By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
JONESBORO -- Headed into Friday's game, both Forrest City and Jonesboro were having their problems finding their shot from the floor.
The Mustangs were coming off a dismal 25 percent shooting night in a loss against Blytheville while the Hurricane had shot only 31 percent in a loss to West Memphis.
Against Forrest City, it was Jonesboro finding a cure to their scoring ailment by blistering the Mustangs with 60 percent shooting from the floor in the first half.
They cooled off again in the second half but it didn't matter. This time the cold spell didn't hurt and the Hurricane went on to take a 63-49 win over Forrest City in AAAAA-East Conference play, keeping the Mustangs winless in the league.
Matt Byrd's shooting led Jonesboro in the first half but Jonesboro led by just a point at half time.
Jonesboro's shooting fell to under 40 percent in the final 16 minutes, but the team made up for it by shutting down Forrest City in the third quarter and then making 16-of-21 free throws in the fourth to get the win.
The Hurricane's victory gave Jonesboro a sweep on the night as the Lady Hurricane held off surprising Forrest City 60-52.
Byrd, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, scored 11 of his career-high 22 points in 2:42 during the second quarter.
He also knocked down his fourth, three-pointer of the game and had five points in Jonesboro's 17-to-4 third quarter. He made all four of his free throws in the final frame.
Jonesboro senior Ervin Jones added 12 points, while senior guard T Prunty had 10 points, including 6-of-6 foul shooting in the final period.
Jonesboro improves to 5-10 overall, and 1-2 in the conference. The Mustangs fall to 2-11 and 0-3.
Forrest City sophomore John Foreman scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter to lead Forrest City, which shot 42.3 percent (22-for-52) from the field and made just 3-of-7 free throws.
Jonesboro out-rebounded the Mustangs 27-23.
Jonesboro was 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) from the floor in the first half, but shot just 34.8 percent (8-for-23) in the final two quarters.
The Hurricane hit just one of six field goals in the fourth period, but made up for it by bagging 16 points from the foul line.
Jonesboro coach Barry Pruitt was happy to pick up a league win after two straight losses to open the conference season.
Pruitt said he was worried after Forrest City closed the first half with a 6-0 run to cut Jonesboro's lead to 28-27 at halftime. But the Hurricane turned the momentum around in a big way in the third quarter.
Jonesboro never trailed after Byrd's second-quarter shooting streak took the Hurricane from a 15-13 deficit to a 26-19 lead. His three-pointer from the left wing put the Hurricane in front 16-15 and after Vince Millen's 18-footer returned the lead to the Mustangs,
Byrd answered with an 18-footer of his own that put JHS ahead to stay, 18-17.
Donald VanPelt's fast-break basket after a Forrest City miss made it 20-17, before Byrd wrapped "3"s around Miller's basket.
Byrd's third trey of the quarter brought Forrest City coach Dwight Lofton up for a timeout during which he changed his defense from a zone to man-to-man.
The change paid off as Forrest City cut the lead to a single point by the break, but couldn't keep the momentum going in the third.
The Hurricane mixed in some fullcourt press with its base zone defense and occasional halfcourt trap, holding the Mustangs to just 2-of-8 shooting and six turnovers in the pivotal third quarter.
Jonesboro led 45-31 heading into the final period, and saw its lead trimmed to five, 53-48, on Foreman's trey with 1:23 to go.
But Prunty and Byrd sandwiched two free throws each around a Forrest City turnover to push the lead back to nine.
Jonesboro reserves Terrell Howard and Matt Gilbow helped spark Jonesboro's big third quarter.
Gilbow scored four straight points to push the Hurricane lead to 14 points.
Jonesboro also won the junior varsity game 49-46 getting 10 points from Charles Jones.
*Mike McCoy scored 15 points and McCoy Jameson added 13 as West Memphis pushed their season mark to 9-5 and their AAAAA-East mark to 3-0 with a 62-43 win over Jacksonville Friday.
The Blue Devils remain in a tie for first in the league with Blytheville.
Zanus Robinson had 14 points for Jacksonville.
*Chris Cobb poured in 29 points to lead Little Rock Mills past Sylvan Hills 80-68.
The Comets improve to 13-3 overall and 2-1 in the AAAAA-East, which puts them in a tie for second place with Sylvan Hills, 8-4 overall and 2-1.
Bam Doyne added 18 points, Nick Covington 15 and Duran Baker 12 for Mills. Jeremy Brown led the Bears with 28 points while Damon Harris had 22.
*Blytheville improved to 3-0 in AAAAA-East conference play with a 79-46 thumping of Cabot Friday night.
The Chickasaws are 6-8 and 3-0 AAAAA-East and led 37-20 at halftime. Michael Diggs led Blytheville with 17 points followed by Sherrick Sherman with 16 points and Luke Pruett with 14.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
JONESBORO -- Forrest City and Jonesboro played almost dead even in their AAAAA-East Conference game Friday. In the end it came down to shooting.
Jonesboro shot 44 percent from the floor while Forrest City finished at 40 percent. That edge gave the Lady Hurricane a 60-52 win over the Lady Mustangs.
It was the first conference loss for Forrest City, which drops them into a four-way tie for second place in the league with Jacksonville, Sylvan Hills and West Memphis.
Jonesboro stands at 3-0 in the conference, the only unbeaten team left.
After blowing out Forrest City twice last season, Jonesboro had to go the distance against the Lady Mustangs.
"We wanted to get the win," said Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe, "but we also wanted to improve our play against them and show them that we weren't going to be the pushover they have seen in the past couple of seasons."
The Lady Hurricane used a balanced attack to overcome high scoring games by Forrest City's Deosha Agnew and Caronica Randle.
Agnew poured in a game-high 25 points, 13 of that total coming in the third quarter, and Randle added 18 points, including nine in the fourth period.
Jonesboro improves to14-2 overall and 3-0. They countered with a 15-point game from senior post player Latoya Wortham, 12 points from junior guard Tara Lehman, 10 points each from post players Allison Taylor and Rachel Simmons, and nine from junior guard Sara Lehman.
Wortham and Simmons were Jonesboro's power in the final period, scoring seven and six points, respectively. Tara Lehman scored six in the third quarter to help maintain Jonesboro's lead despite being outscored 17-10.
The Lady Hurricane led 31-18 at halftime, but Forrest City got as close as four points in the third quarter and came within three on Agnew's three-pointer to open the fourth.
The Lady Hurricane answered Forrest City's challenge with six straight points, while the Lady Mustangs missed three shots and committed a two turnovers.
Taylor's driving layup off a pass from senior guard Lydia Nelson started the run. Wortham fed Simmons for the second basket and then made two foul shots to extend Jonesboro's lead to 47-38.
Forrest City got within six in the final two minutes, but Wortham and Simmons each converted offensive rebounds into three-point plays to hold off the Lady Mustangs.
Wortham's points put Jonesboro up 56-47 and Simmons' made it 59-49 with just :57.9 showing.
Jonesboro coach Michelle Birdsong said she and her team were a little surprised by the way the Lady Mustangs played.
"I think Forrest City was better than I thought they would be, and I think they were better than the girls thought they would be," said Birdsong. "I think we might have taken them for granted and didn't play real well. Forrest City played well and they shot the ball well."
Jonesboro finished 26-for-58 (44 percent) from the field and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. Forrest City was 22-for-55 (40 percent) and 6-for-11 from the line. Jonesboro had 14 turnovers, three more than Forrest City.
Jonesboro led 16-8 after a quarter and 31-18 at halftime.
Forrest City has an open date Tuesday and will return to action Friday when they host West Memphis at Mustang Arena.
*Courtenay Brown scored 18 points and Pam Burnett added 11 to help Sylvan Hills to a 61-35 win over Little Rock Mills Friday night.
The Lady Bears improve to 9-2 and 2-1 in the AAAAA-East.
*Kim Turner scored 12 points to lead West Memphis, Forrest City's next opponent, to a 70-44 win over Jacksonville.
The Lady Blue Devils are 13-2 overall and 2-1) in the AAAAA-East.
Jacksonville, led by Rachael Townsend's 20 points, slips to 10-3 and 2-1.
*Blytheville dropped its third straight AAAAA-East conference game, losing 60-55 to Cabot Friday night.
Kenya Moore led Blytheville with 23 points and nine rebounds, and Mandy Alexander added 10 points. Audrey Jones also had nine points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Chickasaws.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
ALTHEIMER -- Palestine-Wheatley scored 39 of their 40 points from the floor in a 40-28 win over Altheimer Friday night.
The Lady Patriots, 7-10 and 4-1 in the 6AA, got 18 points from senior guard Nikki Bass.
While Altheimer shot 25 free throws, P-W went to the foul line just once with Bass, who hit one of two.
The Lady Patriots led 13-8 after one period but led just 19-16 at the half after Altheimer outscored P-W 8-to-6 in the second period.
P-W used a 13-to-5 scoring effort in the final period to get the win.
Libby Martin added eight points while Brittney Flenory added six. Beth Varvil didn't score but gave the Lady Patriots the rebounding edge in the final period.
The Lady Patriots have a four-game home stand ahead of them which begins Tuesday when they host Elaine. DeValls Bluff comes to town on Friday for homecoming activities.
*Terrance Thomas and James Rice each scored 17 points to lead the Altheimer Red Devils to a 70-53 win over the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots Friday night at Altheimer.
The Red Devils improve to 16-1 for the season and 5-0 in the 6AA Conference.
The Patriots slipped to 7-11 overall and 3-2 in the league.
Oliver Smith and Brandon Roberts led P-W with 17 points each.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
LONOKE -- Skippy Norman sank two free throws with 3.4 seconds left in overtime Friday night, and Cedric Walker intercepted a Hughes pass in the final second to lift the Lonoke Jackrabbits to a thrilling 69-67 win over the Hughes Blue Devils.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since former Hughes Coach Wes Swift resigned after four seasons at Hughes. Swift led the Blue Devils to the Class AAA state title last March before moving to Lonoke.
Norman nosed out Hughes senior guard Robert Davis for game scoring honors, finishing with 25 points. Davis finished with 24 points. Norman scored all nine of Lonoke's overtime points.
Lonoke improves to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in the 6AAA Conference while Hughes slips to 14-5 and suffers their first conference loss to drop to 4-1. Hughes slips to fifth in the Class AAA rankings.
The two teams went to overtime after ending regulation locked in a 58-58 tie after Lonoke's long inbounds baseball pass with 1.3 seconds to play, was knocked away by Hughes' Chris Crawford.
Hughes led four times during the overtime period but never by more than two points.
Hughes will host league-leading Pine Bluff Dollarway Tuesday at Blue Devil Gym.
*Marcus Washington scored 18 points but it wasn't enough to stop the Lonoke Junior Jackrabbits from taking a 57-34 win over Hughes Friday night.
David Dowden added nine points for Hughes, which falls to 2-7 for the year.
*Lonoke was in control from the opening tip Friday night against the Hughes Lady Blue Devils.
The Lady Jackrabbits jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first quarter and led 31-7 at the half on their way to a 55-29 win over Hughes in 6AAA Conference play.
Tommie Reddick led Lonoke, 11-7 overall and 3-2, with 23 points, followed by Jenna Estes with 15.
Rachel Burks led Hughes, 2-9 overall and 2-3 in the league, with 13 points.
*The Lonoke Junior Lady Jackrabbits handed the Junior Lady Blue Devils their first conference loss Friday night, winning 44-17 in 6AAA Conference action at Lonoke.
Hughes slips to 4-4 for the year and 2-1 in the league.
The Forrest City White Junior Mustangs will host Blytheville tonight at Mustang Arena while the Blue Mustang junior high teams will be on the road playing at West Memphis Wonder.
Both games are scheduled to tip at 5 p.m.
* PREP BASKETBALL
Friday's Scores
Boys
AAAAA-Central
LR Catholic 47, Mountain Home 33
LR Central 57, Conway 52
NLR 27, LR Hall 23
AAAAA-East
Blytheville 79, Cabot 46
Jonesboro 63, Forrest City 49
LR Mills 80, Sylvan Hills 68
West Memphis 59, Jacksonville 43
AAAAA-South
Camden Fairview 53, Sheridan 40
El Dorado 79, Bryant 55
Lake Hamilton 50, Benton 40
Pine Bluff 58, Texarkana 36
AAAAA-West
Fayetteville 71, Russellville 49
FS Northside 53, Rogers 44
Van Buren 61, Springdale 48
AAAA-East
Batesville 74, Greene Co. Tech 56
Nettleton 69, Marion 36
Newport 48, Paragould 43, OT
Osceola 56, Wynne 54
AAAA-Southeast
Crossett 60, Stuttgart 57
North Pulaski 61, Monticello 58
Watson Chapel 59, West Helena 35
White Hall 67, Marianna 60
AAAA-Southwest
Arkadelphia 61, Hot Springs 41
Magnolia 58, HS Lakeside 45
Fair 58, Malvern 33
6AAA
Dollarway 76, Brinkley 59
Lonoke 69, Hughes 67, OT
Girls
AAAAA-Central
Conway 61, LR Central 34
Mount St. Mary 42, Mountain Home 38
NLR 36, LR Hall 24
AAAAA-East
Cabot at Blytheville
Jonesboro 60, Forrest City 52
West Memphis 70, Jacksonville 44
Sylvan Hills 61, Mills 35
AAAAA-South
Bryant 63, El Dorado 40
Lake Hamilton 41, Benton 20
Pine Bluff 66, Texarkana 38
Sheridan 54, Camden Fairview 49
AAAAA-West
Fayetteville 48, Russellville 40
FS Northside 63, Rogers 49
Springdale 58, Van Buren 45
AAAA-East
Greene Co. Tech at Batesville
Nettleton 65 Marion 43
Osceola 56, Wynne 50
AAAA-Southeast
Monticello 51, North Pulaski 46
Stuttgart 42, Crossett 31
Watson Chapel 44, West Helena 35
White Hall 60, Marianna 47
6AAA
Dollarway 79, Brinkley 26
Lonoke 55, Hughes 29