NORTH LITTLE ROCK -- The Forrest City Mustangs pushed fourth-ranked El Dorado to the very brink of elimination Wednesday before falling 64-60 in first round action at the Class AAAAA State Tournament at North Little Rock.
The unranked Mustangs, wearing the No. 4 seed from the AAAAA-East into the state tournament, gave their best shots and took El Dorado's best shots and even had a chance at getting the win as the final seconds ticked away.
Forrest City (11-14) earned their way into the state tournament for the fourth time in seven seasons by winning five of their final six conference games.
"It was a great run and it was a great ride," said Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton. "Our kids never threw in the towel this season, not against any of the East teams and not against El Dorado, a very talented team. They don't have any reason to be hanging their heads. They let El Dorado and the fans know they can go out and play with anyone. Give credit to El Dorado, they played hard and took our best shots."
The fourth-ranked Wildcats suffered 22 turnovers and missed 19 free throws but still managed to hold off the Mustangs in the final seconds.
El Dorado (23-3) will play the North Little Rock-Russellville winner Friday at 8:30 p.m. in a second round game.
The Mustangs led most of the first half including a 15-13 advantage to end the first period on a three-pointer by senior guard Kerry Evans.
The Mustangs pushed their lead to five, 18-13 early in the second period before the Wildcats tied the game at 20-20 and went on to lead 26-23. The two teams locked up at 26-26 and 28-28 before a two-handed slam at the buzzer by Wildcats' senior forward Sanchez Dade, put El Dorado in front 31-30 at the half.
Dade scored 12 of his 17 points in the second period.
The Wildcats opened the third period with a 6-0 run to gain a 37-30 lead, before Lorenzo Spearman scored five straight points to get the Mustangs back within two at 39-37 with 2:30 to play.
Anthony Bean, starting in place of sophomore Nick Grady, put the Mustangs in front 42-41 with 30 seconds to play in the period with a two-pointer and Evans' two tied the game at 44-44 at the buzzer.
Sherman Allen and Evans hit consecutive field goals to start the fourth period giving the Mustangs a 48-46 lead before Brandon Phillips' three started a 12-to-2 El Dorado run which had the Wildcats up 58-50 with 2:52 to play.
Forrest City senior guard Omar Davis hit two free throws and Spearman connected from the field to get the Mustangs within 59-55 with 1:40 showing. Evans nailed two free throws and Spearman hit the front end of two free throws with 28 seconds to play to get the Mustangs within two, 62-60.
Spearman turned the ball over with 15 seconds to play and following a Forrest City timeout, his 24-footer rolled off the rim with 6 seconds left. Damion Atkins hit a free throw with 5.4 seconds remaining to secure the El Dorado win.
"I'm very proud of my guys," said Lofton. "Over our last six games we were playing in the state tournament mode just to get here."
Spearman, a junior, and Evans shared high point honors for the Mustangs, each scoring 16 points. Davis finished with eight points while Allen had seven and senior center Roosevelt Lattimore, sharing time with Buck Braddock in the middle, finished with four.
Phillips and Atkins each finished with 14 points for El Dorado.
The Wildcats, who hit 70 percent of their free throws during the regular season, hit 17-of-36 free throws while the Mustangs dopped in 16-of-24 from the line.
Forrest City turned the ball over 28 times and were out-rebounded by the Wildcats, 41-28.
"El Dorado was strong, especially inside and we knew we had to play our style of ball to be able to hang with them. We did that but just couldn't get the ball to fall for us in the final seconds. We had the shot we wanted. It just wouldn't go."
Each of Forrest City's four state tournament appearances under Lofton, have resulted in first-round losses as the Mustangs have been the No. 2 and 3 seed and the No. 4 seed twice, into the state bracket.
In other boys games Wednesday, Pine Bluff downed FS Southside 61-42 and Conway defeated Jonesboro 48-39 to advance.
The Forrest City Lady Mustang softball team will open the 2003 season today when they host Cabot for a AAAAA-East Conference game at the Sports Complex.
The two-game varsity-JV is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
The Forrest City Mustang baseball team, which opened its season Tuesday with a loss to Jonesboro, will travel to Osceola today for a varsity-junior varsity doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.
The Mustangs will host Wynne on Friday for a varsity-junior varsity doubleheader at the Sports Complex.
Caldwell Baptist Church recently completed a 10-0 season in the Christians on Court for Christ basketball league and won the postseason tournament played at First United Methodist Church in Forrest City. Team members are: Adam Hughes, Amber Hughes, Courtney Burns, Casey Hughes, Drew Flowers, Cody Flowers, Derrick Cooper and Coach Gary Hughes.
Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church won the junior division at the tournament while First United Methodist Church finished second. In the senior division, Caldwell took first place while Oak Hill Church of God finished second.