By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WYNNE -- Forrest City Mustang Coach Dwight Lofton gave Anthony Bean a second chance Tuesday night.
The 6-0 senior guard made it count.
After committing a costly turnover with 45 seconds left in Tuesday's game at Wynne -- which led to a 57-57 tie, Bean found the seam in the Yellowjacket defense with 2.8 seconds to play, got away with a walk down the lane and scored the winning basket lifting the Mustangs to a 59-57 victory.
"It was one of those hop, skip and jump things," Lofton said. "It was probably a walk but it happened so fast no one had a chance to react."
The Mustangs, 3-7, led 57-54 when Bean had the ball tipped away from him resulting in a turnover and an old-fashion three-point play by Wynne to knot the game at 57.
Lofton took a time out with 32 seconds to play and then another after running the clock down to 10 seconds, to draw up a main play and a backup.
It was the backup play, involving Bean, that worked.
"It was a team effort win for us," Lofton said. "It was good to win a close one after losing several close calls this season."
Trailing 36-26 at the half, Lofton said he told his team during the half "if you play for rain, you have to take the mud that comes with it."
"We played for rain early," Lofton added. "But I also told them the first team to score 60 points would be the winner."
The Yellowjackets, 2-6, rained five threes on the Mustangs in the first half, but hit only two long-range bombs in the second half.
The difference for the Mustangs was the third period during which Forrest City outscored Wynne 14-to-5 to trail by only one point, 41-40 to start the fourth period. The Mustangs put up 19 in the final eight minutes while holding Wynne to 16 for the win.
Bean finished with seven points while senior guard Kerry Evans led all scorers with 21 points. Lorenzo Spearman added 15 points for the Mustangs.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
After winning their first 10 games to start the season, the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots have now lost three in a row.
The Patriots (10-3, 1-1) fell to the Marvell Mustangs 53-50 in a 6AA Conference game played Tuesday at Patriot Gym.
Marvell's Brandon Copeland led the way with 18 points but it was P-W's DeVille Pickett leading all scorers with 22 points, including three, threes.
The Patriots led 28-25 at the half but fell behind 39-38 to start the fourth period.
The Mustangs pushed their lead to 45-38 before P-W sliced the margin to 47-45 with 2:20 to play.
Pickett's two free throws tied the game at 47-all and Quentin Mason hit one of two from the foul line to put P-W in front 48-47 with 1:26 left.
Copeland long two from the corner put Marvell back in front 49-48 before Chris Huckaba's baseline layup gave P-W a 50-49 edge with 50 seconds to play.
Marvell scored the final four points on a tip-in by Larry Thomas and a follow by Copeland.
Pickett's last-ditch three pointer in an effort to tie the game, was way off the mark at the buzzer.
Vince Jones added eight points for P-W while Huckaba and Brandon Roberts had six points each.
The Patriots lost two in a row at the Arkansas Tech Tournament of Champions played at Russellville over the holiday break.
Marvell held off the Junior Patriots 50-43 Tuesday in junior high boys' action.
Phil Hicks led P-W with 14 points while Adam Kennedy had 11 and Taylor Clark scored nine.
Marvell led 27-18 at the half.
Nikita Love scored 22 points Tuesday to help lift the P-W Lady Patriots to a 58-49 win over the Marvell Fillies.
P-W improves to 5-6 overall and 2-0 in the 6AA.
Marvell's Denita Jones led all scorers with 28 points -- 15 of that total coming in the fourth period.
Trailing 58-34 with 2:30 to play, Marvell scored 15 unanswered points the rest of the way.
P-W led 17-2 after one period before Marvell closed the gap to 25-17.
The Lady Patriots opened the third period with a 10-to-2 run to lead 35-19 and then pushed the lead to 46-27 to start the fourth period.
LaRhonda Bender added 12 points for P-W while Libby Martin and LaQuanza Reeder both finished with eighth points and Andrea Cooper had four.
P-W will travel to Clarendon Friday.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WYNNE -- The Forrest City Lady Mustangs ended their three-game slide Tuesday with a convincing 64-29 victory over Wynne's Lady Yellowjackets.
The Lady Mustangs were coming off three consecutive losses at the Conway Invitational played over the holiday break.
The victory came at a very good time. Forrest City begins AAAAA-East Conference play Friday against Cabot, 44-30 winners over Benton Tuesday.
"I'm a little nervous about going to Cabot," said Lady Mustang Coach Sue Jayroe. "They always play well and have good athletes and they are coming off a successful trip to the NEA. I hope the victory over Wynne last night is the boost we need going into league play."
The Cabot girls, in their first-ever trip to the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament in Jonesboro, won the Class 3A-4A-5A division by defeating top-seeded Rivercrest in the finals.
Tuesday, Forrest City senior Caronica Randle recorded a double-double by scoring 20 points and hauling down 13 rebounds. She also had three steals and two blocked shots.
Sequoria Grady grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked eight shots to help while Shari Rogers added 16 points and Katrina Floyd, Trina Wynne and Kanetra Pendleton each finished with five points.
The Lady Mustangs, 6-7, led 16-4 after one period, 33-13 at the half and 46-23 to start the fourth period over Wynne, who falls to 1-11 on the year.
Forrest City hit 16-0f-28 free throw chances.
The junior varsity Lady Mustangs got 13 points and seven rebounds from sophomore Torrie Willis and 10 points from Nicole Parker in a 35-30 win over Wynne's JV.
The Hughes senior girls lost to Earle 59-26 Tuesday in 3AA Conference action at Hughes.
Earle's Erlissa Davis led the way with 14 points.
Valraneeka Brown scored six for Hughes while Victoria Doolittle had five.
Hughes junior girls defeated Earle 35-30 in overtime to improve to 3-0 overall for the year.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Jacksonville Red Devils are at the head of the AAAAA-East Conference class.
Tuesday night, the Red Devils were able to steal a 62-60 win over the Searcy Lions in league play at Jacksonville.
Jacksonville defeated Mountain Home last Friday in the conference opener.
Richard Johnson turned a three-point play after a steal to give the Red Devils a 61-58 lead with 49 seconds left in the game.
The Lions got a long jumper from Scotty Johnson cutting Jacksonville's lead to one, 61-60. After two missed free throws, the Lions' got the ball back with 24 seconds left, but lost possession on a Red Devil theft.
Mike Smith was fouled and made one of the two free throws to seal the win. Johnson led all scorers with 20 points.
The Red Devils are 2-0 in the conference.
In other games played Tuesday, it was Lonoke 57-31 over Bald Knob; Benton 66-56 over Cabot in boys play and Cabot 44-30 winners over Benton in senior girls' play.
Cabot will host Forrest City Friday night in the East conference opener for each team.
The two-game set begins at 6 p.m.
* PREP BASKETBALL
Tuesday's Scores
Senior Boys
Armorel 43, Southland 26
Black Rock 72, Cord-Charlotte 65
Brookland 59, Corning 52
Conway 65, LR McClellan 56
Forrest City 59, Wynne 57
Gosnell 55, Trumann 51
Hughes defeated Earle
Jacksonville 62, Searcy 60
Jonesboro 59, Pocahontas 39
Izard County 53, Salem 44
LR parkview 49, LR Hall 36
LR Central 67, Bryant 59
LR Fair 57, Van Buren 51
Marvell 53, Palestine-Wheatley 50
Maynard 90, Delaplaine 71
Melbourne 65, Mammoth Spring 54
Osceola 84, Harrisburg 50
North Little Rock 39, LR Catholic 32
North Pulaski 68, LR Mills 63
Parkin 36, Cross County 31
Rivercrest 68, Valley View 58
River Valley 81, Williford 25
Sloan-Hendrix 63, Biggers-Reyno 58
Swifton 79, Ridgefield 57
Tuckerman 70, Lynn 66
Walnut Ridge 55, CRA 54
Senior Girls
Biggers-Reyno 63, Sloan-Hendrix 50
Cabot 44, Benton 30
Conway 48, LR McClellan 39
Cord-Charlotte 43, Black Rock 34
Earle 59, Hughes 26
Forrest City 64, Wynne 29
Izard County 78, Salem 55
Mammoth Spring 58, Melbourne 47
Marked Tree 39, EPC 37
Marmaduke 55, Paragould 25
Palestine-Wheatley 58, Marvell 49
Parkin 42, Cross County 33
Pocahontas 55, Piggott 32
River Valley 55, Williford 32
Swifton 70, Ridgefield 21
Turrell 70, Crawfordsville 13
Junior Boys
CRA 49, Walnut Ridge 22
Corning 40, Brookland 21
Delaplaine 44, Maynard 33
Gosnell 43, Trumann 40, OT
Marvell 50, Palestine-Wheatley 43
Melbourne 52, Mammoth Spring 47
Osceola 49, Harrisburg 26
River Valley 54, Williford 6
Sloan-Hendrix 44, Biggers-Reyno 36
Swifton 51, Ridgefield 30
Junior Girls
Cord-Charlotte 37, Black Rock 36
Cross County 51, Parkin 37
EPC 46, Marked Tree 26
Hughes 35, Earle 30 OT
Pocahontas 32, Piggott 27
Salem 45, Izard County 43, OT
Turrell 49, Crawfordsville 16