By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Hughes' home-court win over Crawfordsville Tuesday was big -- for both teams.
Not just big. . .but huge.
The 69-65 win put the Blue Devils on top of the 3AA-South senior boys' conference standings. Now all they have to do is win the four remaining games and the conference title will belong to Hughes at 11-1.
Everybody else in conference has at least two losses.
Hughes is 7-1 in the league going into Friday's conference game at Cross County.
Beyond Friday, the Blue Devils have Earle, Parkin and Turrell remaining on the conference schedule. All, except Parkin, are road games. Turrell stands at 5-2 and in third place while Earle, Cross County and Parkin are a combined 5-14 in conference games this season.
Hughes' only league loss came against Turrell (79-73) on the Blue Devils' home floor.
"That means that the Turrell game will be the deciding game if we can win out," said Hughes Coach Brad Brannen, now in his second full season at Hughes. "Not to take anything away from Cross County, Earle or Parkin, but we have to go to Turrell and hand them a loss on their home floor."
Turrell is 5-2 in the league following Tuesday's 43-37 win over Earle.
Hughes has already beaten Cross County, Earle and Parkin once this year and nothing out of the ordinary suggests the Blue Devils will have any trouble repeating that process.
It's the Turrell game that looms large.
For Crawfordsville, Tuesday's loss to Hughes was the second conference loss of the season leaving the Tigers at 6-2 in the 3AA South -- both losses coming against Hughes, who won in overtime at Crawfordsville 86-81 back on Jan. 9.
The Tigers have road games at Parkin and Earle and will host Marked Tree and Turrell to close out the season.
Likewise for the Tigers, the Turrell game looms big on the horizon.
Crawfordsville went to Turrell on Jan. 7 and defeated the Rockets in double overtime.
The Marked Tree Indians, coached by former Forrest City graduate and Lady Mustang player Barbara Wilburn are 3-5 in the league and could make a difference as to the final outcome.
"Never count out an old Forrest City gal," Wilburn said. "We have Earle Friday night and that is a big game for us. I'd like to think that we still have a say in how the conference plays out."
Marked Tree topped Cross County 61-52 Tuesday night in senior boys' basketball. Earle lost to Turrell 45-44 in a squeaker.
The senior high district tournament will be played at Cross County while the regional and state tournaments will be played at Newark.
The top four teams from district will advance to the regional and from there the top two teams move on to the AA state tourney.
A year ago, the Turrell boys reached the semifinals of the AA state while Hughes made it to the quarterfinal round in the Class AAA state. The Blue Devils won the AAA state title in 2001, the same year Marked Tree defeated Turrell for the AA state title.
Turrell leads the girls' league standings at 8-0 while Hughes and Marked Tree are locked in a battle for second at 5-3. Earle is third at 4-3.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustang baseball team will open the 2003 season on Feb. 20, at Marion, according to third-year head coach Reggie Murphy.
The Mustangs are coming off a 4-17 season which saw the team finish 0-14 in the AAAAA-East.
The 2003 schedule includes the 14 regular conference games, with varsity double-headers against Mountain Home, Jacksonville and Cabot -- as well as nonconference games against Osceola, Marion, Wynne, Brinkley and Barton.
The Mustangs will play in one tournament, the West Memphis Invitational set for Feb. 26-28.
The Class AAAAA state tournament will be held at North Little Rock this year.
Registration for the Forrest City Recreation Department's youth baseball and softball summer leagues will get underway on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
The registration period will continue through March 14.
Fees for each of the two youth leagues are $15 per player for those youths living inside the Forrest City city limits and $25 for those youths living outside the city limits.
Registration for the adult men and women's slow-pitch softball league, will begin on Monday, Jan. 27 and continue through March 14.
Adult league fees are $350 per team plus $10 for each out-of-town player on the roster.
Players must be at least 17-years-old to play in the adult league.
For more information or to register for either of the leagues, contact Kenneth Taylor at (870) 633-3667.
* PREP BASKETBALL
Junior High School
Thursday, January 23
FCity White at WMemphis West
FCity Blue at WMemphis East
Friday, January 24
Forrest City at Mountain Home
Hughes at Cross County
Palestine-Wheatley at DeValls Bluff
AAAAA-EAST CONFERENCE
Senior Boys Conf O/all
West Memphis 4-0 8-5
Jacksonville 4-1 6-10
Jonesboro 2-2 11-6
Blytheville 2-2 7-8
Mountain Home 2-3 6-9
Forrest City 1-3 4-10
Cabot 1-3 5-10
Searcy 1-3 12-6
Tuesday's Scores
Blytheville 70, Forresdt City 40
Mt. Home 56, Searcy 42
Jacksonville 71, Cabot 49
WMemphis 51, Jonesboro 33
Senior Girls Conf O/all
West Memphis 4-0 14-2
Cabot 3-1 14-3
Jonesboro 2-2 11-6
Blytheville 2-2 8-7
Searcy 2-2 7-11
Forrest City 2-2 8-9
Mountain Home 2-3 9-7
Jacksonville 0-5 1-14
Tuesday's Scores
Forrest City 82, Blytheville 46
Mt. Home 39, Searcy 30
WMemphis 58, Jonesboro 40
Cabot 49, Jacksonville 40
3AA SOUTH CONFERENCE
Senior Boys Conf O/all
Hughes 7-1 9-5
Crawfordsville 6-2
Turrell 5-2 10-10
Earle 3-4
Marked Tree 3-5
Parkin 1-6 14-5
Cross County 1-7 5-10
Tuesday's Scores
Hughes 69, Crawfordsville 65
Marked Tree 61, Cross County 52
Turrell 45, Earle 44
Senior Girls Conf O/all
Turrell 8-0 20-0
Hughes 5-3 5-5
Marked Tree 5-3
Earle 4-3
Cross County 2-6
Parkin 1-6
Crawfordsville 0-8 14
Tuesday's Scores
Marked Tree 50, Cross County 15
Hughes 58, Crawfordsville 37
Turrell 43, Earle 37
Friday, January 24
Hughes at Cross County
Crawfordsville at Parkin
Turrell - Open
Earle at Marked Tree
* PREP BASEBALL
High School
Forrest City Mustangs 2003
Thursday, February 20
Forrest City at Marion, 4 p.m. (V-JV)
February 26-28
Forrest City at WMemphis Tournament (V)
Tuesday, March 4
Jonesboro at Forrest City, 4:30 p.m. (V-JV)
Thursday, March 6
Forrest City at Osceola, 4 p.m. (V-JV)
Friday, March 7
Wynne at Forrest City, 4:30 p.m. (V-JV)
Tuesday, March 11
Forrest City at Blytheville, 4:30 p.m. (V-JV)
Thursday, March 13
Forrest City at Mt. Home (V) DH 4 p.m.