Red Knights finished the season with a 14-1 record and were first in league play during regular season.
They finished second in the League Championship Tournament.
King is an eighth-grade student at Bishop-Byrne Catholic School. He is the son of Pamela King and John Williford, both of Forrest City.
John Thompson, Arkansas Razorback defensive coordinator, will be named "Mr. Mustang" during special ceremonies on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Mustang Arena.
Thompson, a Forrest City native, will be honored between the Forrest City senior girls' and senior boys' basketball game against Jacksonville.
Thompson will be in the Arena lobby from 5 until 6:30 p.m., signing autographs and greeting people.
The Calvary Elementary School Eagles basketball team finished the regular season in a tie for third in the MACS Conference and with an overall record of 7-5. The team finished third at the MACS Tournament played at Macon Road Baptist. Team members are: Caleb Hughes, Jonathan Taylor, Garrett Clark, Josh Smith, Taylor Clark, Josh Hinkle, Zach Billingsley, Drew Flowers, Tyler Clarkson, Zach Jones, Jacob Huckaba and Rhett Morphis. Coaches are Clay Hughes and Allen Smith .