By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Dwight Lofton's Mustangs would like to end 2003 with a tournament championship.
Sue Jayroe's Lady Mustangs need to end the year with a win.
Forrest City senior Lorenzo Spearmon tossed in 23 points Monday night and the Mustangs downed West Helena 58-43 at the Regions Bank Seminole Classic in Osceola.
Forrest City (7-4) will play Osceola tonight in the tournament's championship game. Osceola shocked Marianna 63-62 in Monday's late semifinal game, sinking a three-pointer at the buzzer to win.
Tip-off for tonight's game is 8 p.m.
"Spearmon's 23 points was probably the quietest 23 points I've ever seen a player score," Lofton said. "Our guys came to play."
Four Mustangs -- Roy Parker, Buck Braddock, Cameron Henderson and Sherman Allen -- finished with eight points each.
Braddock came off the bench to score six straight points for the Mustangs, who fell behind 7-0 in the first period.
Forrest City rallied to lead 11-7 to start the second period and went to the half with a 27-17 cushion.
"We just kept missing those easy 'baby shots' in the first period," Lofton said. "I went to Buck and he responded and everyone else fed off that spark."
The Mustangs were in control to start the final period, leading 40-27 after three periods.
West Helena's Greg Fonzie, the Cougars' leading scorer, finished with 17 points.
"Our guys did a good job on him defensively," Lofton said. "We double-teamed him most of the night and even though he got 17, he wasn't the factor that he usually is on the floor."
Lofton called Osceola a "salty team" and said tonight's title game will help dictate "how the start of the AAAAA-East Conference season will go" for the Mustangs.
Forrest City opens league play on Jan. 9.
*Osceola's Darrius Harris hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Seminoles over Marianna 63-62 at the Osceola Classic Monday night in senior boys' action.
Osceola will face Forrest City in tonight's 8 p.m. championship game. The Mustangs defeated Helena-West Helena Central 58-43 in the other boys' semifinal.
Jerome Wilson led the Seminoles (5-5) with 20 points followed by Dustin Lewis with 11 points and nine blocks and Lonnie Dabney with a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Turrell won the fifth-place boys' game earlier in the day by beating Hughes 71-61. Earle defeated Marion 68-56 to take seventh place.
For Jayroe's Lady Mustangs, it was another frustration-filled game.
The Lady Mustangs lost to Bryant 60-38 at the Lady Cat Classic being played in Conway.
It was the third straight loss for the Forrest City girls and the second straight game in which the team put up less than 40 points.
Forrest City (3-9) will face Little Rock Fair today in the final game of the "three-game" guarantee tournament. Tip-off will be at 4 p.m.
"We can't buy a basket," Jayroe said. "Maybe we need to try another bank. The girls are playing as hard as they can and they are taking good shots. I can't complain about that. The shots just aren't falling for us."
Shari Rogers led the Lady Mustangs with 11 points while Sequoria Grady finished with eight points, hitting just four of her 15 shots from the floor. Grady did have 11 blocked shots in the game and grabbed eight rebounds. Trina Wynne added seven points, Torrie Willis had six and Viveca Kimble added three.
Bryant led 11-5 after the first period and went into halftime holding a 26-14 advantage.
The Lady Mustangs have yet to pick up a victory at the Lady Cat Classic.
The team finished 0-3 a year ago in their first visit to the Classic. Saturday, the Forrest City girls lost to ninth-ranked Watson Chapel.
Following today's final game at Conway, the Lady Mustangs will begin preparing for the start of the AAAAA-East Conference season, which begins on Jan. 9.