By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Off the basketball court, Forrest City coach Dwight Lofton and Jacksonville coach Jerry Wilson are best friends. They have been for many years, going as far back as when Lofton was honing his coaching skills at North Little Rock and Wilson was an assistant at Jacksonville.
When it comes time for the two teams to face off on the basketball court, however, the two coaches/friends become the fiercest of competitors.
That happens each and every year, at least twice, since both teams are members of the AAAAA-East Conference.
Forrest City and Jacksonville have met once this season -- at Mustang Arena -- and the second meeting will take place tonight at one of the toughest places in the conference to play -- the Devils' Den in Jacksonville.
Lofton's Mustangs took the first game, winning 83-74 in overtime, stunning Wilson's team which opened the conference season with three consecutive victories and winning four of their first six games.
Since the loss to Forrest City, Jacksonville has lost four of its last five games and, at 5-7, are close to being mathematically eliminated from postseason play.
Forrest City has gone 2-3 since the first game against Jacksonville and stands in a tie for fourth place at 5-6.
A win over the Red Devils tonight would greatly help the Mustangs' chances of making the state tournament while driving another huge nail into the Red Devils' playoff hopes.
Neither coach is ready nor are they willing to concede anything.
"I can tell you exactly where Jerry wants to see me at the state tournament," said Lofton. "He wants me watching from the stands and not coaching from the sidelines. And if he doesn't make the cut, he wants me sitting next to him in the bleachers."
Both are coming off losses Friday. Forrest City lost to Searcy while Jacksonville slipped against Blytheville.
"I really needed Jacksonville to beat Blytheville last Friday," Lofton said. "We're tied with Blytheville and that would have helped our cause."
Lofton believes that the fourth and final spot into the state tournament will be a dog fight between Jacksonville, Blytheville and his Mustangs.
"I think to get to postseason, the fourth place team has to be 7-7 but 6-8 might get it," Lofton added. "And there could very well be a three-way tie for that last spot."
Lofton was referring to the very real possibility that all three teams could end up at 6-8.
That's makes a win over Jacksonville that much more important since it would give the Mustangs the tie-breaker over the Red Devils in the "head-to-head" competition and the edge over Blytheville if the tie-breaker system has to go to points.
Forrest City and Blytheville split their two conference games.
"There are three games left to play," Lofton said. "We have to win two of those three and hope we get some help from someone else."
Tonight's two-game varsity set will tip at 6 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CLARENDON -- Phil Hicks poured in 25 points Monday night and Adam Kennedy added 10 points to lead the Palestine-Wheatley Junior Patriots over Gillett 46-36 in the first round of the 6AA District Tournament being played at Clarendon.
The No. 4 seeded Junior Patriots will next take on top-seeded Altheimer Thursday at 5:45 p.m., with the winner advancing to Saturday's championship game.
Gillett was the fifth-seeded into the tournament.
The No. 2 seeded Palestine-Wheatley Junior Lady Patriots were awarded a first-round forfeit win over No. 7 seeded Elaine and will not play until Friday when they will meet the winner of Wednesday's Marvell-Clarendon game.
In other junior girls' games Monday, Gillett defeated Altheimer to advance to semifinal action where they will battle top-seeded Barton Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
The senior Lady Patriots, the No. 2 seed into the district, will play Wednesday at 7 p.m. against either Clarendon or Marvell while third-seeded senior high Patriots will take the floor Thursday at 8:15 p.m., against either Elaine or Gillett.
The district tournament concludes Saturday.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
BLYTHEVILLE -- After Monday's first-round play at the AAAAA-East Junior High District Tournament, the only Forrest City team left standing was the Blue Mustangs.
Led by Stephon Weaver's 26 points, the fifth-seeded Blue Mustangs walked to a 60-43 win over No. 4 seeded Jonesboro MacArthur.
Weaver had a solid supporting cast as Larry Bean scored 12, Marcus Britt added 11 and Michael Alston had 10.
The Blue Mustangs will face top-seeded West Memphis Wonder Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Wonder downed WM East Monday 55-20.
Wonder defeated the Blue Mustangs twice in regular season but only by a combined four points 38-36 and 41-39.
"Having four in double figures is certainly a huge advantage for us," said Forrest City Coach Jimmy Williams. "If they can continue to produce those kind of points, we have a chance to get past Wonder."
The Blue Mustangs led 16-11 after one period and 30-18 at the half.
Matt Garner led MacArthur with 20 points.
Also Monday, Blytheville downed Annie Camp 42-32 and WM West defeated Forrest City White 47-37.
Cameron Henderson led the White Mustangs with 18 points while Larry Summage finished with 10.
The loss marks the end of the line for the White Mustang team.
Beginning next season, Forrest City will return to just a one-team format in all sports after fielding two teams for each of the past three years.
Top-seeded Jonesboro Annie Camp and No. 2 seeded Jonesboro MacArthur both rolled in the AAAAA-East conference tournament Monday.
The Annie Camp Lady Whirlwinds (21-0) rolled over Blytheville 55-9, while MacArthur clipped Forrest City's White Lady Mustangs 44-5.
MacArthur's girls jumped to a 16-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Kristen Cooper led MacArthur with a game-high 16 points.
Jasmina Morton and Lakesha Perkins had two points each for Forrest City.
Annie Camp's girls led 31-7 at halftime.
Talya Haskins led Annie Camp with 16 points, six rebounds and five steals.
Third-seeded West Memphis East ended Forrest City's Blue Lady Mustangs season, winning 49-7.
Astrain Allen scored four points for Forrest City while Shalonda Barton had three.
Keona Brooks led East with 17 points.
Also Monday, WM West defeated WM Wonder 47-34.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Jacksonville may be 0-12 in the AAAAA-East Conference and just 1-21 overall, but don't think for a minute that Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe is taking tonight's game against the Lady Red Devils lightly.
Jayroe has her Lady Mustangs in fifth place in the conference standings and within one game of securing a state tournament berth.
Tanya Ganey's Lady Red Devils aren't going anywhere except to turn in their uniforms when this week is over.
That's just enough to make Jayroe that much more nervous.
"Jacksonville is putting a lot of points on the board and that tells me that they are pushing the tempo and playing hard," Jayroe said. "They are probably the most athletic team we have seen this year in conference. They have improved just since we played them the first time, they just aren't producing any victories."
A win tonight would do wonders for the Lady Mustangs, who are coming off a huge win over Searcy on Friday.
"Our goal at the first of the season was to make the state playoffs and that is still our goal," Jayroe said. "Tonight is definitely do or die for us as far as those hopes lie. Bottom line, we have to win tonight."
Besides senior forward Caronica Randle, who has led the team virtually all season, the Lady Mustangs have some new strength showing up in the stats in sophomore Sequoria Grady, who has put together back-to-back "double-double" games and led the team in scoring with 20 points Friday in the win over Searcy.
"Grady is playing now like I knew she could play all along," Jayroe said. "She has many, many more outstanding games ahead of her. This is just the beginning."
Other help has been in the form of Katrina Floyd, Chrystal Summage, Kanetra Pendleton, Shari Rogers, Teela Lee and Shay Agnew.
Tonight's two-game varsity set will tip at 6 p.m., at the Devils' Den in Jacksonville.
Dulin's Sports Academy, of Memphis, will host preseason youth baseball and softball clinics at East Arkansas Community College (EACC).
The baseball clinic will be held Saturday, March 8 and the softball clinic will be held Saturday, March 15.
For info, call EACC at (870) 633-4480 ext. 261 or 333.
* PREP BASKETBALL
DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS
Senior Girls
3AA-North at Bay
Monday's Scores
Riverside 65, Rector 47
BIC 35, Walnut Ridge 34
Tuesday, February 18
Maynard vs. BIC, 4 p.m.
CRidge Academy vs. Riverside, 7 p.m.
Thursday, February 20
Marmaduke vs. CRA-Riverside winner, 4 p.m.
Bay vs.Maynard-BIC winner, 7 p.m.
3AA-South at Cross County
Monday's Scores
Earle 65, Crawfordsville 39
Hughes 68, Parkin 62
Tuesday, February 18
Marked Tree vs. Cross County, 4 p.m.
Turrell vs. Hughes, 7 p.m.
Thursday, February 20
Earle vs. MTree-Cross County winner, 6 p.m.
Senior Boys
3AA-North at Bay
Monday's Scores
Riverside 66, Rector 45
CRidge Academy 57, Walnut Ridge 54
Tuesday, February 18
Bay vs. CRA, 5:30 p.m.
Maynard vs. Riverside, 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 20
BIC vs. Maynard-Riverside winner, 5:30 p.m.
Marmaduke vs. Bay-CRA winner, 8;30 p.m.
3AA-South at Cross County
Monday's Scores
Crawfordsville 68, Cross County 45
Marked Tree 56, Earle 54
Tuesday, February 18
Turrell vs. Parkin, 5:30 p.m.
Hughes vs. Marked Tree, 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 20
Crawfordsville vs. Turrell-Parkin winner, 7:45 p.m.
AAAAA-East District at Blytheville
Junior Boys
Monday's Scores
Forrest City Blue 60, MacArthur 43
Blytheville 42, Annie Camp 32
WMemphis West 47, Forrest City White 37
WMemphis Wonder 55, WMemphis East 20
Wednesday, February 19
WM Wonder vs FCity Blue, 6:30 p.m.
WM West vs Blytheville, 5 p.m.
Junior Girls
Monday's Scores
MacArthur 44, Forrest City White 5
Annie Camp 55, Blytheville 9
WMemphis West 47, WMemphis Wonder 34
WMemphis East 49, Forrest City Blue 7
Wednesday, February 19
Annie Camp vs WM West, 6:30 p.m.
MacArthur vs WM East, 5 p.m.
6AA District at Clarendon
Junior Girls
Monday's Results
Gillett defeated Altheimer
Thursday, February 20
Barton vs Gillett, 4:30 p.m.
Friday, February 21
Palestine-Wheatley vs Marvell-Clarendon winner, 4:30 p.m.
Junior Boys
Monday's Scores
Palestine-Wheatley 46, Gillett 36
Tuesday, February 18
Elaine vs Clarendon, 5:45 p.m.
Wednesday, February 19
Marvell vs Barton, 5:45 p.m.
Thursday, February 20
Altheimer vs P-W, 5:45 p.m.
Senior Girls
Tuesday, February 18
Elaine vs Barton, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, February 19
Palestine-Wheatley vs Clarendon-Marvell winner, 7 p.m.