By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
When Sylvan Hills dropped out of the AAAAA-East Conference at the end of last season, it meant that Forrest City would have a new conference-opening opponent this season.
That honor was given to Cabot and the game will be played tonight -- at Cabot. Game time is 6 p.m.
The Bears have been first up for the Mustangs for the past three seasons while Cabot didn't come calling until the sixth game into the conference season.
The only other East team that seventh-year head coach Dwight Lofton has seen on opening night besides Sylvan Hills, was Blytheville during his first and third seasons.
Under Lofton, the Mustangs are 10-2 against Cabot in regular season conference matchups and there is no reason to believe that trend will change any time soon.
The Mustangs have won two in a row, three of five since the Rumble on the Ridge and are 3-7 for the year. The Mustangs have seen postseason three times under Lofton.
Tuesday night, the Mustangs rallied from being down by 14 points in the first half, to claim a 59-57 nonconference victory over Wynne on a last-second shot by senior guard Anthony Bean.
Lofton called the win "crucial" going into tonight's league opener.
"We've lost some close games this season and it was good to win a close one for a change," Lofton said. "It's showtime in the East and we can't afford any slip ups. We have to get off to a quick start tonight and not let up. If you let a dog lick you in the face, if you don't pay close attention, he will turn on you and bite you."
The Panthers are a little better at 4-7 but are coming off a Tuesday night loss to Benton.
The Cabot boys have a challenging match-up too. Like Forrest City, Cabot is a young team with not much experience.
The Panthers still have size, which they usually always have, but Forrest City will answer that with quickness and the ability to run the floor.
On the girls' side of the East conference, the Lady Mustangs have managed just two victories over the Lady Panthers in the last 12 meetings, but have split the regular season games against Cabot the last two seasons.
The Lady Mustangs are 6-7 coming in while the Lady Panthers are 13-3 and gaining momentum.
Third-year Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe called her Lady Mustangs "an unpredictable team. We can win or lose to anybody on any night,"
The Lady Mustangs lost three games at the Conway Invitational Tournament, two by margins of 33 and 19 before playing Watson Chapel close, losing by four.
Forrest City rebounded Tuesday with a decisive 64-29 effort over Wynne.
Cabot coach Skip Sanford said "Forrest City has always been loaded with athletes. Now, under Coach Jayroe, they have direction as well."
West Memphis is the preseason favorite but Jonesboro and Cabot are close favorites. Forrest City is looking like a possible contender for fourth slot in the state tournament playoffs.
Jayroe knows only too well, that her Lady Mustangs have their work ahead of them if they are to knock off Cabot on their home floor. They've done it once -- the final game of the 2000-01 season.
Forrest City will have to contend with and contain Cabot's 6-2 sophomore Ashley Anderson, who has been consistently scoring in double figures.
Likewise, Sanford's Lady Panthers will have to deal with and try to stop Forrest City senior forward Caronica Randle, who leads the Lady Mustangs in scoring but is also picking up her rebounding game. Randle had a "double-double" against Wynne with 20 points (her average) and 13 rebounds.
Randle was named to the Arkansas Prep Hoops "Future Stars" team as a junior last year and was the Class AAAAA Player of the Week during the first week in December.
The lane should be filled with plenty of activity with Forrest City sophomore Sequoria Grady wandering loose. Grady broke her ring finger on her shooting hand Tuesday but will play tonight.
On defense, Grady's 5-10 inch presence has given the Lady Mustangs another dimension -- blocking shots.
Against Wynne, Grady cleanly blocked eight shots. Aiding and abetting Grady will be Katrina Floyd, another 5-10 Lady Mustang who grabbed six rebounds against Wynne.
The Lady Panthers can't forget about 5-6 sophomore Shari Rogers either.
Rogers finished with 16 points Tuesday night but may be slowed a little tonight after injuring her knee Tuesday.
Rounding out the Lady Mustang floor attack are juniors Trina Wynne, Kim Ursery, Teela Lee and Kanetra Pendleton.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CRAWFORDSVILLE -- Regulation just wasn't enough to contain high-flyin' and free-shooting Hughes and Crawfordsville Thursday night at Tiger Gym.
The two 3AA-South teams needed an extra four minutes to decide the first meeting between the two teams since the late 1970s.
Before a standing-room only packed house, the Blue Devils kept their perfect conference intact by outscoring the Tigers 14-to-9 in the overtime period to post an 86-81 win.
The teams ended regulation tied at 72-72, after Hughes guard Jermaine Davis hit two free throws with two seconds left on the clock.
The Blue Devils improve to 7-4 overall and 4-0 in the conference while Crawfordsville slips to 14-5 and suffers its first conference loss of the season, falling to 4-1.
Hughes trailed by as much as 22 points in the third period as the Tigers couldn't miss and the Blue Devils couldn't hit. The Tigers stretched their 37-32 halftime lead to 56-39 to start the fourth period, holding Hughes to just seven points in the third period.
The Blue Devils came storming back in the fourth -- using a 19-to-6 run to pull within one point of the Tigers, 62-61 with 1:40 to play.
The Tigers pushed their lead back to five points, twice, in the final minute, before Blue Devils senior guard Johnny Washington launched and hit a long three-pointer and was fouled on the play with 11.2 seconds left in the game. Washington missed the free throw, but the Blue Devils were back within one at 70-69.
Two free throws by Terrance Gilmer put the Tigers up 72-69 before Davis closed out regulation by hitting 3-of-4 foul shots to send the game into overtime.
Gilmer gave the Tigers a 73-72 lead to start the extra period before Malcolm Curne's inside layup put the Blue Devils in front 74-73. Gilmer (7-of-9 from the foul line) tied the game at 74-74 and Hughes' Courtley London gave the Blue Devils the lead for good at 76-74 with a baseline layup.
From that point, sophomore David Dowden hit six consecutive free throws and Curne took a feed from London for another inside layup to push the Hughes lead to 84-76 with 26 seconds to play.
Gilmer was given an uncontested layup with 24 seconds on the clock and Anderson Stewart drained a three to get the Tigers within four at 85-81 with 10 seconds to play.
Washington hit one of two from the foul line with six seconds left to ice the game as Crawfordsville missed a final desperation three at the buzzer.
Five Hughes players finished in double figures, led by Davis' 30, highlighted by four, threes while Washington ended with 19, which included five, threes. Curne scored 14, Dowden had 12 and London added 10.
The Blue Devils nailed nine, three-pointers for the game while the Tigers hit eight.
Willie Harris led the Tigers with 19 points and Jerry Burnett added 18 while Gilmer finished with 13 and Morris Johnson added 12.
The Tigers led 18-15 after one period and 37-32 at the half and were coming off a double overtime win over Turrell Tuesday.
The Blue Devils jump right back into conference again tonight when they travel to Parkin.
The two teams met in the second round of the NEA Tournament over the holiday break with Parkin taking the victory.
*In junior boys action, the Junior Blue Devils got 17 points from Marcus Washington and Kerrick Scofield in a 57-55 win over Crawfordsville.
Scofield rebounded a missed free throw and got the putback at the buzzer for the win.
Hughes led 14-10 after ne period and 32-27 at the half before the Junior Tigers tied the game at 55-55 with seven seconds left in the game.
*The Hughes Lady Blue Devils got 12 points from Victoria Doolittle and 11 points each from Tisha James and Valraneeka Brown and six points each from Shemika Porter and Rachael Burks to put away Crawfordsville 59-25.
Hughes led 31-15 at the half and used an 18-to-8 third period to extend that advantage to 49-23.
The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots will try to end a three-game slide tonight when they travel to Clarendon for a 6AA Conference game against the Lions.
The Patriots opened the year by posting 10 consecutive victories, but lost twice at the Arkansas Tech Tournament of Champions at Russellville and lost a home conference game Tuesday to Marvell, 53-50.
Meanwhile, the Lady Patriots will try to run their conference mark to 3-0 tonight at Clarendon.
Overall, the P-W girls, under first-year coach Lanny Allen are 5-6 and can get back to .500 with a win tonight.
The Lady Patriots held off a much-improved Marvell team Tuesday night at home.
The three-game set tips at 5 p.m., when the Junior Lady Patriots take the floor.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Blue Mustangs ran their season mark to 9-2 Thursday by posting a 49-29 win over West Memphis West at Mustang Arena.
Stephon Weaver led three Forrest City players in double figures with 16 points while Larry Bean added 15 and Michael Alston finished with 10. Marcus Britt chipped in five points.
Weaver hit four, three-pointers in the game. West was led by Terry Simmons who had 25 of his team's 29 points.
The Blue Mustangs are unbeaten at Mustang Arena this season but play their next three games on the roads at Blytheville, Jonesboro Annie Camp and West Memphis East.
In other AAAAA-East games played Thursday, West Memphis Wonder held MacArthur scoreless in the first quarter on the way to a 42-32 victory in junior high boys' basketball.
Matt Garner led MacArthur (6-2, 3-2 AAAAA-East) with 12 points.
Blytheville opened up a nine-point lead by halftime and coasted past Annie Camp for a 48-41 victory Thursday in junior boys' basketball at Annie Camp.
Blytheville outscored Annie Camp 15-7 in the second quarter to lead 25-16 at halftime and was ahead 35-26 after three quarters.
Chris Brown scored 16 points and Cal Rose added 15 for the Chickasaws. Murray Watts and Ivory Richardson had 11 each for Annie Camp (5-4, 3-2 AAAAA-East).
In nonconference play, Terrance Boykin scored 13 points and sank a jumper at the buzzer to give Wynne a 34-33 junior high basketball victory over Nettleton Thursday at Raider Gym.
Annie Camp outscored Blytheville 20-1 in the third quarter to remain undefeated and roll to a 39-9 junior high girls' victory Thursday at Annie Camp.
Talya Haskins led the Lady Whirlwinds (12-0, 5-0 AAAAA-East) with 11 points and eight steals.
Tarzanna Thompson scored 13 points and MacArthur pulled away in the third quarter for a 39-27 junior girls' basketball victory over West Memphis Wonder Thursday.
West Memphis West took a 41-26 conference win over the Forrest City Blue Lady Mustangs Thursday.
Matisha Dobbins led Forrest City with six points.