By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mules basketball team are ranked 21 in the just released preseason National Prep Poll's Top 25 teams.
Poplar Bluff defeated Bolivar, Tenn., in the finals of the 2004 Forrest City Grocery/Rumble on the Ridge tournament played over the Thanksgiving Day weekend at Forrest City.
The Mules,led by All-American Tyler Hansbrough, were the No. 1 team in the Midlands Division.
The National Prep Basketball Poll is compiled by national high school sports experts Jamie DeMoney and Jeremy Plowman and a panel of sportswriters.
Lanier, from Jackson, Miss, also a member of the this year's Rumble field and Raleigh-Egypt from Memphis, Tenn., a past Rumble on the Ridge champion, were each listed among the top teams in the nation according the poll.
Oak Hill defeated regionally ranked Jackson, Miss., Lanier, 94-80, despite a 46-point outing from Mississippi State recruit Monta Ellis, who averaged more than 46 points per game in three games at the Rumble.
At Forrest City, Lanier lost to Forrest City in the opening round, again despite a 49-point scoring effort by Ellis.
The preseason national Top 25 and regional Top 10's follow with won-loss records:
No. 1. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony (0-0), two-time Prep Poll champ
No. 2. Flossmoor, Ill., Homewood-Flossmoor (6-0), beat defending Prep Poll Oak Hill, 68-67
No. 3. Indianapolis, Lawrence North (4-0), meets No. 21 Poplar Bluff Thursday on ESPN2
No. 4. Los Angeles, Westchester (0-0), three state titles since 1998
No. 5. Snellville, Ga., South Gwinnett (1-0), Georgia-bound G Louis Williams scored 29 in opener
No. 6. Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill (3-1), suffered first loss in two seasons
No. 7. Milwaukee, Vincent (2-0), opened season with two 30-point wins
No. 8. Rockville, Md., Montrose Christian (1-0), led by 6-9 Nigeria native Uche Echefu
No. 9. West Orange, N.J., Seton Hall Prep (0-0), G Andrew Pusar will play at Harvard
No. 10. Jacksonville, Fla., Raines (4-0), beat rival Ribault fourth time in last five meetings
No. 11. Mount Vernon, N.Y. (0-0), junior F Jonathan Mitchell a starter since freshman year
No. 12. New Orleans, Brother Martin (10-0), led by standout PG D.J. Augustine
No. 13. Dallas, Carter (11-0), whipped then-No. 10 South Oak Cliff by 29
No. 14. Hyattsville, Md., DeMatha (1-0), features 11 potential Division I recruits
No. 15. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond's (1-0), defending New York Catholic champ
No. 16. Jacksonville, Fla., Arlington Country Day (2-0), beat No. 21 Poplar Bluff
No. 17. Los Angeles, Fairfax (4-0), won Sea Hawk Classic in Redondo Beach, Calif.
No.18. Oklahoma City, Putnam City (1-0), beat state-ranked Edmond Santa Fe
No. 19. Fort Washington, Pa., Germantown Academy (3-0), won Philadelphia Invitational
No. 20. Cincinnati, North College Hill (3-0), features sophomore superstar O.J. Mayo
No. 21. Poplar Bluff, Mo. (3-1), beat solid field at Rumble on the Ridge tourney in Forrest City. The Mules defeated Bolivar, Tenn. in the finals. Tyler Hansbrough is the real deal.
No. 22. Seattle, O'Dea (3-0), G Mitch Johnson signed with Stanford
No. 23. Glendale, Ariz., Deer Valley (4-0), G Joey Shaw will play at Indiana
No. 24. Las Vegas, Bishop Gorman (2-0), paced by 6-4 PG Kashif Watson
No. 25. Marion, Iowa, Linn-Mar (2-0), gets inside beef from 6-6 Iowa football recruit Andy Kuempel
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The AAAAA-East Conference opener for the Forrest City Junior Mustangs didn't go exactly as the team would have liked.
Playing Monday at West Memphis Wonder, the Golden Lions slapped the Junior Mustangs 44-40, even though Forrest City had led the entire game.
A defensive breakdown by Forrest City, on an inbounds play, gave Wonder the easy lay-up for a 42-40 lead with less than a minute to play in the game.
The Junior Mustangs were more aggressive on defense and on the boards than was Wonder, taking a 17-14 lead into halftime.
A quick scoring run started by the Junior Mustangs full court pressure to start the second half helped Forrest City push their lead to 27-18 midway through the third period.
"We really missed our chance to put the game away in the third," said Junior Mustang Coach Chris Houser. "Wonder hit a couple of big 3's and were right back in it."
The game was close throughout the fourth period with Forrest City continuing to hang on to a small lead, until a 6 -0 run by Wonder gave them their first lead of the game at 40-39 with just over one minute to play.
"I feel much better about where we're at today than I did a week ago," Houser added. "I saw some definite improvements defensively and rebounding, hopefully, the wins will come when these guys get more experience. We had several ninth graders really step their games up tonight and show how much they can contribute. Guard Chris Tripp played smothering defense, forcing numerous turnovers, and forwards Leanthony Henderson and Joe Dewitt also played valuable roles for us tonight."
Eighth grade guard Jesse Mitchell once again led the Junior Mustangs, bagging 24 points for the second straight game. Joe Dewitt added six points off the bench while forward Teraye Lee provided four points, and six rebounds. Henry Henderson, Markese Ware, and Leanthony Henderson each finished with two points.
The Junior Mustangs will finally make their home debut tonight at Mustang Arena when they host Marianna. The Junior Mustangs opened the season with five consecutive road games.
The Junior Mustangs slip to 2-3 for the year.
nWest Memphis Wonder was able to earn their second win over Forrest City in four days Monday, sending the Junior Lady Mustangs to a 48-45 loss in the AAAAA-East Conference opener.
Cassandra Jackson led Forrest City with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Shaquita Britt had 12 points and Sherita Britt had nine.
Wonder led 17-9 after one period, 28-15 at the half and 36-32 at the end of three after Forrest City put together a run in the third period.
Forrest City falls to 4-2 and will host Marianna tonight at Mustang Arena.
Jonesboro MacArthur jumped out to a 19-6 halftime lead against West Memphis East in junior boys' basketball Monday night and held on for a 35-23 win.
MacArthur is 8-1, 1-0 AAAAA-East.
Annie Camp's rally against West Memphis West Monday fell short as West took a 25-22 win in junior girls' basketball.
Antrinette Coleman sank two clutch free throws to help host MacArthur hold off West Memphis East 38-35 Monday night in junior girls' basketball.
MacArthur is 6-3 and 1-0 AAAAA-East.
Former Forrest City Mustang John Childress, 64, died Saturday in Fayetteville.
Childress lettered as an offensive tackle from 1959-61 with the Arkansas Razorbacks and was a starter and a senior captain on the 1961 SWC championship team under Frank Broyles.
Childress was inducted into the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame in October.
Childress, who was raised near Colt, graduated from Forrest City high School in 1958 with All-District, All-State and All-American honors to his credit.
As a Mustang player under Coach Jim Devazier, Childress was part of the Forrest City Mustang football team which rolled undefeated during his senior season.
At Arkansas, Childress played for Broyles, and he was considered to be one of the quickest tackles in America and in 1961 was named to the All-Southwest Conference team.
He would later be honored as a member of the Arkansas All-Decade team for the 1960s, joining such greats as Wayne Harris and Ronnie Caveness.
Childress was the No. 6 draft pick by Washington but failed to make the team. He opted for a three-year career in the Canadian Football League, playing two years for Calvary and the final year with Ottawa.
Childress retired from football following a knee injury.
He made his business career with Auto Zone as a "set up supervisor" before retiring to his home in Fayetteville.
Childress was unable to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Westminster Academy took 3-of-4 games from Calvary Christian School basketball teams last week in games played at Calvary.
Westminster defeated the Calvary junior girls 25-19 and downed the Junior Eagles 49-17.
Ashley Austin led Calvary with nine points while Summer Hess had eight for the junior girls while Seth Smith led the junior boys with 11 points and Taylor Neeley finished with four.
In a low-scoring game, the Calvary senior girls lost 29-23 while the Calvary senior boys held on for a 51-46 win in double overtime.
Hannah McMahand led Calvary with nine points while Katie McNair added seven and Meredith Borden had four.
Kyle Smith poured in 19 points for the Eagles and got help from Jason Cantrell, who finished with 18 points. Sam Hoffman added five and Chad Phillips added four points.
Calvary led 7-3 after one period and 24-16 at the half. Westminster and Calvary ended regulation locked in a 40-40 tie and ended the first overtime deadlocked at 44-44.
The win gives the Eagles a 4-2 season mark and 1-0 in the conference.
On Saturday, the Calvary elementary girls defeated Central Baptist 22-20 to improve to 2-0 for the year and 1-0 in the MACS.
Summer Hess led the elementary girls with 12 points while Mary Burks had six.
Blake Lester led the elementary boys with eight points while Noah Rinehart, Weston Hess and Seth Parker had two points each.
Central downed the Calvary elementary boys 50-14.
Calvary hosted Faith Heritage Monday and will play at Southwest Christian Academy tonight in Little Rock beginning at 5 p.m.
The Forrest City Mustangs will return to action tonight when they travel to Wynne.
Tip off for the senior high games will be 6 p.m. at Yellowjacket Gym.
The Yellowjackets are coming off a Friday win over England while the Mustangs defeated Little Rock Central on Friday.
Forrest City is 5-1 for the year.
In other area games tonight, the Hughes Blue Devils will host Palestine-Wheatley and the Forrest City junior high teams will host Marianna.