By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs and Lady Mustangs will take the floor at Mustang Arena tonight for the final time this season.
For the Mustangs, the home court advantage this season -- hasn't been.
A year ago -- during their first full season in Mustang Arena -- the Mustangs won five of their nine scheduled home dates.
The year before that, playing in the Barn, the Mustangs won nine of their 10 scheduled home games, including all seven of their AAAAA-East Conference matchups on their way to a second-place finish in the league and a state tournament berth.
Headed into tonight's home finale against the visiting Cabot Panthers, Forrest City is 0-8 on their home floor.
In fact, the Mustangs, are winless in the league at 0-12 for the first time under head coach Dwight Lofton.
During the 1996-97 season, Lofton's first as head coach, the Mustangs finished 3-11. The next two seasons produced 7-7 conference finishes and the last two seasons have produced 9-5 conference marks and back-to-back trips to the state tournament.
Lofton's Mustangs have two more chances to put aside a possible 0-14 finish -- tonight against Cabot, their best shot and on Thursday, when the team finishes the regular season at Little Rock Mills.
"Actually, tonight will be our best shot," Lofton said. "Thursday will be emotional for Mills on their home floor since it is their last AAAAA-East conference game."
Mills, along with Sylvan Hills, is scheduled to drop down to Class AAAA next fall and will join the AAAA-Southeast Conference.
It's Senior Night for the Forrest City Mustangs, which means Lofton will start his four seniors -- Vince Millen, Derrick Brown, Nate Britt and Gil Powell, along with junior Kerry Evans.
The Cabot Panthers, 2-11 in conference, are coming off a 66-40 loss to Jacksonville on Friday. Forrest City is coming off a loss to West Memphis.
Mills leads the boys' East standings at 11-1 while West Memphis is a close second at 11-2.
Blytheville fell into a tie for third place with Jacksonville after Monday's 64-49 loss to Sylvan Hills. Both are 7-5 for the year.
*The Lady Red Devils are trying to hold on to a fifth-place finish in the conference.
It's not what the team wanted to be, but it's far better than where the team has been in the past.
A victory over Cabot tonight and a win over Mills on Thursday would give the Lady Mustangs a 6-8 conference finish. At 4-8, the Lady Mustangs are already two games better than the 1996-97 finish of 4-10.
Cabot came from behind in the first meeting, erasing a 10-point Lady Mustang lead to post a 57-50 win back on January 25.
The Lady Mustangs defeated Mills 62-32 two weeks ago.
The Lady Panthers suffered a 49-39 loss to Jacksonville on Friday, dropping Cabot to 7-6 in the league.
However, Cabot already has the fourth place berth into the upcoming Class AAAAA state tournament locked up neatly.
Jacksonville's girls, at 10-2, are sitting in second all alone, following a 53-46 win over Jonesboro in a makeup game on Saturday.
West Memphis can lock up the East championship tonight with a win over Blytheville, 64-50 losers to Sylvan Hills Monday night.
Tonight's two-game set begins at 6 p.m.