By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
PARAGOULD -- The Forrest City Lady Mustangs rebounded from Thursday's first-round loss to Poplar Bluff, Mo. at the 10th annual McDonald's Shootout at Paragould to post a seventh-place finish on Saturday.
Trina Wynne poured in 22 points and Viveca Kimble added 21 Saturday to lift the Lady Mustangs to a 69-64 win over Paragould.
Forrest City lost to Central Arkansas Christian 66-53 Friday, but played much better in that game than they did in a 69-34 loss to Poplar Bluff on Thursday.
Forrest City junior forward Sequoria Grady was named to the All-Tournament Team after being named the MVP for the Lady Mustangs in Thursday's loss to Poplar Bluff. Wynne grabbed MVP honors in Friday's loss to CAC while Kimble was the game MVP on Saturday.
Against Paragould, the Lady Mustangs trailed 17-14 after the opening period but grabbed the lead in the second period and led 33-32 at the half. They held off the Lady Rams in the third to lead 49-44 before finally putting the finishing touches on the victory in the final period.
Forrest City improves to 3-6 for the year.
Paragould went cold in the fourth quarter, giving Forrest City the opportunity to clinch the game.
Besides Wynne's 22 points, the senior guard grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists while Kimble had six rebounds and five assists to go with her 21 points.
Grady finished with 12 points and had four blocked shots while Shari Rogers added seven points and five assists.
Forrest City dominated the offensive and defensive boards against the Lady Rams by a 32-to-12 margin.
"That was the difference," said Lady Mustang Coach Sue Jayroe. "We are athletic enough to do that each game. The girls just have to want to."
In the opening loss against Poplar Bluff, the Lady Mustangs were out-rebounded 4-to-1 by the Lady Mules.
Christina Walls led the Lady Rams with 14 points Saturday. Four other players scored in double-digits for Paragould, including Wells, who had 12 points; Nikki Mitchell, who had 11 points; and Kathryn Reeves and Byrd, who both had 10.
The Forrest City Mustangs and Lady Mustangs will play at Wynne Tuesday, Dec. 16.
The Mustangs are scheduled to play in the Osceola Invitational which begins Dec. 26, while the Lady Mustangs will play in the Conway Lady Cat Invitational which begins Saturday, Dec. 27.
*On Friday, in the battle of the Shootout newcomers and the battle of the Lady Mustangs, Forrest City just couldn't keep up with Central Arkansas Christian.
Forrest City was within six points, trailing 49-43 after three quarters of play and looked to be making a comeback, but CAC outscored Forrest City 17-to-10 in the final frame to post the 66-53 win.
Allyson McDougal led CAC with 25 points while Grady led Forrest City with 19 points, six rebounds and had seven blocked shots.
Forrest City's Trina Wynne netted 13 points while Nicole Parker helped with nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Torrie Willis and Kimble each had six points while Shari Rogers had six blocked shots to go along with her four points.
In Saturday's trophy round of games, CAC finished fifth by defeating Valley View 62-40 while Poplar Bluff finished third with a 51-37 win over Pocahontas.
Greene County Tech won the tournament by holding off Jonesboro 59-53 in overtime in the championship game.
In Friday's semifinals, Jonesboro's Lady Hurricane defeated Pocahontas 41-33 while Greene County Tech defeated Poplar Bluff, Mo., 45-38.
Friday's semifinal win was sweet revenge for Tech, which was beaten by the Lady Mules in last year's McDonald's Shootout.
*The Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots took the host team Cross County Lady Thunderbirds to overtime Saturday in the finals of the Thunderbird Invitational at Cherry Valley.
Forcing a 54-54 tie at the end of regulation, the Lady T-Birds held P-W to just four points in the overtime period to win the game 61-58.
Palestine-Wheatley, suffering from foul trouble, had just two of the five starters on the floor in the overtime period.
The Lady Patriots defeated McCrory Thursday night to reach the tournament finals while Cross County used a forfeit win over Calvary Christian to get to the title game.
Fallon Parker led P-W with 21 points while Tonisha Wynne had 13 points. Cara Lansford canned nine points while Bernice Sparkman added seven points.
Parker, Lansford and Wynne were all named to the All-Tournament team.
Cross County led 16-10 after one period and 30-27 at the half.
The Lady Patriots took the lead in the third and were holding a 40-38 cushion to start the final frame.
"We played well, it was just a little erratic at times,' said P-W Coach Lanny Allen. "We needed to play the tournament though. After the holiday break, it will be all conference games for us. We have played some tough nonconference teams."
Saturday's effort against Cross County was much better than the first matchup between the two teams eight days earlier, when the Lady T-Birds won easily 60-30.
P-W will host Cotton Plant Friday at Patriot Gym.
Cross County had its opportunity to send Friday night's game with Marked Tree to overtime with three free throws with no time on the clock, trailing 53-50.
Unfortunately for the Lady Thunderbirds, they hit only one to fall to the Lady Indians 53-51 in senior girls' basketball.
Rudy Martin led all scorers with 17 points for Marked Tree, while Trenisha Hendrix recorded 12.
Brooke Reddmann led Cross County with 11 and Meghan Alexander and Candice Halk each tallied 10.
*Turrell's Anshel Cooper scored 27 points to lead the Lady Rockets to a convincing 83-66 win over Earle Friday night in senior girls' basketball.
ShaunnaTay Delaney added 24 for undefeated Turrell (8-0, 2-0).
LaToya Cheers paced Earle with 27 points.
*The Hughes Lady Blue Devils host Crawfordsville Friday, but as of press time, there was no game report available.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots couldn't hold onto a second-half lead against Cross County Saturday in the finals of the Thunderbird Invitational tournament.
Leading by 12 to start the final period, the Patriots watched as four of the five starters fouled out, which eventually equalled a 67-66 loss to the T-Birds.
"We are a very young team," said P-W Coach Terry Clardy. "We only have one senior. Still, for three quarters we played hard and controlled the game."
Justin Tomblin, the team's lone senior, led with 12 points while Tony Huntley and Rashun Barnes had 11 points each. Vince Jones had 10 and Jesse Adams finished with nine.
The Patriots got to the finals by defeating Parkin Thursday night. It was the second meeting of the year between the Patriots and the T-Birds.
Clardy said his team did all they could do.
"We were blocking shots and controlling the boards but they were calling us for fouls and when the officials take over, it becomes a different game," Clardy said.
The Patriots fall to 2-5 for the year.
Palestine-Wheatley will host Cotton Plant Friday.
*Osceola jumped to a 17-5 lead after a quarter and cruised past Valley View 75-54 Friday in senior boys' basketball at Blazer Gym.
Jerome Wilson scored 18 points and Charles Chalk added 13 to lead Osceola (2-3, 1-0), which held a 37-18 lead at halftime. Cameron Jones and Dale Merritt each added 10 points.
*Marked Tree's Jeffery Thompson led all scorers with 18 points as the Indians crushed Cross County 71-39 in senior boys' basketball Friday night.
Brad Jones added 15 points, Robert Tyree 13 and Dunaway Barnes 10 for Marked Tree.
Cross County (6-5, 0-1 3AA-South) was paced by Adam Jackson's 12 points and Patrick Jones' 11. Derrick Little contributed with six rebounds.
*Adidus Cooper led Turrell to a 65-55 win over Earle Friday night in senior boys' basketball.
Turrell improved to 7-2 on the year.
Jay Williams led Earle (2-7) with a game-high 23 points.
*The Forrest City Mustangs, who have not played since Dec. 5, will travel to Wynne Tuesday night to take on the Yellowjackets.
The Mustangs will play in the Osceola Invitational tournament, scheduled to begin on Dec. 26.
*The Hughes Blue Devils will play Melbourne tonight at Harding University in Searcy.
The junior boys will tip at 6 p.m. while the senior boys will follow at 7:30 p.m.
*Also tonight, Calvary Christian School will play at Ridgefield
and will host MHEA Tuesday night.