By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
LITTLE ROCK -- The Watson Chapel Lady Wildcats worked the boards -- offensive and defensive -- to take a 57-45 win over the Forrest City Lady Mustangs Monday at the Mount St. Mary's Heavenly Hoopfest tournament.
Watson Chapel out-rebounded the Lady Mustangs 37-to-11 for the game -- 23-to-5 in the first half. The Lady Mustangs did not have an offensive rebound.
"We knew they were a tall team but we didn't know they were going to be as big and physical as they were," said Lady Mustang Coach Sue Jayroe. "They roughed us up and kept us off the glass."
Jayroe said Monday's loss was "a good one for the team bringing the girls back to reality."
The loss moves Forrest City into the loser's bracket of the tournament where they will face Sylvan Hills Wednesday at 4 p.m.
It will be the fourth meeting between the two schools since June.
"We played Sylvan Hills twice at camp during the summer and then opened against them last Thursday," Jayroe said. "I don't like the fact that we are seeing them for the fourth time."
The Lady Wildcats clogged the middle and effectively shut down senior forward Caronica Randle for most of the game. Randle did finish with 17 to lead the Lady Mustangs while Viveca Kimble added 11, Sequoria Grady finished with nine and Trinia Wynne added six.
"Torrie Willis stepped up and hustled when she was in the game," Jayroe said of the sophomore. "She showed me that she wants to play and she went out and did some good things for us on the floor."
From the free throw line, the Lady Mustangs shot 67 percent, but struggled from the field.
Watson Chapel led 12-8 after the first quarter and extended that to 24-16 at the half.
In other first-round games Monday Russellville held off Sylvan Hills 55-50, El Dorado knocked off Jacksonville 70-61 and Mount St. Mary's drummed North Pulaski 66-37.
*Aquasha Anderson scored a game-high 19 points to lead four Jonesboro Lady Hurricane players in double figures as the Lady Hurricane started the season with a 64-31 win over Osceola in the Coke Classic at the Greene County Tech Multi-Purpose Center Monday.
Jonesboro led only 22-19 at halftime, but coach Michelle Birdsong said her team played a much stronger second half.
Allison Taylor added 16 points for JHS, while Sara Lehman had 11 and Tara Lehman 10. Tiffany Cole also contributed a game-high seven rebounds.
*Rudy Martin scored a game-high 18 points to lead Marked Tree to a 48-45 win over Harrisburg in senior girls' basketball Monday.
Marked Tree (1-1) led 24-22 at halftime, but trailed 37-34 entering the fourth quarter.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
A victory can make all the difference in the world. Especially when it comes in postseason.
A week ago, the Hughes Blue Devils headed into the first round of the Class AA state playoffs as a three-point underdog against Des Arc.
It didn't make much sense since the Blue Devils were (A) the No. 2 and higher seeded team; (B) playing at home, where the team was unbeaten during the regular season at 5-0 (10-4 at home over the past three seasons) and (C) the highest scoring team in the state, not Class AA, but in the state, with 448 points.
Someone, however, forgot to convince the Blue Devils they were the underdogs. Hughes won by 11, after leading by 20 early in the first half.
That moved the Blue Devils into the second round of the playoffs and a date with the Jessieville Lions this Friday at Jessieville.
And lo and behold, Hughes, this time, is favored.
The Lions are the No. 1 seeded team from the 5AA and defeated Stamps in last Friday's first-round matchup.
The win snapped a three-year string of first-round losses for the Lions.
Hughes' win over Des Arc marked the first time that a Blue Devils team has won a first-round playoff game since the 1994 season, when that group played all the way to the title game, losing to Lonoke.
Jessieville is located near Hot Springs Village and requires a little more than three hours to make the trip.
*As a team goes deeper into the playoffs, mistakes tend to mean a lot more.
Pine Bluff needs to learn its lesson after a 21-20 victory over Jacksonville last week.
A fumble in the final two minutes allowed Jacksonville to take a lead, but the Zebras did put together the game-winning drive and touchdown with 17 seconds remaining.
Pine Bluff, the No. 1 team in The Associated Press' final regular season poll, likely won't be able to get away with such mistakes against No. 3 Fort Smith Southside this week.
The Rebels also gave up a touchdown following a turnover and trailed Little Rock McClellan 18-13.
Southside regrouped and took the win.
Neither team can afford to make similar mistakes this week.
Still, a solid and mistake-free performance will give the Zebras a 27-20 win over the Rebels.
*Conway, ranked No. 5, needed two overtimes to survive a challenge from Fort Smith Northside and now the Wampus Cats face an injured Cabot team it beat 37-15 to open the season.
In the opener, Conway took advantage of several Panthers' mistakes.
Cabot lost its best runner in the final week of the season when Chris Robertson suffered a concussion and is done for the year.
In his absence last week, the Panthers used several running backs and their defense held Texarkana to 32 yards in a 21-0 victory.
Cabot is always tough, but not quite tough enough this time to dispatch the Cats. Make it Conway 28-10.
*The Pulaski Robinson-Wynne game should be a quick one, since both teams like to line up and run over people. The Senators have the depth to squeeze past the defending Class AAAA champion, 27-25.
In Class AAAAA -- West Memphis 31, Russellville 28; Springdale 35, Jonesboro 17.
In Class AAAA -- Stuttgart 37, Greenwood 18; Beebe 31, Alma 27; Clarksville 24, Sylvan Hills 14.
In Class AAA -- Pulaski Academy 35, Star City 21; Greenland 28, Rivercrest 21; Nashville 27, Dover 13; Newport 19, Booneville 14; Warren 35, Brinkley 20; Gosnell 28, Berryville 21; Pulaski Oak Grove 24, Prescott 13; Ozark 23, Pocahontas 17.
In Class AA -- Harding Academy 42, Hampton 30; Charleston 31, Bauxite 24; Junction City 44, Hector 21; Rison 27, Elkins 20; Mount Ida 31, Carlisle 28; Barton 17, Mineral Springs 13; Danville 27, Bearden 20.
The Forrest City sixth and seventh-grade intramural boys and girls' basketball progam needs coaches.
Anyone who may interested in coaching one of the league teams can contact Forrest City Coach Stan Siler at (870) 261-1815 or at (870) 581-2469.
A special meeting for coaches will be held Thursday, Nov. 21.
Siler said he expects to have six boys' teams and four girls; teams. The teams will play their schedule of games right after school, two days a week, at the Lincoln Middle School Gym.
Students from Astin's Taekwondo Academy in Forrest City and Wynne participated in the 16th annual Regional Open Martial Arts Championships held in Jacksonville. The students competed against more than 200 competitors from five states.
Astin's students brought back more than 20 trophies, including Forms Grand Champion, won by Assistant Instructor Chase Breeding. Students attending were: Ashley Astin, Danielle David, James Pendergrass, Dillon Holder, Brett Pendergrass, Taelor Blankenship, Baker Blankenship, Alyson St. Clair, Kadie Lockard, Angel Hood, Carroll Astin, chief instructor; Brenda Bean, Lisa Bean, David Pendergrass, Weston Lewis, cott Stevenson, Taylor Stephens, Jason Dobson and Tabitha Eary. Instructor is Gina Astin, fourth degree Black Belt.
Palestine-Wheatley's home basketball game against Earle, scheduled for tonight, has been cancelled as has the return game, set for Nov. 26, at Earle.
P-W is scheduled to host Gillett Monday, Nov. 25.
* PREP BASKETBALL
HIGH SCHOOL
MONDAY'S SCORES
Senior Girls
Bay 80, Rector 50
Greene Co. Tech 49, Westside 21
Harding Academy 61, Pocahontas 57
Manila 47, Brookland 39
Marked Tree 48, Harrisburg 45
Marmaduke 70, Walnut Ridge 26
Nettleton 64, Piggott 33
Riverside 92, Ridgefield Christian 29
Trumann 51, EPC 28
Valley View 65, Weiner 34
Junior Boys
Wynne 33, Annie Camp 30
FCity Blue at Hughes - Cancelled
Junior Girls
Annie Camp 32, Wynne 15
FCity Blue at Hughes - Cancelled
Greene Co. Tech 49, Westside 16
EPC 36, Trumann 30
Harding Academy 49, Pocahontas 47
Harrisburg 35, Marked Tree 17
MacArthur 50, Paragould 44
Marmaduke 41, Walnut Ridge 25
Nettleton 29, Piggott 28
Rector 39, Bay 27
Riverside 37, Armorel 23
Valley View 27, Weiner 23
Tuesday, November 19
Earle at Palestine-Wheatley - Cancelled
Hazen at Clarendon
Elaine at Holly Grove
Blytheville at Marion (Girls)
Cabot at benton
Osceola at LR Hall
Lonoke at Beebe
Crawfordsville at Brinkley
Cross County at Bald Knob
Humphtrey at England
McCrory at Riverview