By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Camden-Fairview Cardinal shot down Forrest City Thursday at the Class AAAAA State Tournament being played at Mustang Arena.
The Cardinal (21-5) shot to a comfortable halftime lead, weathered a Forrest City rally in the third period and went on to win 73-41, handing the Mustangs their worst loss this season.
The 32-point loss is the worst loss for the team since losing to Little Rock Central 104-46 during the 1998-99 season.
"What can I say," said Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton. "You can't go to a fight carrying switches. Plain and simple, our major weaknesses that we had done a decent job of hiding during the conference schedule, were exposed against Camden-Fairview. They are a good ball club."
The Mustangs finish the year at 12-12.
Camden-Fairview led18-6 after one period but the Mustangs cut the lead to five points, 18-13 with 6:12 to play in the second period after a layup by James Johnson.
The Cardinal put together a 22-to-8 run to lead 40-21 at the half.
Known all season for putting together third-period rallies, the Mustangs whittled the Camden-Fairview lead down to 12 points, 43-31 with 2:28 left in the third period after a jumper by Daffy Norment and one free throw by Kwantin King.
Again the Cardinal answered by scoring the final four points of the period to lead 47-31.
By the three minute mark in the game, Camden-Fairview led by 27 and went on to outscore the Mustangs 9-to-4 to end the game.
Norment led the Mustangs with a double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. No other Mustang player had more than six points.
"That hurt," Lofton said. "James Johnson, who has been scoring in double figures for us almost every game finished with two. Except for Daffy, we just didn't show up."
Lofton said the best seven teams are left in the tournament and Camden-Fairview's solid game was just a reflection of how well the South has done in the tournament.
The South has two teams remaining in the bracket. The Central conference has all four teams left while the East's only remaining representative is Little Rock Mills, the league's No. 1 seed.
Darrell Atkins led the Cardinal with 24 points while Bobby Johnson finished with 18.
Camden-Fairview advances to play Conway tonight at 8:30 p.m.
Other games today have Pine Bluff against LR Parkview at 2:30 p.m. and Mills taking on LR Hall at 5:30 p.m.
LR Hall 52, Van Buren 44
Trudrell Greene scored 14 points and Cameron Williams had 12 points and eight rebounds as Little Rock Hall defeated Van Buren 52-44 in the state AAAAA boys basketball tournament.
Adam Cluck had 12 points to lead Van Buren.
LR Central 52, El Dorado 48
No. 2 Little Rock Central held off El Dorado 52-48 Thursday night to advance to Saturday's semifinal round.
El Dorado suffered six consecutive turnovers in the last three minutes and Central turned those miscues into eight consecutive points. Central opened the tournament with a 42-37 victory over Jonesboro on Tuesday.
El Dorado led 18-15 after the first quarter.
Central (24-4) trailed by as many as eight in the second quarter before rallying to trail 32-30 at halftime. Central took a 35-32 lead with 6:37 remaining in the third quarter and used a three-point play with 16.5 seconds remaining to lead 40-37.
Central awaits the winner of the Pine Bluff-Little Rock Parkview game which will be played today at 2:30 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Mount St. Mary led Fort Smith Southside for 3 1/2 quarters, but the Lady Rebels grabbed the lead with 12 seconds to play and held on to upset the No. 1 seeded Belles 35-33 Thursday at the Class AAAAA state tournament at Mustang Arena.
Soutside senior guard Allison Singleton hit two free throws to give the Lady Rebels the quarterfinal win putting them into Saturday's semifinal game.
Southside will face the winner of today's Springdale-West Memphis game.
All four girls' teams from the AAAAA-West are still alive in the tournament bracket.
Fayetteville will play Jonesboro today at 4 p.m. and Fort Smith Northside will battle Pine Bluff at 7 p.m.
Southside was led by Melissa Thompson, who scored eight of her 11 points in the second half.
The Lady Rebels improve to 18-11 for the season.
Mount St. Mary led 26-23 after three quarters, but Southside tied the game at 27 on a basket by Thompson with 5:36 remaining.
Miranda Moreton gave Southside their first lead of the game at 29-27 with 4:48 left.
Mount St. Mary (24-4) cut the lead to 29-28 on two free throws by Bethany Ferra with 4:18 left. Moreton drove for a layup to give the Lady Rebels a 31-28 lead with 3:16 left in the game.
Pam Hatcher turned a three-point play to tie the game at 31, before Southside regained a 33-31 cushion on a basket by Thompson with 1:48 remaining.
The two teams were tied at 33-33 with 54 seconds to play
Mount St. Mary led 9-7 after one period and were on top 18-12 at the half.
Pine Bluff 45, Blytheville 35
Tiffany Taggart scored 15 points and Natasha Connor 14 points as Pine Bluff defeated Blytheville 45-35 at the AAAAA girls state tournament.
Pine Bluff faces FS Northside tonight at 7 p.m.
Calynna Sorrells pulled down 12 rebounds for the Fillies, while Tanesha Smith had 11, including six on offense.
Wendlyn Jones scored 26 points and had nine rebounds for the Lady Chickasaws.
Fayetteville 40, Mountain Home 38
In Thursday's other girls' game, Fayetteville held on to edge Mountain Home 40-38 to advance to second-round action.
The Lady Bulldogs were up 22-21 after two periods and 31-25 after three.
Fayetteville plays Jonesboro today at 4 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
DANVILLE -- Shelly Priest and Lindsay Bell scored 12 points each to help Marmaduke beat Valley Springs 57-39 on Thursday in the Class AA girls basketball tournament.
Marmaduke will take on Palestine-Wheatley today at 1 p.m. The winner advances to Saturday's semifinal against the Kingsland-Greenland winner.
Marmaduke led 19-18 at the half, then outscored Valley Springs 19-9 in the third period to take command.
Crystal Wilburn led Valley Springs with 26 points, but no other player on her team scored more than 5.
Kingsland 77, Newark 38
Kingsland manhandled Newark 77-38 in the day's second girls' game, behind the shooting of Ashley May, Denise Broughton and Tasha Crain.
May finished with 21 points, Broughton scored 18 and Crain ended with 16.
Riverside 47,
Harding Academy 44 OT
In the day's final game, Jami Drew made 5 free throws in overtime to give Riverside a 47-44 win over Harding Academy.
Drew led all scorers with 17 points.
Riverside led 20-16 at the half, but Harding fought back to tie the game at 40 at the end of regulation time.
Jennifer Swinney led Harding with 16 points.
AA Boys
Tony Hister scored 19 points to lead the Marked Tree Indians past Cotter
56-43 Thursday in the Class AA state tournament at Danville.
Marked Tree led 21-19 at the half, but Cotter came back to take a 34-32 lead at the end of the third period. Marked Tree, however, outscored Cotter 24-9 in the final period to get the victory.
Harmony Grove 99, Maynard 92 OT
In the second game of the day, Lexa Page hit four field goals in overtime to lead Harmony Grove to a 99-92 triumph over Maynard.
Maynard trailed 62-54 at the end of the third quarter, but scored 31 points in the final period to tie the game at 85 at the end of regulation time.
Page finished with 30 points. Ronald Askew added 25 for Harmony Grove, and Josh Green had 19 points.
Jeremy Johnson led Maynard with 26 points.
Turrell 40, Stephens 38 OT
Lucious Lenear's 14 points led Turrell to a 40-38 overtime win over Stephens.
Turrell led 22-18 at the half, but Stephens' Antario Glover put his team back in the game with eight field goals in the third period, at the end of which the score was tied at 30. The score was 34-all at the end of regulation.
Glover scored 26 points, but no one else on Stephens' team made more than 4 points.
SEARCY--Elliot Taliaferro and Irvin LaMarcus got 18 points each to lead Subiaco Academy to a 66-55 victory Thursday over Rivercrest in the Class AAA state tournament at Riverview High School.
Subiaco led 28-19 at the half.
Brandon Love led Rivercrest with 22 points, while Quincey Williams added 14 points.
Subiaco plays Warren today at 5:30 p.m.
The Hughes Blue Devils will play Hamburg at 2:30 p.m.
Dermott 57, Pulaski Academy 56
In the day's second boys' game, Samuel Gammel led Dermott to a 57-56 comeback win over Pulaski Academy, scoring 22 points.
Dermott faces Clarksville tonight at 8:30 p.m.
Pulaski Academy led 38-24 at the half. Pulaski Academy was led by Rami Almefty's 23 points.
Ozark 74, EPC 56
The final game of the day saw Ozark top East Poinsett County 74-56. Ozark led 39-26 at the half, and went on to advance to Saturday's semifinal round.
AAA Girls
Prairie Grove came back in the second half Thursday to claim a 60-48 victory over Rivercrest in the Class AAA girls high school basketball tournament.
Rivercrest led 28-21 at the half, but Prairie Grove poured in 18 points in the third quarter to take a 39-36 lead after three periods.
In the second girls' game Thursday, Star City topped Lonoke 47-26 and the final girls' game of the day saw Valley View beat Gravette 75-43.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
GREENBRIER -- Hope dominated Wynne for three of the four periods of basketball Thursday in their first round game at the Class AAAA state tournament to take a 61-48 win.
Wynne stayed close through the first period, which ended with Hope on top 14-12.
By the half, the Bobcats had ggained a 29-21 lead. Wynne narrowed the margin to 40-36 after three periods.
Hope will play Harrison today at 5:30 p.m.
In other boys' games played Thursday, Hot Springs defeated Nettleton 63-57 and top-ranked Osceola advanced to Saturday's semifinal round with a 106-76 win over Monticello.
Osceola awaits the winner of today's LR Fair-Searcy game.
It took an extra period for Paragould to squeak by Hot Springs 40-39 Thursday in the Class AAAA girls high school basketball tournament.
The Lady Rams started strong, establishing an 11-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Trojans outscored Paragould 14-10 in the second period to narrow the margin to 21-16 at the half.
The teams matched field goals in the third period, and Hot Springs outscored Paragould 9-4 in the fourth to end regulation time tied at 34.
In the second girls' game of the day, Greene County Tech topped Arkadelphia 41-30.
Tech was on top 15-13 at the half, then widened the margin with 12 points in the third period, to Arkadelphia's 4.
Siloam Springs moved to Saturday's semifinal round by turning back Osceola 67-59.