By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
MOUNTAIN HOME -- Go figure. The Forrest City Mustangs are 2-1 on the road in AAAAA-East Conference games this year and 0-2 at home.
Friday night, the Mustangs turned a day long road trip to Mountain Home into a 61-49 win over the Bombers and jumped right back into the running for a postseason berth.
The win gets the Mustangs back into a three-way tie for fourth in the league.
Senior guard Omar Davis helped ignite the Mustangs when he replaced starting senior Anthony Bean early in the game.
The Mustangs fell behind 8-0 but rallied to lead 25-18 at the half after closing out the second period with a 13-to-1 run.
"Omar went in with a lot of excitement and attitude," said Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton. "The other players on the floor picked up on that which helped everybody's game. We hit some shots and gained some confidence and that was the difference."
The Mustangs were coming off a season-low shooting performance in a loss to Blytheville in which the team shot just 29 percent from the floor.
While Davis was making things happen on the perimeter, Mustang center Buck Braddock was pressing defensively inside and finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
"For the first time this season, Buck played aggressive and made things happen underneath the basket for us," Lofton said. "In fact, he played so aggressively, he fouled out and that's something he rarely ever does."
Senior guard Kerry Evans led the Mustangs with 19 points while Lorenzo Spearmon finished with nine.
Forrest City plays two home games this week, beginning Tuesday when they host Jacksonville.
Hughes 76, Cross County 43
CHERRY VALLEY -- Malcolm Curne occupied the interior and helped Hughes pummel Cross County 76-43 in senior boys' basketball Friday.
Curne tallied 23 points and Jermaine Davis added 20 for Hughes, who leads the 3AA-South with an 8-1 conference mark. Kevin Hatton added 10 points for Hughes while Johnny Washington finished with seven and David Dowden added four.
Hughes is 10-5 overall for the year. Cross County falls to 1-8 in the league.
The Blue Devils put away the Thunderbirds early, rolling to a 45-17 lead at the half and 67-38 to start the fourth period.
Hughes has won six of their last seven games.
Leading by 30 in the fourth period, the clock ran continuously for most of the final frame.
Adam Jackson led Cross County with 14 points and Dewayne Cook added 10 points.
Hughes made the trip with just eight players dressed out while Cross County had just 10.
The Blue Devils will take a break from conference play Tuesday
to play at Middle College High School in Memphis.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
After scoring the most points ever for a Sue Jayroe-coached Lady Mustang team last Tuesday at Blytheville, Forrest City suffered through the lowest point total of the season Friday against Mountain Home.
At Blytheville, the Lady Mustangs put up 82 points. Friday at Mountain Home, the Lady Mustangs lost to the Lady Bombers 43-38.
Senior forward Caronica Randle had 19 of Forrest City's total points.
The loss leaves Forrest City at 8-10 overall and 2-3 in the AAAAA-East.
The Lady Mustangs will host Jacksonville Tuesday night at Mustang Arena.
Alisa Plumlee led Mountain Home with 21 points.
Hughes 60, Cross County 29
Tisha James scored 13 points to lead a balanced Hughes scoring attack Friday in a 60-29 win over Cross County in 3AA-South Conference play.
Victoria Doolittle added 12 points while LaTerria Broyles had 10. Takendra Smith and Valraneeka Brown each finished with seven points and Rachel Burks added five.
The Lady Blue Devils improve to 6-5 overall and 6-3 in the conference which keeps them in a tie for second place with Marked Tree.
Nikki Newby and April DeWitt led Cross County with eight points each.
Hughes led 13-7 after one period and 32-14 at the half.
Scoring the first nine points of the second half, the Lady Blue Devils pushed their advantage to 45-20 to start the final frame.
Hughes will play at Middle College High School Tuesday in Memphis
in nonconference action.
RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech guards Amber Obaze and Erica Smith proved to be the difference Saturday in a 79-65 win over Rice Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The Lady Techsters (14-2, 7-0) retain sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference race.
Obaze and Smith each scored 20 points.
Smith grabbed three rebounds, had three assists and blocked two shots.
The former Palestine-Wheatley standout has scored 43 points in the last two games.
It was Tech's 12th straight victory.
* PREP BASKETBALLFriday's Scores
Senior Boys
Batesville 50, Nettleton 37
Black Rock 57, Lynn 56
Blytheville 53, Cabot 41
Brookland 67, Piggott 58
Buffalo Island 74, Marmaduke 66
EPC 82, Rivercrest 58
Forrest City 62, Mountain Home 48
Highland 69, Westside 47
Hughes 76, Cross County 43
Hoxie 81, Corning 72
Marked Tree 50, Earle 44
Maynard 85, CRA 69
Osceola 76, Gosnell 57
Palestine-Wheatley 65, DeValls Bluff 60
Searcy 52, Jonesboro 47
Sloan-Hendrix 59, ORC 39
Trumann 52, Harrisburg 48
Valley View 53, Manila 45
Walnut Ridge 74, Rector 51
Weiner 99, Swifton 79
West Memphis 59, Jacksonville 33
Senior Girls
Batesville 60, Nettleton 33
Cabot 64, Blytheville 38
DeValls Bluff 56, Palestine-Wheatley 47
Hughes 60, Cross County 29
Jonesboro 54, Searcy 29
Lynn 56, Black Rock 36
Manila 64, Harrisburg 55
Mountain Home 43, Forrest City 38
Sloan-Hendrix 57, ORC 33
Vilonia 31, GCT 29
WMemphis 63, Jacksonville 29
Junior Boys
Buffalo Island 67, Marmaduke 52
Corning 49, Hoxie 29
Cross County 53, Hughes 45
Harrisburg 51, Trumann 42
Maynard 60, CRA 36
Osceola 56, Gosnell 23
Piggott 50, Brookland 31
Sloan-Hendrix 52, ORC 20
Walnut Ridge 45, Rector 24
Junior High Basketball
Monday, January 27
Forrest City White at Blytheville
WMemphis Wonder at Forrest City Blue