By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Round two begins tonight for the eight AAAAA-East conference basketball teams.
For the Forrest City Mustangs and Lady Mustangs it means a trip to West Memphis where both Blue Devil teams are unbeaten in the league and ranked among the state's best.
The West Memphis Blue Devils are 7-0 and lead the boy's standings.
The Blue Devils are ranked eighth in the Associated Press Top 10, eighth in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Top 10 and fifth in Class AAAAA.
That equals a tall order for Dwight Lofton's Mustangs who suffered a 63-45 loss to the Blue Devils in the first matchup played at Mustang Arena.
In five conference games since that game, the Mustangs are 2-3 which leaves them at 6-11 overall going into tonight's game and 3-4 in the league.
The Blue Devils are coming off a rather easy win over Cabot Friday while the Mustangs fell by 20 to Jonesboro.
The Lady Blue Devils are also 7-0 in the league and on top of the girls' standings.
They are the No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press Top 10, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Top 10 and in Class AAAAA.
They finished runner-up to the Class AAAAA state title a year ago, losing to Fort Smith Northside in the finals.
West Memphis is coming off a tough 54-50 double overtime victory at Cabot Friday night.
Since the first meeting between Forrest City and West Memphis (a 68-54 WM victory) the Lady Mustangs have gone 3-2 in the five league games.
The Lady Mustangs are coming off a tough eight-point loss to Jonesboro.
In other area games, the Palestine-Wheatley teams will host Clarendon in 6AA Conference action at Patriot Gym while the Hughes teams will host Parkin for a trio of 3AA-South Conference games at Blue Devil Gym.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
FORREST CITY -- Marcus Britt and Stephon Weaver combined to score 33 points Monday night in leading the Blue Mustangs past Jonesboro MacArthur 45-42 at Mustang Arena.
Britt finished with 17 while Weaver added 16 and Michael Alston added eight.
Matt Garner led MacArthur with 14 points.
Trailing 43-42 with 46 seconds to play, MacArthur was forced to commit five fouls to put Forrest City in the one-and-one bonus.
The fifth foul, with 14 seconds to play, sent Britt to the line where he hit both free throws for a 45-42 lead.
MacArthur inbounded and following a time out with 10.2 seconds left in the game, missed the potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.
Forrest City led 12-9 after one period but MacArthur rallied in the second to take a 22-20 lead at the half.
Forrest City tied the game at 22-22 early in the third before MacArthur regained a 26-24 lead and held on for a 34-31 cushion to start the fourth period.
Britt's jumper got Forrest City within one point, 34-33 before MacArthur used a steal and layup to take a 40-36 lead with three minutes to play.
Weaver's long three pointer cut MacArthur's lead to one 40-39 and Britt's baseline layup gave the Blue Mustangs the lead at 41-40 with 2:16 to play. Britt followed the layup with a pull-up jumper for the 43-40 lead before MacArthur rebounded a Forrest City miss and got the putback basket to trail 43-42.
The Blue Mustangs improve to 11-5 overall for the year and 6-5 in the AAAAA-East Conference while but MacArthur slips to 9-4 overall and 5-4 in the league.
The Blue Mustangs will play at West Memphis West Friday, Feb. 7, instead of the original Feb, 6 date.
FC White 44, Annie Camp 40
At Jonesboro, the Forrest City White Mustangs forced a late turnover and then hit a three-pointer to claim a 44-40 victory over Annie Camp in AAAAA-East junior boys' basketball Monday night.
The win lifts the White Mustangs to 2-12 overall and 2-8 in the league. Annie Camp falls to 7-8 for the year and 5-6 in the conference.
Annie Camp led 22-19 at halftime, but trailed 32-18 after three quarters.
The White Mustangs will host West Memphis East Thursday at Mustang Arena and will play three games next week to close out the regular season.
Annie Camp remained undefeated with a 52-19 victory over Forrest City White in AAAAA-East junior girls' basketball at Whirlwind Gym Monday.
Talya Haskins led Annie Camp (17-0, 9-0) with 15 points, while Kaitlin Beneke added 10.
The White Lady Mustangs fall to 3-11 for the year and 1-9 in the conference.
MacArthur 51, FC Blue 11
Jonesboro MacArthur held the Forrest City Blue Lady Mustangs scoreless in the second and fourth quarters on the way to a 51-11 win Monday in junior girls' basketball at Mustang Arena.
Chari Agnew had four of Forrest City's 11 points while Jordin Coleman led MacArthur with 12 points followed by Anna Kaloghirou's 10 points.
Forrest City falls to 5-10 for the year and 3-8 in the league while MacArthur improves to 11-4 and 7-2.
The Forrest City High School Mustang cheerleading squad placed second at the Regional Cheerleading Competition held Saturday at Jonesboro High School. The team competed in the 5A Medium Division.
The team qualified for state competition, Saturday Feb. 15, at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
* PREP BASKETBALL
Monday's Scores
Senior Boys
Gosnell 69, Rivercrest 52
Maynard 82, CRA 41
Sloan Hendrix 79, Biggers-Reyno 69
Senior Girls
Bay 60, Crowley's Ridge Academy 52
Harrisburg 44, Trumann 42
Highland 75, Corning 49
Manila 62, Valley View 59, OT
Marmaduke 65, BIC 32
Maynard 76, Riverside 58
Osceola 47, East Poinsett County 41
Pocahontas 60, Brookland 28
Sloan-Hendrix 43, Biggers-Reyno 40
Swifton 76, Ridgefield 34
Rivercrest 60, Gosnell 34
Walnut Ridge 52, Rector 42
Westside 43, Piggott 42
Junior Boys
GCT 43, Marion 35
Forrest City White 44, Annie Camp 40
Rivercrest 46, Gosnell 38
CRA 54, Maynard 28
Forrest City Blue 45, MacArthur 42
Paragould 27, Nettleton 25
Junior Girls
Annie Camp 52, Forrest City White 19
Bay 36, Crowley's Ridge Academy 19
BIC 24, Marmaduke 19
Corning 38, Highland 36
MacArthur 51, Forrest City Blue 11
Maynard 37, Riverside 31
Piggott 56, Westside 32
Pocahontas 47, Brookland 12
Rector 45, Walnut Ridge 28
Rivercrest 46, Gosnell 18
Sloan-Henrix 62, Biggers-Reyno 39
Trumann 34, Harrisburg 27
Valley View 54, Manila 22