By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
OSCEOLA -- The Forrest City Mustangs ended 2003 in style Tuesday by defeating Osceola 64-51 to win the Seminole Classic championship.
The victory moves the Mustangs to 8-4 in the final nonconference game of the year. Forrest City is set to begin AAAAA-East Conference play on Friday, Jan. 9, when they host Cabot.
Tuesday's victory was also the Mustangs' sixth win in their last seven games. Since the Rumble on the Ridge in late November, the Mustangs have lost only once.
Forrest City senior guard/forward Lorenzo Spearmon led all scorers Tuesday with 16 points and was named the tournament's MVP.
Spearmon was also named to the All-Tournament team, along with Cameron Henderson and Sherman Allen.
Against Osceola, Henderson scored eight points in the fourth period to finish with 13 for the game while Allen and Buck Braddock each added 10 points.
One other game stat is noteworthy.
Forrest City Mustang coach Dwight Lofton was hit with his first technical foul in seven seasons.
It happened in the third period with Forrest City leading 35-29.
"I was shocked when they teed me up," Lofton said. "Then, when I went to the middle of the bench to sit down in between the players -- just to cool down -- the officials stopped the game and told me I had to go back to the coaching end of the bench, sit down, stay seated and be quiet. And that's what I did. I sat down and did not say another word for the rest of the game. I didn't want to risk a second foul and not being able to coach the first conference game."
While the technical foul against Lofton was unusual, it came at an opportune time as Lofton let his two assistant coaches -- Barry Hodges and John Burgess -- call the rest of the game shots.
"Barry called the defensive plays and Burgess called the offensive sets," Lofton said. "It's good to know in those circumstances, as a coach, you have coaches you can depend on to carry out the game plan. The technical just gave the kids the energy they needed to go ahead and take care of business."
Osceola hit both technical free throws to get within 35-31 but the Mustangs fed off the technical called against their coach and scored six straight points to push their lead to 42-31 on their way to a 51-41 lead to start the fourth period.
The technical foul was only Lofton's second since coming to Forrest City. The last one came during hhis first season (1996-97) when he was assessed a technical foul in a conference game at Cabot.
Osceola opened a 12-4 lead early in the first but the Mustangs battled back to get within one point 18-17 to start the second period.
As he had done Monday against West Helena, Lofton called on Buck Braddock for help off the bench.
Braddock, Lofton's 6-7 senior center, responded with eight points in the second period as the Mustangs closed out the first half with an 8-0 run to lead 33-26 at the intermission.
Osceola got 15 points from Dustin Lewis while Jerome Wilson added 11 points.
"This was a great win for the team," Lofton said. "We needed to end the nonconference part of our schedule with plenty of momentum going into conference play."
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CONWAY --Viveca Kimble came off the bench and helped spark a third-period run that eventually led the Forrest City Lady Mustangs past Little Rock Fair 49-43 Tuesday in the seventh-place game at the Lady Cat Classic in Conway.
While the Lady Mustangs are just 3-6 in three tournaments this season, the team is 3-0 in seventh-place games.
Kimble drained two three-pointers to start the third period as the Lady Mustangs opened with an 8-0 run to take a 38-37 lead to start the fourth period.
Forrest City trailed at the half 28-24.
It was Forrest City's first victory at the Lady Cat Classic in six tries, dating back to last year.
The Lady Mustangs lost to Watson Chapel on Saturday and Bryant Monday.
Sequoria Grady led all scorers with 23 points while Kimble added 12 and Trina Wynne finished with eight points.
Both teams ended the first period locked in a 12-12 tie before Fair used a 16-to-12 second period to lead by four at the half.
The lady Mustangs outscored Fair 25-to-15 in the second half.
Forrest City will host Cabot to start AAAAA-East Conference play on Friday, Jan. 9.
In Tuesday's championship game, Norman, Okla. outscored Conway 22-to-9 in the third period on their way to a 47-36 win over the Lady Cats.
Onika Anderson scored 24 points as Watson Chapel beat Mount St. Mary 56-45 in the third-place game.
Bryant defeated Van Buren 66-51 in the fifth-place game.
by FRED CONLEY
So you think 2003 was an interesting year for local sports?
You're right.
With that in mind, here's a quick look at just a few of the local sports highlights.
As 2003 began, the Forrest City basketball teams were about to embark on their first journey through the new AAAAA-East Conference since Mountain Home and Searcy joined the league, replacing outgoing members Little Rock Mills and Sylvan Hills.
Following the completion of this current season, the East will undergo another facelift as Blytheville falls into Class AAAA and Sylvan Hills returns.
North Little Rock built a brand new multi-million dollar arena and was awarded the 2003 Class AAAAA state tournament.
After three seasons of fielding two teams in each sport -- designated the Blue and White Mustangs -- Forrest City Junior High returned to the one-team format in late January.
In February, the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots were in the midst of an 8-0 start in the 6AA basketball conference while the Hughes Blue Devils clinched the 3AA conference title, the No. 1 seed into the district tournament and an automatic bid into regionals -- all in one night.
Two weeks later, the Blue Devils, which won the Class AAA state title in 2001, won the district title and went into the regionals as the top seed.
The Mustangs moved into fourth place in the East standings and were on track for a state tournament bid, which would take Forrest City coach Dwight Lofton back to his roots at North Little Rock.
Lady Mustang senior Caronica Randle set a career-high scoring effort with 37 points in a win over Blytheville.
The Blue Junior Mustangs reached the finals of the AAAAA-East district tournament, becoming the first junior high boys' team to do so since the 1988 season.
The Hughes Lady Blue Devils ended a four-year dry spell by qualifying for the regional tournament.
The Mustangs qualified as the No. 4 seed into the Class AAAAA state tournament with a regular season-ending win over Jonesboro while the P-W senior girls and the Hughes senior girls lost in the first round of their respective regional tournaments.
In March, Hughes' Jermaine Davis had a 40 point regional tournament game to lead the Blue Devils into the Class AA state tournament.
The Mustangs lost to El Dorado in the first round of the state tournament at North Little Rock and finished with an 11-14 record.
As baseball, softball and track began for local teams, former Palestine-Wheatley standout Erica Smith scored a career-high 28 points to lead Louisiana Tech past Pepperdine in the NCAA Women's Tournament.
Forrest City Athletic Director Mike Bender celebrated his one-year anniversary on the job.
In April, Caronica Randle was honored for the second straight year at the Arkansas Prep Hoops banquet held in Little Rock. Randle initially announced she would sign a letter-of-intent to play for the Arkansas State Lady Indians but later changed her mind and inked with the University of Central Arkansas at Conway.
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr headlined the Fellowship of Christian Athletes "Evening of Challenge" which was held at the Forrest City Civic Center, and drew more than 300 people.
Patton's Victory, owned and trained by Forrest City's Stanley Roberts and Jonesboro's Rick Turman, won the $100,000 Grade III Fifth Season Stakes Race at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
Arkansas' Houston Nutt was the featured speaker at the annual East Central Arkansas Razorback Rally and Bill Baxter announced the field for the seventh annual Rumble on the Ridge was announced.
Forrest City's 12-year-old Arkansas Concrete team pushed their streak to 14-0 while the Mustang baseball team ended a 15-game losing streak by holding off Barton 4-2.
P-W's Lady Patriots finished second at the 2AA fast-pitch district tournament and qualified for the Class AA regional tournament. The team would eventually qualify for the Class A state tournament.
In April, Clark McBride, a former Forrest City graduate, standout athlete and coach returned to coach football and track.
Marianna's Brett Bullard was named as coach of the Forrest City American Legion baseball team, becoming the fifth head coach in the past eight years.
The unbeaten streak for Arkansas Concrete ended at 20.
Forrest City senior Kanetra Pendleton was named to the AAAAA-East Fast-Pitch All-Star squad. In June, Pendleton, the wild-card All-Star pick from Forrest City, was named the MVP of the Arkansas Activities Association Girls' Fast-Pitch All-Star Softball game.
The Forrest City Mustang football team held their Blue-White scrimmage and senior lineman Stephen Henry began to draw statewide and national college interest.
In golf, the annual Forrest City Grocery Charity Golf Tournament raised $240,000 for the Forrest City Education Foundation and former Arkansas football coach and Helena native Ken Hatfield headlined the second annual Ralph Memorial Golf Tournament.
In July, the Arkansas PGA Junior Golf Tour made a stop at Forrest City's Country Club.
The Hughes Blue Devils and the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots were named as the top preseason football picks in the 3AA.
Forrest City hosted the 20th annual Mightymite Triathlon and the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame named its 2003 inductees.
Summer football drills began for the Mustangs, Patriots and Blue Devils and the East Arkansas Youth Football association joined forces with the Forrest City Recreation Department.
The Forrest City Junior Mustang football team downed West Memphis West for the first time in more than a decade.
Nine new members were officially inducted into the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame. The Mustangs unbeaten mark in previous Hall of Fame football games ended in a 36-0 loss to Cabot.
The Lady Mustang cross country team finished fifth in the Conference Meet.
The Forrest City Junior Mustangs won the AAAAA-East Conference title and finished the season at 6-2-1.
The Hughes Junior Blue Devils won the 3AA league title, finishing the year at 9-0.
The Patriots earned the No. 1 seed into the Class AA state playoffs while Hughes finished as the No. 2 seed. Both reached the quarterfinals. The Patriots 11-2 mark was the best-ever for a Patriot football team.
The Mustangs ended 2003 by winning six of the final seven games and the Seminole Classic tournament title.