By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
BLYTHEVILLE -- Monday was as different as night and day for the Forrest City Lady Mustangs.
After losing their season-opener last week to Cabot 16-1 and 18-2, the Lady Mustangs reversed their fortunes at Blytheville Monday, winning 19-4 and 9-6 in a AAAAA-East fast-pitch contest.
Sophomore pitcher Mallory Nelson gave up the four runs on five hits while walking six to collect the 19-4 victory in the varsity game to improve to 1-1 for the year.
Every Forrest City starter scored at least one run in the game. Kanetra Pendleton, Amanda Renigar and Tyeshia McDaniel led the offensive output by scoring three times each.
The Lady Mustangs banged out six base hits, including a third inning home run by Rachel Sims and took advantage of 15 walks issued by the Blytheville pitching.
Blytheville scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the first inning to lead 4-1.
Forrest City cut that lead to 4-3 with two runs in the second and went ahead 5-4 on Sims' home run.
A nine-run, fourth inning left the Lady Mustangs with a 15-4 lead headed into the final inning.
Leigh Anna Taylor took the mound for the junior varsity game and picked up the 9-6 win over the JV Lady Chicks.
Risondra Deans and Alicia Kennedy scored two runs each to lead the lady Mustangs.
Forrest City scored three runs in the first inning, three in the second and three in the third to end the game.
The Lady Mustangs will step out of conference play today when they host Little Rock McClellan for a varsity only game scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
PRESCOTT -- Lonoke Coach Wes Swift was 2-1 against Pulaski Academy in season's past -- all during his time as head coach of the Hughes Blue Devils.
Both wins and the one loss came in regional tournament matchups.
Under Swift, Hughes lost to P.A. 60-54 during the 1998-99 season; and defeated P.A. 53-50 in the 1999-2000 regional and 45-41 in the finals of the regional tournament during the 2000-01 season.
Swift's Jackrabbits get yet another shot (the two teams have played four times this season with P.A. winning all four) at the Bruins on Friday. This time around, the bar has been raised just a little. P.A. is the defending Class AAA state champs.
Monday night, Swift's Jackrabbits clipped EPC 44-42 and Pulaski Academy downed Pine Bluff Dollarway 61-45 to earn their way into the Class AAA state championship game set for Friday at 3:30 p.m., at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
It is Swift's second appearance in the state title game in three seasons.
He guided the Hughes Blue Devils to the title game in 2001 and defeated Clarksville to win the title, finishing the year at 35-1.
That was his final game at Hughes.
Before Monday's game against EPC, Swift had faced the Warriors just once, during the 2000-01 season at the Northeast Invitational Tournament at Jonesboro.
His Blue Devils rolled to a lop-sided 80-49 win in that matchup.
EPC rode its defense and standout star player Marcus Monk to set up Monday's semifinal game against Lonoke.
It was a defensive lapse which ended EPC's hopes of getting to Pine Bluff and kept alive Swift's hopes to add a second state title to his very young coaching career.
Tied at 42-42 and the clock ticking down, the EPC defense did not pick up Lonoke sophomore Jeremy Brown who drove from his spot on the left wing all the way to the basket for a layup with 5.6 seconds left to lift the Jackrabbits to a 44-42 win at Prescott Sports Arena.
Out of time outs, EPC inbounded the ball quickly, but Monk's hurried shot from just across halfcourt bounced hard off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
Brown's game-winning shot wasn't exactly what Swift had in mind when he drew up the play during a time out with 16 seconds to play.
"The play was designed for Jeremy McClain," Swift said. "We wanted to spread the floor, but when Jeremy Brown caught the basketball nobody guarded him. He took it to the hole."
EPC coach Kevin Kyzer said his team "just had a defensive breakdown. We were fatigued. The bottom line is the skill level here is not what it needs to be. There are guys who can handle the ball and guys who can handle the ball against pressure. We've got two guys who can handle the ball against pressure, Monk and P.J. but they're human and they were just tired and worn out at the end."
EPC (31-4) hit just two field goals and turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter, but still led until Ty Coleman's layup put Lonoke in front 40-39 with 2:24 left in the game.
Seconds later the Warriors' used their final time out with 2:03 to play.
The Warriors still had a pair of shots to regain the lead, but Daniel Collins' 3-pointer from the corner rimmed out. Monk tipped the rebound out to a teammate, but Tyrus Reel's short jumper was also off the mark and Lonoke's Marinez Martin was fouled on the rebound with 1:24 left.
Martin canned both ends of the one-and-one for a three-point Lonoke lead, but Lacy drained a trey from the left corner for the tie with 44 seconds left.
Lonoke (25-8) held the ball until calling time out with 16.6 seconds to set up the final sequence.
The Warriors definitely struggled to finish, hitting just 2-of-9 shots in the fourth quarter and committing 12 of its 14 turnovers in the second half. In contrast, the Warriors hit 6-of-7 shots from the field in the third quarter.
Jeremy McClain led all scorers with 17 points for Lonoke, while Floyd McBride chipped in 10. Collins led EPC with 13, while Monk and Lacy added 11 each. Monk also had 13 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots.
However, the 6-6 Monk was limited to just four points in the second half and two in the fourth quarter by the aggressive Lonoke zone defense.
Monk's only points of the fourth quarter were two free throws with 7:09 to play that gave the Warriors a 37-33 advantage.
Swift, who admitted he seldom uses a zone defense, said he had no choice against Monk and it was the difference in the game.
"I'm allergic to zones," Swift and laughed. "I hate them. I can't stand them, but they won us the game tonight. We could not guard Marcus Monk. We had no answer for him. But it was not a laid back zone. My guards really started pestering out on the floor. We did a good job of getting loose balls."
"I thought they got every loose ball in the first half, but I thought we got them late," Swift added.
EPC led 12-8 after a quarter and looked to be on the verge of a blowout, beginning the second frame with an 8-0 spurt.
Collins' 3-pointer from the corner with 2:01 left in the first half gave EPC a 20-8 lead, but McClain drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key and hit a jumper in the lane at the halftime buzzer to get Lonoke within 20-13 at the break.
Both of McClain's shots also came over Monk.
EPC surged again in the third quarter, leading by as many as 12 on five different occasions.
Monk had just two points in the frame, but broke down the Lonoke zone from the point and dished to teammates for baskets on three straight possessions.
Collins' free throws with 2:05 left gave EPC a 33-21 advantage, but Lonoke went on a 10-2 spurt to end the quarter.
The Jackrabbits converted three EPC turnovers in the final 1:17 of the quarter to pull within 35-31 entering the fourth quarter.
Martin hit both ends of the one-and-one for a three-point Lonoke lead, before Lacy's three-pointer tied the game with 44 seconds left.
Lonoke (25-8) held the ball until calling time out with 16.6 seconds to set up the final sequence.
Jeremy McClain led all scorers with 17 points for Lonoke, while Floyd McBride chipped in 10.
Collins led EPC with 13, while Monk and Lacy added 11 each. Monk also had 13 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots.
However, the 6-6 Monk was held to just four points in the second half and two in the fourth quarter by the aggressive Lonoke zone defense, something Swift-coached teams are not known for.
Swift, who joked that he "is allergic to zones," said he had no choice to use a zone against Monk and it was the difference in the game.
"I hate playing zone," Swift added. "I can't stand them, but the zone won us the game tonight. We could not guard Monk. We switched to the zone, but it wasn't a laid back zone. My guards really started pestering out on the floor. We did a good job of getting loose balls."
EPC led 12-8 after a quarter and looked to be on the verge of a blowout, beginning the second frame with an 8-0 spurt.
Farmington and DeQueen will decide the Class AAA girls' title Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Senior pitcher Libby Martin fired a one-hitter Monday and the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots opened the 2003 fast-pitch softball season with a huge 28-0, three-inning win over DeValls Bluff.
The Lady Patriots led 15-0 after the first inning.
Every P-W starter scored and everyone played except for two girls who joined the team late.
Jenny Loewer and Andrea Cooper each hit home runs while Lauren Dover tripled and Kara Siler singled and doubled.
"Beth Varvil was solid behind the plate as catcher," said Coach Lanny Allen. "We didn't have any passed balls and freshman Fallon Parker played well for us."
The Lady Patriots will have to win on the road for the next couple of weeks. The team's next home game is not until Friday, April 4.
The Lady Patriots will play at Carlisle Wednesday.
The P-W Patriot baseball team did not play at Elaine Monday but will host Clarendon today at the high school field at 4 p.m.