By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Marcus Britt scorched the nets for 25 points Monday and the Forrest City Junior Mustangs showed better discipline in a 55-31 win over West Memphis Wonder at Mustang Arena.
The Junior Mustangs improve to 4-2 for the year and even their conference mark at 1-1 in the AAAAA-East.
"We played with much more discipline than we did last Thursday in a loss to West Memphis East," said Forrest City Coach Jimmy Williams. "We did some things on the floor that we haven't been doing and that was the difference."
Forrest city led 13-6 after one period and were up 28-16 at the half. An 18-to-11 run in the third period had the Junior Mustangs in front 46-27 to start the final period.
Stephon Weaver added 12 points for Forrest City while Kelson Stewart finished with eight and Rylan Nimocks added six.
Seventh-grader Jesse Mitchell scored 12 points to lead the eighth-grade Junior Mustangs past Wonder 32-28 Monday.
Forrest City will play at Hughes Thursday night in a nonconference matchup.
*After trailing by 13 at the half, Jonesboro MacArthur's junior boys bounced back with a 45-42 overtime win over crosstown rival Jonesboro Annie Camp Monday night.
MacArthur moves to 6-1 for the year and 2-0 in the AAAAA-East conference. MacArthur outscored Annie Camp 14-4 in the third quarter.
Annie Camp slips to 3-3 and 0-2.
Jeremy Thomas led MacArthur with 17 points.
The Forrest City Junior Lady Mustangs ran into a strong West Memphis Wonder team Monday at Mustang Arena.
Wonder placed three in double figures while rolling to a 50-29 win over the junior girls.
"Wonder may be the best team we have played this season," said Forrest City coach Jacky England. "We did what we could against them."
The loss leaves the Junior Lady Mustangs at 3-3 for the year and 0-2 in the AAAAA-East.
Fareeda Washington led Forrest City with eight points while Cassandra Jackson added six points.
Wonder broke out of the gates early to lead 17-3 after the first period.
The Junior Lady Mustangs will play Hughes Thursday night.
*Jonesboro MacArthur's girls defeated the Jonesboro Annie Camp Lady Whirlwinds 42-22.
Anna Kaloghirou scored 14 points for MacArthur and also grabbed five rebounds and three steals.
*Hughes will host Marked Tree tonight beginning at 5 p.m., when the junior girls tip. The senior girls and senior boys will follow.
CHERRY VALLEY -- Cross County's senior girls' and boys' squads pulled off victories in a pair of different circumstances Monday night, with the Thunderbirds toppling Christian Home Educators 74-51, while Cross County's girls took a forfeit win over Calvary Christian in the first round of the Cross County Thunderbird Invitational.
With Cross County shooting 49 percent from the floor, Justin Tittle poured in 19 points, while David Love added 12 for Christian Home Educators.
Keith Bowles tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunderbirds, while David Carwell and Brandon Houston added eight points each. Robert Hampton added nine rebounds.
In other senior boys action, Parkin tallied a 70-30 victory over McCrory, after taking a 35-11 edge at the half.
Parkin faces the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots Thursday at 7:45 p.m.
Jeremy Marrs and Eddie Washington each chipped in 14 points for Parkin, while McCrory was led by Mark Killingsworth with nine.
In senior girls' action, McCrory avenged its boys' loss with a 43-31 victory over Parkin.
McCrory will play the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Shytel Crawford had 18 to lead McCrory, while Jordan Long scored 11 points. For Parkin, Lela Key led the way with 17 points.
The girls' final will be played Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and the boys' final will be at 7:15 p.m.
By WALTER SCOTT
I would rather be lucky.
There are several factors involved in getting the deer one has been hunting.
Skill is important.
A person needs to be able to shoot straight and true. This takes hours of practice and a fair investment in equipment.
Tracking a particular deer's habits and learning his range is also necessary to be in the right place when he shows up.
This also takes hours in the timber and pastures, watching deer move from one area to the next.
Timing is invaluable, as there is nothing like being in the right place at the right time. Studying deer habits teaches one when deer will move and what time of year is best to intercept those movements.
But, the most important factor I have found in hunting is luck.
I would rather be lucky than good anytime. No amount of skill will overcome bad luck.
A recent Saturday was a perfect example of all the factors in hunting working together, except I was the recipient of more than my share of bad luck.
My tree stand is set up on the south side of the timber so I will be downwind of the deer when they move out when a north breeze is blowing.
The north wind always blows during the fall and winter, except on Saturdays when I want to sit in my tree stand.
I moved into the timber to hunt over a scrape I had recently discovered taking advantage of the northerly breeze. A large oak tree provided ample cover from the downwind side 10 yards away.
There, I sat -- waiting, hoping my buck was the one using this scrape. He is an impressive, typical 10-point buck. His antlers are large at the base and sweep out with massive symmetrical tines.
I have spent hours preparing for our meeting. I am confident, I could put an arrow exactly on target. My equipment is fine tuned, and I know within a quarter mile where he travels.
He seems to spend most of his active hours during mid-afternoon and shortly after dark in this patch of timber and the surrounding pastures. All I needed was a little luck, and the trophy would be mine.
I waited by the tree, and nothing came by. A few squirrels scampered through the dry leaves, making as much noise as a whole herd of deer, but not even a doe came to the scrape. I finally decided to move into the open pasture next to the timber.
Last week, I had seen the deer in this very spot, about the same time of day. The barbed wire at the top of the fence was tighter than I expected. I pushed it down with one hand and attempted to step over. The wire rolled slightly, wrapping part of my pants and a bit of skin into a barb as I tried to step over.
Being firmly skewered on the fence, I leaned over, laid my bow on the grass on the opposite side, and went to work extricating myself. It was then I heard a deer rapidly approaching. I froze in position, partially impaled on the fence, and watched my buck stop no more than 20 yards from me.
He was watching behind, but had his head turned in my direction. The one eye I could see, glistened as he looked for some perceived threat. His muscles rippled and his antlers shown as he stood watching, not being aware of my presence.
There was nothing between he and I and I knew if I moved, he would see me. He turned and walked up the hill to refresh the scrape I had left minutes before.
When he was out of sight, I finished removing myself from the fence, secure in the knowledge, I was in possession of all the factors for a successful hunt, except luck.
NOTE: Walter Scott is from Bloomfield, Iowa and writes a weekly outdoor column dealing with the lighter side of the outdoors experience, from hunting and fishing to camping and hiking.
He rarely dwells on "getting the big one" but writes more about the enjoyment of being outdoors. This is partly because he rarely gets the big one, but also because his column is penned to appeal to a more general audience, who do not necessarily care about trophy hunting.
Scott's column will run weekly in this space for a while. Let us know what you think. Call us at 633-3130 x18 or email us at sports@thnews.com.