By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs will play their first AAAAA-East Conference home game tonight at Mustang Arena when they host the Jonesboro Hurricane.
The Forrest City teams are playing their first home game since Dec. 1.
A year ago, Dwight Lofton's Mustangs did not lose a conference game on their home floor -- the only East team to accomplish that feat.
"That's a hard act to follow, but we're going to give it our best shot at keeping that streak alive tonight," Lofton said recently.
The Jonesboro Hurricane bring an 8-4 overall record into Mustang Arena and a 2-0 mark in the East after wins over Cabot and West Memphis.
Jonesboro's 2-0 mark in the league has them in a three-way tie with Little Rock Mills and Blytheville.
If all three are winners tonight, that tie will continue since Blytheville plays at Cabot and Mills hosts Sylvan Hills.
The Mustangs are 1-1 in the league and 4-7 overall after dropping a 55-51 decision to Blytheville Tuesday.
But the history between these two teams always make for exciting basketball, regardless the records of the two conference foes.
The eighth-ranked Jonesboro Lady Hurricane began the season as the preseason favorite to win the AAAAA-East Conference.
So far, they haven't disappointed and have lived up to their lofty billing.
With seniors Jennifer Sullivan and LeAnn Upshaw leading the way, the Lady Hurricane are off and running at 2-0 in the league and 13-2 overall.
Jonesboro's two losses came against No. 3 Palestine-Wheatley and No. 7 Valley View.
Forrest City's Lady Mustangs, after opening the season strong before the Christmas break, have stumbled to an 0-2 beginning in conference.
First-year Head Coach Sue Jayroe wants her Lady Mustangs to "do their best" against Jonesboro.
"We know Jonesboro is the team to beat in our league and we will play as hard as we can tonight," Jayroe said. "We can't do anymore than that. The girls are positive and their attitudes are good."
Jayroe said she will make a couple of changes to her starting lineup, inserting Katrina Floyd in place of Caronica Randle and Ashley Haggans instead of Deosha Agnew. The three remaining starters are Leslie Jayroe, Kanetra Pendleton and LaQuisha Cunningham.
Randle is nursing a sprained ankle and Agnew has been bothered by a toothache. Both are expected to play.
"We just need to play good, solid fundamental basketball," Jayroe said. "Win or lose, if we do that, then I'll be okay."
The Forrest City White Lady Mustangs shocked previously unbeaten West Memphis East Thursday night, winning 32-31 in overtime at the Barn.
It was the first loss of the year for East and leaves the girls' team at 11-1.
The White Lady Mustangs improve to 3-10 for the year and have now won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
The two teams ended regulation tied at 28.
Forrest City got four points in overtime -- a field goal and two free throws from Sequoria Grady -- to post the win.
East scored three points in the overtime period.
The storyline for East came at the foul line as West Memphis cashed in on just 12 of 36 chances from the free throw line. In the fourth period, East missed 11 free throws.
Forrest City was 7-of-10 from the foul line.
Shari Rogers led Forrest City with 14 points while Grady had 11 and Viveca Kimble added four.
East led 8-4 after one period and 12-11 at the half.
East had a two-point lead to start the final period, leading 18-16.
WEST MEMPHIS--The West Memphis West Blue Imps won their fifth consecutive game Thursday night holding off Forrest City Blue, 45-40.
West led the entire game, but could never put away the Blue Mustangs. The Blue Imps led by as many as nine points twice, but Forrest City used well-timed scoring runs to keep it close.
The Blue Imps opened with an 8-0 run before the Blue Mustangs got their first bucket with just over two minutes to go in the quarter.
Forrest City (2-10) converted several West turnovers into points and got as close as 10-8 before the Blue Imps settled for a 12-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
West's lead stayed between four and six points in the second quarter before a steal and a basket by Forrest City with just a few seconds left to cut the lead to 18-16.
West opened the third period like they did the first using their pressure defense against the Mustangs. An 8-to-1 West run provided a 26-17 advantage, but the Blue Mustangs responded and stayed within striking distance as the Blue Imps carried a 30-24 lead into the final quarter.
In the fourth, it was Forrest City's turn to take advantage of their pressure defense, scoring the first six points to cut the lead to 32-30 at the 4:24 mark.
West scored the next seven points to make the score 39-30 with 2:30 left.
Forrest City was able to cut the lead back down on a three-pointer, but West nailed 5-of-7 free throws in the fourth period to claim the 45-40 win.
Tom Duck scored 13 points and Keland Mills scored 11 to lead West (10-3).
John Foreman led Forrest City Blue with 11, followed by Uris Beard and DeAngelo Braddock with eight points each.
FCity Blue Lady Mustangs 38, WMemphis West 23
WMWest lost their third game in a row while Forrest City Blue won their second straight Thursday night, taking a 38-23 road win.
The two teams were tied at the end of the first quarter, 4-4, but Forrest City (8-6) outscored the home team 22-7 in the second to take a 26-11 halftime advantage.
West only managed two points in the third period as the Blue Lady Mustangs took a 32-13 lead into the final quarter on the way to winning by 15.
Kelly Darby led West with seven points, followed by Carmeon Burgess and Elaine Buntin with four each.
Katrina Wynne scored 15 points for Forrest City and Kim Ursery scored nine.
WEST Memphis East 61, FCity White Mustangs 49
West Memphis East rolled out to a 19-8 lead over Forrest City White Thursday night and never looked back on the way to a 61-49 win at the Barn.
East, 9-3 for the year, led 33-22 at the half and 50-38 to start the final frame.
Vester Gilliam and Terrance Wilson each scored 16 points for East while Reginald Fulton added 10.
Lorenzo Spearman had 12 points for Forrest City while Milton Joyner finished with nine points, hitting three, 3-pointers, and Ray parker added eight points. Donta Nash had six points.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Originally, Palestine-Wheatley was going to celebrate basketball homecoming tonight at patriot Gym
However, December's ice storms took care of that and homecoming has been postponed for a few weeks.
Tonight's game -- a 6AA Conference meeting against the visiting Altheimer Red Devils -- will be played as scheduled.
The P-W Junior Lady Patriots will kick off the three-game set at 5 p.m.
The No. 3 ranked Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots will take the floor sometime between 6 and 6:30 p.m. and the P-W patriots will close things out, tipping at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Forrest City's youth baseball and softball registration will begin Jan. 16 and will run through March 3. men's and women's adult softball registration also begins on jan. 16 and will run through April 3. Youth baseball and softball fees are $15 for youths living inside the Forrest City city limits and $25 for those living outside the city limits. For info call, 633-3667.