By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City White Mustangs have some added help on the court for the second half of the junior high basketball season, but Monday night's game against Jonesboro Annie Camp ended with yet another season loss.
Freshman center Cameron Henderson, who has been ineligible since last season, joined Sonny Shield's team as one of the five starters and led the White Mustangs, scoring 20 points.
However, a 31-point performance from Annie Camp's freshman center, Murry Watts overshadowed Henderson's return and paved the way for Annie Camp's 65-52 conference win at Mustang Arena.
Ivory Richardson added 17 points for the Whirlwinds, including five three pointers.
Larry Summage was the only other White Mustang player to reach double figures, finishing with 13, which included three treys.
Shields used just seven players in the loss.
Both teams played to a 12-12 tie after one period but Annie Camp began to pull away in the second period, leading 23-18 with three minutes left and 34-24 with under a minute to play before settling for a 34-26 lead at the half.
Jarvis Palmer, who finished with eight points, and Summage got the White Mustangs within four, 34-30 early in the third period by hitting back-to-back field goals.
The Whirlwinds used six big points from Watts and a three by Richardson to outscore Forrest City 16-to-12 in the period to lead 50-38 to start the final frame.
The White Mustangs sliced the lead to nine at 59-50 with 1:20 to play but got no closer.
From the foul line, Forrest City was 0-for-5 while Annie Camp hit four of their six opportunities.
Annie Camp won the eighth-grade boys' game 42-13.
The Forrest City White Lady Mustangs started the second half of the season shorthanded Monday night.
The team lost their starting point guard over the holidays when Anita McDonald transferred to Conway.
"That hurt," said Coach Monty Thornton. "Anita didn't score a lot of points but she could handle the basketball and the press and that meant a lot to the team."
LaShunda Rogers took over McDonald's role on the floor but it was the more physical and much quicker Lady Whirlwinds prevailing 52-7 at Mustang Arena.
The White Lady Mustangs trailed 29-5 at the half and scored only two points in the second half.
Cara Pasley led Annie Camp with 13 points while Karley Pinson and Talya Haskins finished with 10 points each.
Rogers had three of Forrest City's seven points while Dekesha Norris and Jasmine Phillips scored single field goals.
Annie Camp scored the first 15 points of the game.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
JONESBORO -- The Forrest City Blue Mustangs took three hits Monday night at Jonesboro MacArthur, losing all three games on the road.
Forrest City's Stephon Weaver matched Jonesboro's Matt Gardner point for point in the junior boys' game, but it was the Cyclones taking a 54-45 conference win.
Weaver and Gardner both finished with 25 points. Weaver had four, threes in the game.
MacArthur led 11-7 after one period and 27-19 at the half. Forrest City closed the gap a little in the third, trailing 40-33 to start the fourth.
Forrest City played without starters Marcus Britt (death in the family) and Preston Echols (injury).
The Blue Mustangs will host West Memphis West Thursday at Mustang Arena.
MacArthur won the eighth-grade game 37-19. Terry Woods led Forrest City with 12 points.
The Blue Lady Mustangs, in their worst outing of the year, lost 50-8.
"That was my fault," said Coach Jimmy Williams. "I didn't have the girls prepared to play."
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Buckle up, the high school conference season shifts into high gear this week for all three St. Francis County schools.
The Forrest City Mustang teams will play one final nonconference game tonight at Wynne before opening AAAAA-East action Friday at Cabot.
The Palestine-Wheatley teams, fresh off a two-game stay at the Arkansas Tech Tournament of Champions played over the holidays in Russellville, will host Marvell in 6AA action while the Hughes teams will get back into the 3AA South battles when they host Earle.
Dwight Lofton's Mustangs, 2-7, have not played since Dec. 20, when they defeated Wynne at Mustang Arena.
Sue Jayroe's Lady Mustangs, 5-7, downed the Lady Yellowjackets on Dec. 20 and then lost three straight games at the Conway Invitational Tournament over the holiday break.
The Wynne boys are 2-5 and have not played since the Dec. 20 loss to Forrest City.
Senior guard Curtis Scott, who did not play against Forrest City, has returned to the team and will be available tonight.
The Wynne girls, 1-10, played and lost three games over the holidays at the Jacksonville Red Devil Classic. The Lady Jackets lost to Jacksonville, LR McClellan and North Little Rock.
The Jacksonville Red Devils and Lady Red Devils will host Searcy tonight in a AAAAA-East conference game. The Red Devils defeated Mountain Home Friday and are 1-0 in the league.
Next week, Forrest City will pick up conference steam, hosting West Memphis Tuesday and Searcy on Friday.
The P-W teams will host Marvell tonight for a three-game conference set tonight beginning at 5 p.m. when the Junior Patriots take the floor. The senior girls and senior boys will follow.
The Lady Patriots are 4-6 overall and 1-0 in the 6AA and split a pair of games at Russellville, losing to Dover and defeating Hector, finishing the game with just four players on the floor.
"I only took eight players to the Hector game," said P-W Coach Lanny Allen "and I had three foul out."
The Patriots, 10-2, stormed into the Tech tournament at 10-0 but lost twice to Guy-Perkins and Hector. P-W is also 1-0 in the league.
Finally, the Hughes Lady Blue Devils have a chance to play some basketball games.
The team has just four games to their credit as they prepare for Earle tonight at Blue Devil Gym.
The Hughes girls lost to Lynn at the NEA Tournament over the Christmas break.
The Hughes Blue Devils played twice at the NEA, defeating Black Rock and losing to Parkin.
The three-game set begins at 5 p.m., when the Hughes junior girls take the floor.
The Cabot girls basketball team made a triumphant stand for Central Arkansas in the Northeast Arkansas tournament last weekend by bringing home an undefeated tournament record and the championship title.
Cabot, 12-3, faced Rivercrest in the championship game last Sa-turday night and pulled off a nearly perfect performance defeating its challenger 70-58.
The Lady Panthers were patiently but aggressive shooting 74 percent from the field.
Sanford said, "We found open spots, showed good patience and took good shots . . . shot selection was the key."
Sanford also attributed the victory to his team's relentless defense.
"Our whole team played great defense this game (against Rivercrest) and the entire tournament," Sanford said. "We keyed off of our defense."
Against Rivercrest, Sanford capitalized on his players' strength and conditioning. He had his guards play man-to-man at full court to wear out Rivercrest's guards and wipe out the squad's perimeter game.
Sanford said, "We pressured the guards full court to wear them down. We weren't trying to steal but fatigue them a bit."
Rivercrest's strengths are many and versatile. They have quick guards with perimeter expertise.
Their momentum, however, does not come entirely from the outside. Six-foot, 1-inch sophomore Pauline Love is reliable and tough to cover underneath the basket. Her threat is double-edged as she also has a nice touch with 12 to 15-foot shots.
Cabot struggled initially with double-teaming Love and left Rivercrest guards open on the perimeter. Rivercrest fired up five 3-pointers in the first half alone.
But Cabot persevered on defense. Double-teaming and help-side defense eventually paid off and Cabot was able to close up shot opportunities for Rivercrest.
At the half, Cabot had a nice, but not too comfortable lead. They were ahead 30-18.
Cabot and Rivercrest both picked up the intensity in the second half. Both teams put 40 points on the scoreboard.
"You don't think patience when you score 40 points in a half but that's what it was," Sanford said.
Sanford said that Rivercrest was the fastest team they've played so far. When Rivercrest pressed, Cabot struggled at the start of the game.
"We had trouble with Rivercrest's press," Sanford said, "but we played through."
Leading the Lady Panthers to victory was Ashley Anderson with 29 points. Allie Gammell topped on 14 points and a notable defensive performance.
Three Lady Panthers brought home individual awards. Anderson, Gammell and Laura Garlington were selected for the All-Tournament Team.
Sanford has much to be proud about right now. His team's record, 12-3 is the best start in at least eight years.
"I'm so proud of all of them for their efforts," Sanford said. "Even in adversity, they never lost their composure."
Cabot begins conference play on Friday January 10 at 6p.m., hosting Forest City.