By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
West Memphis didn't blow Forrest City's Mustangs off the floor Friday night, but they did win.
Pushing their conference record to 5-0 and their overall mark to 11-5, the sixth-ranked Blue Devils held off a game Mustang team 50-45 in AAAAA-East Conference action at Mustang Arena.
Forrest City remains winless in the league at 0-4 and falls to 2-12 overall for the year.
The youthful Mustangs played as hard as they have all season long and took the Blue Devils to the wire, looking nothing like a 2-12 team.
But the Blue Devils, behind the play of big men Jamison McCoy and D.J. Loving, brought home the victory as West Memphis beat the Mustangs for only the second time in the last five meetings. The Mustangs swept the Blue Devils last year which helped keep West Memphis out of the state tournament.
After falling behind 9-0 in the first period, which had all the makings of a West Memphis run-away early, the Mustangs battled back to get within a single point at 15-14, to end the opening period, thanks to the key shooting of Kerry Evans and Derrick Brown.
Forrest City held their own in the second period and trailed just 23-21 at the half, before the Blue Devils widened their lead ever so slightly in the third period to lead 38-35 to start the final frame.
Forrest City fell behind by as many as eight points at 43-35 with six minutes to play before battling back to cut the West Memphis lead to five at 44-39 with less than five minutes left to play.
A baseline basket by West Memphis' McCoy and a slam by Loving (his second of the period) pushed the Blue Devil lead back to 48-39 with 3:25 to play.
Loving's field goal with 1:32 gave West Memphis a 50-39 cushion but it would also be the final points of the game for the visitors.
Vince Millen's two-point bucket and Nate Britt's jumper got Forrest City within seven, before Lorenzo Spearman's steal and layup in the final seconds cut West Memphis' lead to five to provide the final.
Loving led all scorers with 18 points, and McCoy added 16. Spearman was the only Mustang player to reach double figures with 10 points while three Forrest City players finished with eight points each -- Millen, Evans and Brown. John Foreman added five points while Britt finished with four.
Forrest City made it to the foul line just nine times during the game and sank only three of those chances while the Blue Devils lived at the line, hitting 12-of-20 chances.
Forrest City will host Jacksonville Tuesday night and then hit the road on Friday for a conference game at Cabot.
Cabot lost to Jacksonville 63-52 Friday night in the only other East game played.
The Blytheville-Little Rock Mills game was cancelled due to an outbreak of whooping cough at Mills and the Sylvan Hills-Jonesboro game was called off due to the threat of inclement weather. Both games will be rescheduled for a later date.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City Lady Mustang coach Sue Jayroe did not want to lose to West Memphis by 20 points.
But the seventh-ranked Lady Blue Devils, 4-1 in the AAAAA-East, used balanced scoring and solid rebounding to take a 69-48 win over Forrest City at Mustang Arena.
The win moves West Memphis into second place in the standings while the loss drops the Lady Mustangs to fifth place. Forrest City slips to 6-8 for the year and 2-2 in the league.
Senior forward Kim Turner led the Lady Blue Devils with 15 points while Candice Robinson and Ashley Stinson each added 10 points. Six other West Memphis players scored led by Melanie Pierce and Jocelyn Love, with nine points each.
Game-high scoring honors, however, went to Forrest City senior Deosha Agnew, who finished with 18 points.
Junior Caronica Randle, who sat out the third period with four personal fouls, added 11 while Trina Wynne chipped in eight and Katrina Floyd added four.
The Lady Mustangs shot only 36 percent from the floor.
West Memphis opened a 15-8 lead after one period capitalizing on seven turnovers by Forrest City in the first period.
The Lady Mustangs finished with 20 turnovers.
The Lady Mustangs closed the gap to 17-16 on a rebound and putback basket by Floyd midway through the second period. The Lady Devils scored the next seven points to lead 24-16 before Wynne sank two free throws with 2:55 to go in the first half after three consecutive misses by the Lady Mustangs.
Agnew's jumper cut the Lady Devils lead to four points at 24-20 and Randle's jumper sliced it to 24-22. Turner turned a conventional three-point play for West Memphis with 12:04 to play and then hit the final shot from the floor to put West Memphis in front 29-22 at the half.
With Randle confined to the bench in the third period, the Lady Mustangs were not the same team and trailed 46-34, after being outscored 17-to-12 in the period.
The Lady Devils saved their best until the final period when they put the Lady Mustangs down for the count, outscoring the home team 21-to-14.
West Memphis sank 12 of 13 free throws in the final period, with Robinson going six-of-six.
The Lady Mustangs had only six chances from the foul line in the fourth period, converting only one.
The Lady Mustangs will host the Jacksonville Lady Red Devils Tuesday before travelling to Cabot on Friday.
*Rachel Townsend scored 19 points to lead Jacksonville past a struggling Cabot team 60-54 at the Devils' Den Friday night.
Jacksonville improves to 13-3 overall and 3-1 in the AAAAA-East, good enough for sole possession of third place.
Cabot led 35-30 at halftime and 43-40 going into the fourth quarter.
Jacksonville comes to Forrest City Tuesday night to take on the Lady Mustangs.
*The Blytheville-LR Mills game was postponed due to an outbreak of whooping cough at LR Mills and the Sylvan Hills-Jonesboro game was postponed due to the weather.
Both conference games will be rescheduled for a later date.
Jermaine Davis scored 23 points and the Hughes Blue Devils moved to 16-5 overall and 6-1 in the 6AAA Conference with a big 70-56 win over the Brinkley Tigers Friday in Brinkley. Robert Davis added 19 for Hughes.
The Blue Devils are ranked fifth in Class AAA. The Blue Devils do not play again until Friday, when they host DeWitt.
Hughes has won 14 of their last 16 games.
The Hughes junior high teams are scheduled to play at West Memphis East Tuesday night beginning at 5 p.m.
*Marlon Hill scored 20 as the Dumas Bobcats (9-4, 5-2) took a 75-50 6AAA Conference victory over Lonoke. Skippy Norman led Lonoke with 19 points.
Rod Tatum added 18 and Kerry Harris 12 for Dumas.
*Nick Smith's 31 points helped carry the Red Devils (4-10, 1-3) over the Panthers 63-52 Friday in AAAAA-East Conference action at Jacksonville.
The win was the first in conference play this season for the Red Devils.
Jacksonville will test Forrest City Tuesday night at Mustang Arena.
* PREP BASKETBALL
Boys' AAAAA-East
Conf. O/all
West Memphis 5-0 11-5
Blytheville 3-0 6-8
Sylvan Hills 2-1 8-4
LR Mills 2-1 13-3
Jonesboro 1-2 5-10
Jacksonville 1-3 4-11
Cabot 1-4 4-12
Forrest City 0-4 2-12
Girls' AAAAA-East
Conf. O/all
Jonesboro 3-0 14-2
West Memphis 4-1 15-2
Jacksonville 3-1 11-3
Sylvan Hills 2-1 9-2
Forrest City 2-2 6-8
Cabot 1-4 8-10
Blytheville 0-3 8-7
Little Rock Mills 0-3 0-0
Friday's Scores
Senior Boys
AAAAA-Central
LR Catholic 42, Conway 29
LR Parkview 61, LR McClellan 41
NLR 58, Mountain Home 46
AAAAA-East
West Memphis 50, Forrest City 45
Jacksonville 63, Cabot 52
Blytheville at LR Mills, postponed
Jonesboro at Sylvan Hills, postponed
AAAAA-South
Benton 50, Texarkana 49
Bryant 67, Pine Bluff 59
Camden Fairview 63, El Dorado 46
Lake Hamilton 60, Sheridan 47
AAAAA-West
FS Northside 45, Springdale 42
Fayetteville 61, FS Southside 58
Van Buren 61, Rogers 38
AAAA-East
Batesville 49, Newport 38
Osceola 80, Marion 23
AAAA-Southeast
Crossett 69, Marianna 58
North Pulaski 75, Stuttgart 59
West Helena 62, Monticello 52
White Hall 49, Watson Chapel 35
AAAA-Southwest
Hope 60, Hot Springs 40
HS Lakeside 41, Malvern 19
LR Fair 67, Arkadelphia 60
Magnolia 47, Robinson 35
AAAA-West
Alma 44, Morrilton 37
Harrison 38, Searcy 36
Vilonia 37, Greenwood 31
3AAA-South
East Poinsett County 80, Harrisburg 49
6AAA
Dollarway 72, DeWitt 41
Dumas 75, Lonoke 50
Hughes 70, Brinkley 56
6AA
Altheimer 85, Marvell 50
Senior Girls
AAAAA-Central
LR McClellan 41, LR Parkview 38
Mount St. Marys 61, Conway 55
NLR 58, Mountain Home 46
AAAAA-East
Jacksonville 60, Cabot 54
West Memphis 69, Forrest City 48
Jonesboro at Sylvan Hills, postponed
Blytheville at LR Mills, postponed
AAAAA-South
Bryant 48, Pine Bluff 33
Camden Fairview 68, El Dorado 55
Sheridan 47, Lake Hamilton 41
Texarkana 45, Benton 43
AAAAA-West
Fayetteville 56, FS Southside 34
FS Northside 53, Springdale 38
Rogers 59, Van Buren 39
AAAA-East
Osceola 55, Marion 39
Wynne 51, Nettleton 47, OT
AAAA-Southeast
Marianna 43, Crossett 41
Stuttgart 64, North Pulaski 60
Watson Chapel 52, White Hall 39
West Helena 59, Monticello 49
AAAA-Southwest
Arkadelphia 54, LR Fair 52
Hot Springs 31, Hope 25
HS Lakeside 37, Malvern 16
Robinson 42, Magnolia 27
AAAA-West
Greenwood 59, Vilonia 22
Harrison 77, Searcy 53
Morrilton 52, Alma 43
6AAA
Dollarway 66, DeWitt 47
6AA
Altheimer 45, Marvell 22