By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton spent more time in the gym with his Mustang basketball team over the holidays break than he has in the past four seasons.
Lofton opted to use the break in the schedule for some much-needed practice time rather than playing tournaments.
Lofton's Mustangs (2-8) are young and inexperienced in several areas, but the six-year head coach says things are looking up.
"We had good attendance and good solid effort during the holiday practices," Lofton said. "And I believe that it will all pay off as we get into the conference part of our season."
He'll find out tonight when the Sylvan Hills Bears (5-3) come to Mustang Arena to help open the AAAAA-East Conference season.
Like the Mustangs, who last played on Dec. 21, the Bears have not played since Dec. 18, opting for the extra practice time instead of playing in the Red Devil Classic as they have done for several years.
Forrest City has won six of the 10 matchups against the Bears under Lofton.
A year ago, the Mustangs took both meetings against the Bears. But these stats don't mean much to Lofton, who cautions that as of today "everyone is 0-0. Sylvan Hills is a capable team with a solid go-to player in Jeremy Brown. They also have Damon Harris. That gives them a solid 1-2 scoring punch."
Indeed, Brown is averaging 24 points a game and Harris 15 points.
"In my preseason picks that I sent in, I picked Sylvan Hills as the fourth-best team in the conference," Lofton said.
The Mustangs are coming off a 12-11 season and a third-place finish in the league at 9-5, which got them into the Class AAAAA state tournament.
Forrest City's best season under Lofton came during the 1999-2000 campaign when the team finished 16-11 overall and 9-5 in the conference.
The Bears won only one conference game last season.
Forrest City will try to rebound from the Dec. 21 loss to Wynne, a game Lofton says his Mustangs controlled until the final period.
"That was a tough loss," Lofton said. "We had the opportunities to make the plays to win the game, but we didn't. We didn't finish what we started because we led almost the entire game. We had too many turnovers late and couldn't close out the deal."
Now, Lofton says his Mustangs just need to get focused on the conference season -- mentally and physically.
"Being mentally prepared is as important as being in the right physical condition," Lofton said. "It's a matter of getting closer as a team or drifting farther apart and we've coming together as a team."
The Mustangs will start the conference season tonight with two additions to the active roster -- junior Anthony Bean and senior Nate Williamson.
Williamson logged plenty of time with the JV team a year ago but both have academically ineligible until now.
"Both Nate and Anthony have been working with the team and are in condition to go if I call on them tonight," Lofton said. A third player, Vincent Hardaway, who played some last season, may also be available to the Mustangs a little later.
Lofton said there could be a couple of changes tonight in the starting line up.
Nate Britt and Torando Lay, who have both started at various times this season, will not dress out due to disciplinary reasons.
Lofton said senior Gil Powell will see plenty of action as will sophomore Lorenzo Spearman, who may just be the most improved Mustang player since the beginning of the season.
Tonight's two-game set begins at 6 p.m., when the Lady Mustangs hit the floor against Sylvan Hills.
Oh by the way, the Mustangs were 7-0 in Friday night conference games a year ago.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The holiday layoff wasn't as long for the Forrest City Lady Mustangs as it was for the Mustangs.
Sue Jayroe's Lady Mustangs played three games at the Heavenly Hoopfest tournament in Little Rock, splitting a pair of games against Morrilton and losing to Star City in the third-place game.
It should be noted that winning at the tournament did not hold as much importance as just playing to get ready for the conference season held.
"That's why we played in the Cabot and the MSM tournaments," Jayroe said, "to get ready for conference."
The Lady Mustangs (4-6) host the Sylvan Hills Lady Bears tonight at 6 p.m., at Mustang Arena.
The Lady Bears have not played since Dec. 18 and are led by April Harris, Courtney Brown, Jessica Pope and Amanda Sisk.
The Lady Mustangs have lost the last eight meetings against the Lady Bears. However, only two of those losses belong to Jayroe, who is in her second full season with the senior girls.
Her first team a year ago, finished 6-15 overall, the best finish for a Lady Mustang team since an 8-15 campaign in the 1996-97 season. But, the Lady Mustangs won just two conference games last season.
Forrest City's Caronica Randle set two career-high scoring efforts at the Heavenly Hoopfest tournament, scoring 22 in the first game against Morrilton and 30 in the second game.
Deosha Agnew, Trina Wynne and Erika Haggins also played well at the tournament.
Jayroe said her Lady Mustangs have been working hard on implementing a 1-2-2 zone press, which fans could see tonight against Sylvan Hills.
"This defense keys around Haggins and Katrina Floyd," Jayroe said. "We have to be able to close up our zone defense and stop the slapping fouls we have been committing. We are also working on knowing how and when to take a charge."
The breakdown in the zone defense in recent games has prevented the Lady Mustangs from getting into a man-to-man.
Jayroe hopes to be able to shut down the middle more effectively as conference play begins.
"That's where the 1-2-2 will come into play," Jayroe said. "Our offense takes care of itself, but the defense has to improve if we're ever going to have a shot at making the state tournament cut."
Jayroe said also several of her players have been trying to battle through nagging injuries as well as colds and viruses which has sapped their strength and stamina.
"But they haven't given up and I am proud of them for hanging in and giving it all they have," Jayroe said.
Jayroe said she expects Sylvan Hills be tough.
"They've had a layoff, but I know it will be a good game."
The Lady Mustangs have won three straight headed into tonight's game.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Blytheville used a 34-point effort from John Fowler Thursday night to put away Forrest City's Blue Junior Mustangs 50-34 at Mustang Arena.
Blytheville led 14-6 after the first period and held a 25-17 cushion at the half.
Stephon Weaver led Forrest City with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers while LaCody Braddock had eight points and 13 rebounds. Terrance Ware finished with eight points and six rebounds for Forrest City while Sherman Allen added five points.
The Forrest City Blue Lady Mustangs remained winless for the year with a loss to Blytheville's junior girls.
The White Junior Mustangs, playing on the road at West Memphis, lost to Wonder 46-34.
The Blue Mustangs host Annie Camp Monday while the White teams go to Jonesboro MacArthur.
* PREP FOOTBALL
Junior High School Boys
Thursday's Results
Junior High
WMemphis Wonder 46, FCity White 34
Blytheville 50, FCity Blue 34
MacArthur 47, WMemphis East 43
Annie Camp 45, WMemphis West 40
Junior High School Girls
Blytheville defeated FCity Blue
WMemphis East 39, MacArthur 37
Annie Camp 46, WMemphis West 38
Friday, January 4
AAAAA-East Conference
Sylvan Hills at Forrest City, 6 p.m.
(Sr. Girls, Sr. Boys)
Blytheville at Jacksonville
Jonesboro at Cabot
LR Mills at West Memphis
6AAA Conference
PB Dollarway at Lonoke
6AA Conference
Altheimer at Cotton Plant
Clarendon at Palestine-Wheatley
Other Games
Conway at No. Little Rock
LR Hall at LR Catholic
LR Parkview vs LR Central
Pine Bluff at El Dorado
Sheridan at Bryant
Batesville at Paragould
Newport at Greene Cty Tech
Osceola at Nettleton
Searcy at Greenwood
Magnolia at Hope
Hazen at McCrory
Harding Academy at Des Arc
Crawfordsville at Cross County
Walnut Ridge at Bay