By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Everyone will play Friday as the AAAAA-East Conference conducts its first full night of league business.
Three of the eight teams have already started conference play -- Jacksonville, Mountain Home and Searcy.
Friday, those three, plus the remaining five will begin the race for a postseason state tournament berth.
If a poll were taken involving sports writers around the state as to which of the four Class AAAAA conferences was the toughest, it would be a safe bet that the AAAAA-East would receive its Lion's share of votes.
The AAAAA-East has always been a very tough and unpredictable league, and this year, with the addition of Mountain Home and Searcy, the East became "double tough."
In the boys' side of the league, the East may just be the toughest conference in the state. The girls' side is difficult, but from top to bottom, isn't nearly as tough as the boys' side. It is getting better.
Each of the eight East teams have to be ready to play each time out. In short, in the East when a team takes the court -- pack a lunch. One missed shot, one turnover too many or one mistake down the stretch could lead to an upset loss which could lead to missing the state tournament cut.
In Class AAAAA and AAAA, the top four teams from each conference move directly into single-elimination state tournament play while the Class A, AA and AAA teams must win their way to state through district tournaments.
In the East boys' division, West Memphis, Blytheville and Jonesboro have always been state tournament contenders.
All three teams have reached the boys state tournament five of the past six seasons while Jacksonville has been to postseason three of the five years and Forrest City two times since 1998.
Little Rock Mills, which dropped down to Class AAAA this season, made the postseason playoffs in 2001 and 2002 while Cabot, a team that has not finished higher in the conference than seventh place over the past five seasons, and former East member, Sylvan Hills have been only after thoughts.
And even though the Panthers and Bears haven't been considered playoff-caliber teams in the East, both have been more than capable of providing bumps along the way for the other East contenders.
Jonesboro missed the cut a year ago during a down season, but the Hurricane appear to be on their way to curing their ills this season.
Jacksonville, despite its overall record, may be better than last year's state playoff team and with conference victories this season already over newcomers Mountain Home and Searcy, the Red Devils are sitting on top of the league at 2-0.
Forrest City has added a year of experience to a very young squad with a wealth of athletic ability, who now have to learn how to win the close games -- especially on the road -- if they are to get back into the state tournament this season. The Mustangs' last appearance in the state bracket was in 2001.
Forrest City has the chance to begin the conference season with a win when they travel to Cabot Friday night.
The addition of Searcy, which reached the semifinals of the Class AAAA state tournament last season, almost single-handedly makes up for the loss of Little Rock Mills and Sylvan Hills.
Searcy finished second in the Red Devil Classic played at Jacksonville over the holiday break.
The Lions defeated Little Rock Central and North Little Rock before losing in the finals to Conway.
Mountain Home has never been considered a hot bed for senior boys basketball and could very well suffer the same season-long pains endured by Cabot.
In a nutshell, the East this season -- on the boys' side -- could become a six team race early for the four playoff spots and remain that way until the final week of the season
"Yes, we're young," Forrest City coach Dwight Lofton said. "But we're getting better and I think we're better than we were last year and we've definitely have our sites set on making the playoffs. As always, the conference schedule will be tough. There just aren't any gimme games at all. We have to be at our best each time out."
West Memphis and Jonesboro have been to the state tournament each of the last six seasons and have dominated the top two spots annually while Cabot has missed the state cut just once.
All three teams appear to poised and ready to to make yet another run to postseason.
Jonesboro, as always, is playing well but Cabot started slow and used a run through the Northeast Arkansas Invitational (NEA) Tournament as a catalyst to getting untracked.
The Lady Panthers rolled into the championship game of the combined 3A-4A-5A division and then eliminated top-seeded and then, unbeaten Rivercrest to win the girls' title.
The Lady Panthers, off to a fast 13-3 start, reached the state tourney a year ago but fell to Fort Smith Northside in the first round.
West Memphis lost to Northside in last year's Class AAAAA championship game and would like another shot at grabbing the title that just slipped through their fingers a year ago. Keep in mind, the Lady Blue Devils don't rebuild, they just reload.
Forrest City, looking to break into the state tournament bracket for the first time under third-year coach Sue Jayroe, has that golden opportunity at their feet.
The Lady Mustangs are off to a 6-7 start, but gaining steam each time out.
Led by senior Caronica Randle and a very talented supporting cast, and with Jacksonville's Lady Red Devils in the midst of what may be an awful year, could very well make the state cut.
Under Jayroe, the lady Mustangs are making tremendous strides and are coming off one of their most successful seasons ever finishing 10-14 overall and fifth in the East.
The Lady Mustangs even notched a 61-58 win over Cabot on the next to last playing date last year.
Jacksonville's Lady Red Devils are off to a 1-11 start which includes league losses to Mountain Home and Searcy.
Mountain Home eliminated Jacksonville in the second round of the state playoffs last year.
Jacksonville has made the state playoffs three of the past five seasons.
Blytheville could be the wild card in the girls' shuffle, having reached the playoffs two of the past five seasons and being a team that is always tricky to deal with and play against.
Searcy's Lady Lions missed the AAAA state tournament cut a year ago but have already notched an East victory by defeating Jacksonville Tuesday night. The Lady Lions are 6-9 overall and will find out just how tough the league will be when they take on West Memphis Friday night.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Back on Dec. 13, Hughes tried to play Crawfordsville in a 3AA-South conference basketball game.
The game was cancelled, however, when a car accidently struck a power pole near the Crawfordsville gym and knocked out all power in the area.
The two schools will try again tonight when Hughes takes on the Tigers beginning with a junior boys game at 5 p.m.
Both teams are unbeaten in league play.
The Blue Devils are coming off a 70-54 win over Earle Tuesday night while Crawfordsville took down Turrell 68-66 in double overtime.
Hughes stands at 6-4 overall and 3-0 in the conference while the Tigers are 14-4 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
The Tigers have already posted more victories than they did a year ago when they finished 9-20. The Blue Devils are coming off a 25-9 season.
Also Tuesday, Parkin got 13 points from Jeremy Marrs in a 36-31 win over Cross County.
Hughes will play at Parkin Friday night.
The Hughes Lady Blue Devils are 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the league and are coming off a 59-26 loss to Earle Tuesday.
Crawfordsville's Lady Tigers suffered a 70-13 loss to unbeaten Turrell (16-0) on Tuesday as Shalamar Williams, Amber Bledsoe and Shamika Delaney had 10 points each.
In other girls' games played Tuesday, it was Marked Tree 39-37 over EPC and Parkin over Cross County 42-33.
Parkin will host Hughes on Friday.
The Forrest City Blue Junior Mustangs will host West Memphis West tonight in junior high action at Mustang Arena.
The three-game set begins at 5 p.m., with an eighth-grade girls game.
The Blue Mustang teams are coming off a losses on Monday to Jonesboro MacArthur.
After tonight's home game, the Blue Mustangs will play their next three games on the road.
The White Mustang teams will travel to West Memphis East tonight beginning at 5 p.m., with the eighth-grade girls.
All three White teams lost to Jonesboro Annie Camp Monday.
* PREP BASKETBALL
High School
Thursday, January 9
Hughes at Crawfordsville, 5 p.m.
(Jr. Boys, Sr. Girls, Sr. Boys)
Junior High
Thursday, January 9
WM West at Forrest City Blue, 5 p.m.
Forrest City White at WM East, 5 p.m.