By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
In any sport, at any level, winning on the road is a must.
Friday night, the Forrest City Mustangs got 24 points from James Johnson and put away the Sylvan Hills Bears 69-49 in the AAAAA-East opener for both teams.
The Mustangs improve to 4-6 overall and 1-0 in the league while the Bears fall to 4-8 and 0-1.
Daffy Norment added 19 points for Forrest City and Kwantin King came off the bench to chip in 13 points.
The Mustangs shot the ball well early and went up 16-6 in the first period. They increased that lead to 29-13 in the second period and led 36-28 at the half.
"We let them back in the game just before the half," said Mustang Coach Dwight Lofton. "They cut it to eight before we regrouped in the third period and outscored them 12-to-4 to lead 48-32.
The Mustangs used a 12-to-3 run in the fourth to go on top 60-35 and coasted the rest of the way.
"James (Johnson) played extremely well for us and helped our cause by scoring 15 points in the first half," Lofton said. "That's back-to-back 20-point games for him."
Senior center Josh Brown didn't score but had seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
"Josh controlled the lane for us and played probably his best overall game for us," Lofton said.
Next up for the Mustangs is Blytheville Tuesday on the road.
"We've not won at Blytheville since I took over the program," Lofton added.
Hughes Blue Devils 64, Dumas Bobcats 53
The Hughes Blue Devils improved to 16-1 for the year and 2-0 in the 6AAA Conference Friday with a 64-53 win over Dumas at Blue Devil Gym.
The Blue Devils, fresh off winning the AAA boys' division of the Northeast Arkansas Tournament, are ranked second in Class AAA in the latest state-wide polls. Friday's win is also the eighth straight for the Blue Devils.
Lonnie Smith poured in 23 points to help pace Hughes. Tim Jones finished with 11 for Hughes. Lonnie Davis and DeMarcus Burks added nine each.
The Blue Devils jump right back into the conference waters tonight, when they host DeWitt in a makeup game from Dec. 12.
Clarendon Lions 70, P-W Patriots 55
Cedric Houston ripped the P-W Patriot for 33 points Friday and the Clarendon Lions handed P-W its first 6AA conference loss, 70-55.
Leroy Bell led the Patriots (4-8, 2-1) with 17 points while Oliver Smith added 10, J.J. Love nine and Michael Barnes eight.
The Lions led most of the way. P-W sliced the lead to 10 points late in the game but couldn't get closer than that.
The Patriots travel to Barton Tuesday night and then will host Altheimer Friday.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CLARENDON--The Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots hit the century mark for the first time this season Friday when they defeated the Clarendon Lady Lions 100-17 at Lion Field House.
Eric Smith's 29 points was enough by itself to stop the Lady Lions dead in their tracks.
Nikki Bass and Melanie Baker added 12 points each while Carlene Gardner finished with 10 and Brittany Flenory and Libby Martin added eight points each. Sheryl Moore and Tammy Griffin each scored six points and Beth Varvil chipped in four points.
The Lady Patriots improve to 13-1 and 3-0 in the 6AA Conference and are ranked third overall in the girls' basketball state polls. P-W is ranked first in Class AA.
P-W led 38-6 after one period and used almost all subs in the second period.
SHills Lady Bears 54, FCity Lady Mustangs 34
Sylvan Hills made it seven straight wins over the Forrest City Lady Mustangs Friday with a 54-34 win at Bear Field House.
Sylvan Hills' point guard Matalia Jordan led all scorers with 18 points while Emily Thomas scored 16 points for the Lady Bears who improve to 4-3 on the year and 1-0 in the AAAAA-East Conference.
It was the third straight loss for the Lady Mustangs who fall to 4-4 overall and 0-1 in the league.
"There was no intensity on our part at all," said Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe. "We're not hungry enough and Sylvan Hills wanted the game more than we did."
The Lady Mustangs scored just eight first half points -- three in the first period and five in the second period. They hit just 2-of-15 shots from the floor.
Meanwhile, the Lady Bears were shooting 67 percent from the field which helped them to a 39-8 half time lead.
Deosha Agnew led the Lady Mustangs with nine points and four assists while LaQuisha Cunningham had seven. Erika Haggans and Leslie Jayroe each finished with five points and Katrina Floyd added six.
The Lady Mustangs will make the road trip to Blytheville Tuesday night before hosting Jonesboro at Mustang Arena on Friday, Jan. 12.
In other AAAAA-East girls' play Friday, Jonesboro defeated Cabot, Jacksonville slipped past Blytheville and West Memphis blew past Little Rock Mills.