By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WHEATLEY -- The Palestine-Wheatley junior high basketball teams made the most of homecoming Monday by turning back DeValls Bluff in a boys' game played at Wheatley Gym.
Phil Hicks scored 15 points to lead the Junior Patriots past the Junior Scrappers 54-27 to even their season mark at 2-2.
Adam Kennedy added nine points while Ivan Gardner and Douglas Taylor each added eight and Ted Washington finished with seven points.
Palestine-Wheatley led 15-9 after the first period and pushed that to 31-16 at the half on the strength of a 16-to-3 run to close out the first half.
Picking up where they left off at the half, the Junior Patriots scored the first six points of the third period on their way to a 43-21 lead top start the final period.
Harold Larkin led DeValls Bluff with 12 points.
The Junior Patriots get back into conference action tonight at Barton.
Blytheville 39, FCity Blue 33
It was not a good shooting night for the Forrest City Blue Mustangs Monday in a 39-33 road loss to Blytheville.
The foul situation didn't help either as the Blue Mustangs were whistled 13 times while Blytheville was called just three times. Larry Bean and Cordero Allen both fouled out in the second half, which further complicated the Forrest City effort.
The Blue Mustangs fall to 7-3 for the season and 3-3 in the AAAAA-East junior conference.
Blytheville raced to a quick 11-2 lead and settled for an 11-6 lead to start the second period and pushed that to 21-17 at the half.
The Blue Mustangs cut Blytheville's lead to 27-25 after three but couldn't make the shots down the stretch.
Stephon Weaver led Forrest City with 11 points while Marcus Britt added seven points.
The Blue Mustangs play at Jonesboro Annie Camp Thursday.
WMWonder 47, FCity White 28
Cory Weast scored 17 points Monday night at Mustang Arena to lead West Memphis Wonder past Forrest City White 47-28.
The White Mustangs trailed 11-6 after one period and 22-13 at the half.
Cameron Henderson, who played most of the game saddled with three personal fouls, finished with 12 points to lead the White Mustangs. Larry Summage added seven points for Forrest City.
Wonder won the eighth-grade boys game 31-16.
Forrest City White will host Jonesboro MacArthur Thursday at Mustang Arena.
WM West 49, Annie Camp 42
West Memphis West held off Jonesboro Annie Camp 49-42 in junior boys' basketball Monday night at West Memphis.
West Memphis led 14-12 after one quarter, 23-19 at halftime and 38-32 after three periods.
Murray Watts scored 15 points to lead Annie Camp (5-5, 3-3 AAAAA-East).
MacArthur 54, WM East 37
Matt Garner tossed in a game-high 23 points to lead Jonesboro MacArthur to a 54-37 victory over West Memphis East in junior boys' AAAAA-East conference basketball Monday night.
MacArthur (7-2, 4-2) led 29-15 at halftime. Brandon Crain also added 10 points for the Cyclones.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WHEATLEY -- The Junior Lady Patriots remained unbeaten as they pushed their season record to 7-0 behind a 32-19 homecoming win over DeValls Bluff Monday.
Led by Kesha Stovall's 14 points, the Junior Lady Patriots led 20-10 at the half and 30-17 to start the final frame, during which the two teams combined to score just four points.
Whitney Smith and Fallon Parker each scored six points while Tonisha Wynne added four.
FCity Blue 37, Blytheville 30
Astrain Allen scored 14 points to lead the Forrest City Blue Lady Mustangs to a 37-30 win over Blytheville in junior girls action Monday.
The Blue Lady Mustangs improve to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
Forrest City led 11-7 after one period and 31-18 after three periods.
In other junior girls' games Monday West Memphis Wonder downed Forrest City White 38-18, undefeated Annie Camp (13-0) ran past West Memphis West 34-17 and MacArthur took a 45-29 win over WM East.
Annie Camp will host Forrest City Blue Thursday.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
A tale of two West Memphis teams may unfold tonight at Mustang Arena.
The West Memphis Lady Blue Devils are the top-ranked girls' team in the state and may very well be the best girls' team to come through West Memphis.
The Lady Blue Devils, 11-2 overall and 1-0, will have four seniors on the floor tonight -- each one a McDonald's All-American nominee.
The Blue Devils are struggling in a 5-5 start and have lost two outstanding players for the remainder of the season to ineligibility. The team is ranked seventh in the Class AAAAA rankings.
Forrest City will host both West Memphis teams in the AAAAA-East home opener, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. when the junior varsity boys tip.
Both the Forrest City Mustangs and Lady Mustangs notched conference opening victories Friday at Cabot.
Both West Memphis teams rolled up Searcy in their first taste of East hoops this season.
The Lady Blue Devils have lost only to Memphis Ridgeway and to Wichita Heights, Kansas over the holidays in the Champions Tournament played at UA-Fort Smith.
The team is led by senior center Tamala Turner, senior Jocelyn Love and point guard Kandice Robinson.
Lady Mustang Coach Sue Jayroe knows the West Memphis players well.
"We know they will play pressure defense against us and their goal will be to shut down Caronica (Randle)," Jayroe said. "They will play man-to-man and the battle should be between Turner and Randle inside. Our seniors will have to step up and our sophomores will have to step up to the next level."
Jayroe, who is looking for her first win over West Memphis in regular season, said her Lady Mustangs have to play better than their 46-45 win over Cabot last Friday. In that game, Forrest City led by as much as 15 points before letting Cabot back into the game and winning by one points -- a free throw by Randle with six seconds to play.
"We can't afford a let-down against West Memphis like we had against Cabot," Jayroe said. "If we can get a lead we have to keep the lead."
Randle, Forrest City's senior forward, leads the Lady Mustangs in scoring and anchors the team on the floor which includes Trina Wynne, Katrina Floyd, Sequoria Grady, Chrystal Summage, Shari Rogers, Gabriel Agnew and Kanetra Pendleton.
The West Memphis Blue Devils will be without sophomore point guard Marcus Mangum and junior forward Sonny Weems, both non starters who have been contributing off the bench.
The Blue Devils will start center Desma McCoy, Larry Bray Jr., Tim Bates, Quentin Furlow and Randy East.
The Forrest City Mustangs, 4-7 for the year and winners of four of their last six games, will counter with Anthony Bean, Markee Ervin, Lorenzo Spearmon, Kerry Evans, Deangelo Braddock, Nick Grady, Taurus Moore and Roy Lee Parker.
The Mustangs placed three in double figures in the Cabot victory.
The Mustangs split with the Blue Devils during the 1999-2000 season and swept West Memphis two years ago.
In other area games tonight, Palestine-Wheatley will play at Barton while Hughes will host Turrell.
* PREP BASKETBALL
High School Senior Boys
Monday's Scores
Highland 61, Brookland 56
Pocahontas 50, Corning 37
Marked Tree 54, Cross County 28
River Valley 56, Lynn 52
Senior Girls
Valley View 66, Harrisburg 29
Walnut Ridge 41, BIC 38
Marked Tree 50, Cross County 15
Marmaduke 58, Piggott 31
Trumann 38, Gosnell 29
Junior Boys
Palestine-Wheatley 54, DeValls Bluff 27
WM West 49, Annie Camp 42
MacArthur 54, WM East 37
WM Wonder 47, Forrest City White 28
Blytheville 39, Forrest City Blue 33
Junior Girls
Palestine-Wheatley 32, DeValls Bluff 19
Annie Camp 34, WM West 17
MacArthur 45, WM East 29
Forrest City Blue 37, Blytheville 30
WM Wonder 38, Forrest City White 18
Tuesday, January 14
West Memphis at Forrest City
Turrell at Hughes
Palestine-Wheatley at Barton
Cabot at Mountain Home
Jonesboro at Blytheville
North Little Rock at Conway
Watson Chapel at Pine Bluff