By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
HUGHES -- Jermaine Davis poured in 35 points, including eight three-pointers against Turrell Tuesday night, but it wasn't enough to get Hughes a conference victory.
Turrell got 25 points from Addidus Cooper which gave the Rockets a 79-72 victory over Hughes in senior boys' 3AA-South conference basketball Tuesday night.
The Blue Devils fall to 7-5 overall and 5-1 in the 3AA-South while Turrell improves to 8-10 and 4-2.
David Dowden added 14 points for Hughes and Malcolm Curne added 13.
Besides Cooper, Joe Gipson added 17, Cordell Dyson had 14 and Kevin Dixon 11 for the Rockets.
Turrell led 21-17 after the first period but Hughes rallied to lead 38-36 at halftime and 56-54 headed into the final frame.
"We had no intensity at all in the first half," Hughes coach Brad Brannen said. "And no signs of defense during the game."
*Turrell's Lady Rockets remained unbeaten for the year Tuesday with an easy 61-24 win over the Hughes Lady Blue Devils in 3AA-South senior girls' basketball Tuesday night.
Shaunnatay Delany led all scorers with 17 points for tenth-ranked Turrell (18-0, 6-0).
Turrell rolled to a 40-10 halftime lead and never looked back.
The Junior Lady Blue Devils lost to Turrell's junior girls.
Hughes will host Marked Tree Friday night.
*The Palestine-Wheatley teams traveled to Barton Tuesday and swept a three-game 6AA Conference set from the Bears.
The Patriots ran their season mark to 12-3 and 3-1 in the league with a 68-32 win over the Bears.
The Junior Patriots rolled to a 37-27 win which lifts the junior boys to 3-2 for the year.
Finally, Libby Martin led a trio of Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots in double figures in a 58-18 win over the Lady Bears.
Martin finished with 17 points while Brittany Flenory and Nikita Love each added 16 points and LaRhonda Bender chipped in eight points.
Palestine-Wheatley will host Altheimer Friday night.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
West Memphis took round one against Forrest City in AAAAA-East Conference play at Mustang Arena.
The Blue Devils pulled away in the second half, using a 22-to-6 third period scoring run, to claim a 65-43 win over the Mustangs Tuesday night.
Meanwhile the Lady Blue Devils lived up to their newly acquired No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll, by handing the Lady Mustangs a 68-54 loss.
The Blue Devils, ranked 10th in the AP poll, led only 23-20 at halftime, but pulled away when Forrest City switched from the first-half zone defense to a man-to-man in the third.
"I take responsibility for that decision," said Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton. "I evaluated my decisions after the game and going to man probably wasn't the best move. From the zone, we were scoring off the transition and had them beat on the defensive boards. I wanted to pick up the tempo in he second half so I went to man. That created too many matchup problems which gave them open shots. . .which they hit."
Desma McCoy led West Memphis with 17 points, while sophomore Keland Mills came off the bench to score 16 and guard Tim Bates added 15, hitting three, threes.
Kerry Evans led Forrest City (4-8, 1-1) with 20 while Lorenzo Spearmon was held to eight points.
"Spearmon had probably the worst game of his career," Lofton said.
Spearmon did not score in the second half. The remainder of the Mustang starters -- Markee Ervin, Anthony Bean and Roy Lee Parker -- finished with a combined eight points.
Forrest City led 12-10 after the first period but McCoy gave West Memphis the lead for good with back-to-back baskets midway through the second period.
The Blue Devils opened the third period with a 9-0 run to push their lead to 32-20 before the Mustangs got their first second-half points.
*Whatever hopes the Forrest City girls had of pulling an upset over the top-ranked Lady Blue Devils ended with 4:20 to play in the second period.
Leading 24-20, the Lady Blue Devils started what would end as an 18-to-6 run to close out the first half and the game.
West Memphis scored the final 10 points of the run with Forrest City's leading scorer, Caronica Randle sitting on the bench with three personal fouls. The West Memphis run included five field goals and eight free throws.
"Take away the second period from that point and it's a different game," said Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe. "We played them within 14 points which may be as close as anyone has this season."
West Memphis tried to put the game away from the opening tip, scoring the first nine points of the game, but Forrest City battled back and trailed 17-12 to start the second period.
Forrest City got within one pint twice in the second period, 17-16 on Randle's short jumper and again at 19-18 on Sequoria Grady's bank jumper from the top of the free throw line.
Randle went to the bench with 2:22 to play in the first half after picking up her third personal foul.
The Lady Mustangs trailed by 20 to start the fourth period and closed out the game with a 10-to-3 run.
Randle led the Lady Mustangs with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four steals while Katrina Floyd added 10 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Kanetra Pendleton finished with nine points while Trina Wynne had eight.
West Memphis senior center Tamala Turner led all scorers with 20 points and guard Jocelyn Love had 15. Candice Robinson finished with 14 and Melanie Pierce had nine.
The Lady Blue Devils hit four, threes in the game.
The Lady Mustangs slip to 7-8 overall and fall to 1-1 in the conference while the Lady Blue Devils improve to 12-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference along with Jonesboro's Lady Hurricane, also 2-0 in the league after defeating Blytheville 63-43 Tuesday night.
Forrest City will host Searcy Friday night.