By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
SYLVAN HILLS -- Deosha Agnew led four Forrest City players in double figures Friday night as the Lady Mustangs snapped a five-game losing streak with a 63-54 win over Sylvan Hills.
Agnew finished with 19 points while Caronica Randle added 18 points. Trina Wynne contributed 16 points to go with her four steals, four rebounds and four assists while Katrina Floyd came off the bench to score 10 points and grab five rebounds.
The Lady Mustangs improve to 3-5 in the AAAAA-East Conference and into fifth place and 7-11 overall.
Forrest City outscored the Lady Bears 18-to-6 in the fourth period to secure the victory after trailing for three quarters.
Sylvan Hills led 16-13 after one period, 30-29 at the half and 48-45 to start the fourth period.
The Lady Mustangs shot 50 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line while committing 15 turnovers.
"I was proud of the girls," said Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe. "They stepped up in the fourth period to take home the win."
Forrest City will be at home this week hosting Little Rock Mills Tuesday and Jonesboro Friday for homecoming.
The Forrest City Mustangs remained winless in the AAAAA-East, suffering a 68-59 loss to Sylvan Hills Friday.
The Mustangs fall to 2-16 overall and 0-8 in the league.
John Foreman and Lorenzo Spearman each finished with 14 points to lead the Mustangs.
The Mustangs led 14-13 after one period but trailed 34-23 at the half.
Forrest City got within five at 48-43 to start the fourth period by using a 10-to-2 run to close out the third period.
They were within five at 62-57 with 1:30 to play in the game.
The Mustangs faltered at the foul line, missing nine free throws in the second half. The Mustangs hit just 9-of-24 free throws while forcing Sylvan Hills into 30 turnovers.
With the win, the Bears move into fourth place in the AAAAA-East standings, knocking Jacksonville down to sixth.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
BARTON -- LaRhonda Bender scored 18 points Friday -- 14 of that total in the second half -- to help lead the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots past Barton 49-37 in a key 6AA Conference game.
Senior guard Nikki Bass added 11 points and Libby Martin finished with 10 while Nikita Love added six.
The victory leaves the Lady Patriots and the Lady Bears both at 9-1 in the conference. Each team has two games left to play in regular season.
Barton won the first meeting between the two teams in early January.
The Lady Patriots led 15-12 at the half after a low-scoring first half for both teams, but began to extend their lead in the third, moving to a 27-20 cushion to start the fourth period. Bender scored six straight points for P-W late in the third period, taking the Lady Patriots from a 19-18 lead to a 25-20 lead.
P-W led by 10 or more points most of the fourth period before finally winning by the 12-point margin, helped by key free throws in the final minute from Jenny Loewer, Martin and Bass.
Barton's Trina Williams finished with 18 points.
If both teams win out and remain tied in the final conference standings, the league champion and No. 1 seed into the upcoming district tournament, will be determined by using the league's set of rules governing ties.
In junior high girls' play Friday, the Junior Lady Patriots got 13 points from Bernice Spearman in a 31-29 win over Barton.
The first period ended in a 9-9 tie before Barton inched ahead at half 16-15. The two teams went into the fourth period tied at 21-21.
Kesha Stovall added six points while Fallon Parker and Tasha Wynne chipped in five points each.
*The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots defeated Barton to make it a sweep for P-W.
The Hughes Lady Blue Devils picked up a much-needed win Friday night, defeating England 56-35 at Hughes.
Victoria Doolittle led Hughes with 12 points while Deangela Smith and Latisha James each finished with 10 points as the Lady Devils claimed their second win of the year over the Lady Lions.
Hughes led 12-1 after one period, 24-14 at the half and put the game on ice by scoring 23 points in the third period to lead 47-24 to start the final period.
The Lady Blue Devils, 4-12 overall and 4-6 in the 6AAA Conference will host Lonoke Tuesday.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Hughes Blue Devils got 25 points from senior guard Robert Davis Friday and rolled up England 76-36 in 6AAA Conference play.
The Blue Devils improve to 18-6 overall and 8-2 in the league as they begin their final week of regular-season.
Hughes will host Lonoke Tuesday and finish out the week at Pine Bluff Dollarway Friday.
The Hughes Junior High basketball teams open play at the 6AAA Junior District Tournament today at Lonoke.
The Junior Blue Devils, seeded third, will take on sixth-seeded Brinkley today at 5 p.m.
The fourth-seeded Junior Lady Blue Devils will take on No. 5 Pine Bluff Dollarway, Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 5 p.m.
The junior girls lost to England Friday 26-23, after being outscored 13-to-3 in the fourth period.
Both the Hughes junior boys and junior girls' teams are the defending champions from a year ago.
The district tournament finals will be played Saturday, Feb. 9.
* PREP BASKETBALL
Boys' AAAAA-East
Conf. O/all
West Memphis 8-1 14-6
Little Rock Mills 7-1 18-3
Blytheville 5-3 11-6
Sylvan Hills 4-3 10-6
Jonesboro 3-4 7-12
Jacksonville 3-5 6-12
Cabot 2-7 5-15
Forrest City 0-8 2-16
Girls' AAAAA-East
Conf. O/all
West Memphis 8-1 19-2
Jacksonville 7-1 16-3
Jonesboro 5-2 16-4
Cabot 5-4 12-10
Forrest City 3-5 7-11
Sylvan Hills 2-5 9-6
Blytheville 2-6 10-10
Little Rock Mills 0-8 0-0
AAAAA-East
Monday, February 4
Jonesboro at Sylvan Hills
Tuesday, February 5
LR Mills at Forrest City
Blytheville at Sylvan Hills
Jacksonville at Jonesboro
Cabot at West Memphis
6AAA
Lonoke at Hughes
England at DeWitt
PB Dollarway at Brinkley
6AA
Altheimer at Palestine-Wheatley
Barton at Gillett
Marvell at Clarendon
Non-Conference
Elaine at Cotton Plant
Junior High
Monday, February 4
Forrest City Blue at JBoro Annie Camp
JBoro MacArthur at Forrest City White
6AAA Junior District Tournament at Lonoke
Junior Boys
Monday, February 4
Hughes vs Brinkley, 5 p.m.
PB Dollarway vs England, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 6
Dumas vs DeWitt, 6:15 p.m.
Monday, February 4
Junior Girls
England vs Brinkley, 6:15 p.m.
Wednesday, February 6
Hughes vs PB Dollarway, 5 p.m.
Dumas vs DeWitt, 7:30 p.m.