By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
BEEBE -- Desperate situations call for desperate measures.
For East Poinsett County Friday night against Hughes, that meant in-your-face pressure defense for the final three minutes of the quarterfinal Class AAA state tournament game at Badger Arena in Beebe.
EPC's full-court, diamond press defense forced six Hughes turnovers in the final 3:22 and forced the defending Class AAA state champs out of the tournament, in a 76-72 EPC win before a standing-room only crowd.
The Blue Devils played very "un-Hughes-like" in the final three minutes. Usually going into a feeding frenzy when opponents slap on the full-court press, this time the Blue Devils fell flat.
Hughes ends the season at 24-10 under first-year coach Brad Brannen.
EPC, who saw its season end Saturday night in a semifinal loss to Pulaski Academy, rallied from an eight-point deficit against Hughes to take the win.
Pulaski Academy will go against Dumas for the Class AAA title Friday, March 8, at 8:45 p.m., at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Trailing 67-59 with 3:31 left, EPC coach Lyn Alexander ordered the full-court press.
"We knew they were just going to stall the ball, so we knew we had to do something to try and get back in it," Alexander said. "We went diamond press and denied and had success."
The Warriors (26-7) definitely found success, roaring back for the win.
Hughes led 67-61 with three minutes to play. EPC cut that margin to 67-64 on a long three pointer. Cortney Brown got EPC within a single point at 67-66 with 2:22 to play following a steal and layup.
Hughes' Antonio Cotton put his team back in front 69-66 at the two minute warning before EPC's Tyrus Reel hit two free throws after being fouled by Jermaine davis to cut the Blue Devils' lead to 69-68 with 1:54 to play.
It was EPC's sophomore guard, P.J. Lacy, who came up with what would stand as the biggest play of the game, poking the ball away from Johnny Washington.
Lacy got the steal and streaked to the basket for the layup, the lead and the foul.
Lacy added the free throw with 1:28 left for a 71-69 EPC lead, which it would not relinquish. It was EPC's first lead since the Warriors held a 24-23 advantage with 4:41 left in the first half.
Hughes' Robert Davis had a chance to tie the game, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:20 left. Lacy added another free throw for a 72-69 lead before Robert Davis was fouled on a baseline move but hit only one of two free throw chances as Hughes trailed by two, 72-70 with 51 seconds showing.
Lacy quietly canned two more free throws for a 74-70 lead and Davis drove the lane for the short layup, drew the foul but missed the free throw with 21 seconds left. Cotton hauled down the rebound and after a two missed shots from point-blank range, Malcolm Curne was called for traveling giving the ball back to EPC with 13 seconds left.
Marcus Monk hit two free throws for EPC with 11 seconds left for the 76-72 victory.
EPC set up the match against Hughes by defeating last year's Class AAA runner-up, Clarksville, in the opening round of the tournament. Hughes got to the quarterfinals by eliminating Prescott.
EPC's 6-5 sophomore Marcus Monk led all scorers with 28 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter.
Robert Davis led Hughes with 26 points while Cotton added 14 and Jermaine Davis chipped in with 12. Lonnie Smith was held to just seven points.
Lacy added 16 points for EPC and Reel finished with 12 points.
Hughes coach Brad Brannen said his team was just unable to finish the game.
"EPC is a very athletic bunch," Brannen said. "We felt like we had it, but we had some critical turnovers and missed some free throws. We didn't do the things we needed to do in order to win. The bottom line was we just didn't take care of the ball."
Hughes trailed 17-13 after the first period but used a strong shooting effort in the second period, fueled by four, three pointers by Jermaine Davis, to take a 40-35 halftime lead. The Blue Devils pushed their advantage to 55-48 after three quarters.
In other games over the weekend, Heber Springs eliminated Lonoke Friday night and Pulaski Academy ousted Subiaco Academy.
Saturday, Dumas knocked off Heber to advance to the state tournament game, the team's first such appearance since 1995, when they faced Searcy for the state title.
Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden is headed to Arkansas.
Bowden is not coming to play a football game, but rather to be the keynote speaker at the Fellowship of Christian Athlete's "Evening of Influence" rally, scheduled for Monday, April 8, at Mustang Arena.
The rally will begin at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the rally are being sold on a first come, first serve basis and are $10 each.
Tickets may be purchased by contacting Bill Baxter at 633-0780 or Lewis Etheridge at 633-0310.
* PREP SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Friday, March 1
Brinkley at Forrest City - Cancelled
Tuesday, Match 5
Forrest City at Jonesboro, 4 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL GOLF
Tuesday, March 5
Forrest City vs Marion at Marion, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 7
Searcy at Forrest City, 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS FAST-PITCH SOFTBALL
Thursday's Score
Forrest City 19, LR McClellan 4
Tuesday, March 5
Little Rock Mills at Forrest City, 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 7
Forrest City at Jacksonville, 5 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL TRACK
Thursday, March 7
Forrest City at West Memphis, 4 p.m.
(Boys and Girls)
JUNIOR HIGH TRACK
Tuesday, March 12
Forrest City Blue & White at West Memphis,
4 p.m. Boys & Girls