By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
More than half of the Palestine-Wheatley Patriot football team received postseason honors this week.
Twelve players from a 22-member Patriot team were named All-State and All-Conference.
For the second consecutive season, the Patriots reached the quarterfinals of the Class AA state playoffs, running their record to five consecutive postseason appearances.
Palestine-Wheatley finished the 2004 prep season at 9-3 overall, 7-1 in the 6AA Conference and tri-champions of the league along with Hughes and Harding Academy.
Ten of the team's 13 roster seniors this season ad two juniors were picked for postseason honors. The 13 Palestine-Wheatley seniors have won 25 games against only 10 losses in three years. Four of those victories were in postseason.
Senior brothers Fred and Antonio Leak were both named to the Class AA All-State team while seniors Derrick Cooper and Rashun Barnes were named to the All-State Honorable Mention squad.
Fred Leak was the Patriots starting quarterback and threw for more than 1,000 yards this season, completing 48-of-65 attempts for nine touchdowns. He ran 67 times for 630 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. On defense, Leak led the team with nine interceptions.
Antonio led the team in rushing this season with 1,450 yards on 149 carries and scored 17 touchdowns. from his linebacker position, he led the team defensively with more than 150 tackles during the season. Leak had 11 quarterback sacks during the year. He will represent Palestine-Wheatley in the annual High School All-Star game.
Barnes was the second leading running back for the Patriots, finishing with 1,042 yards on 86 carries and 13 touchdowns. It is the second straight season for Barnes to finish with more than a 1,000 rushing yards.
Cooper was considered to be one of the best linemen in Class AA.
All-Conference awards went to seniors Brad Barton, D.J. Banks, Chris Jones, Barnes, Fred and Antonio Leak, Cooper and junior lineman Ryan Halbert.
Barton, who finished with 1,000 rushing yards last year, just missed that goal for a second straight season, finishing with 842 yards on 75 carries and nine touchdowns. Barton was sidelined during most of the playoffs after injuring his knee in the season finale against Hughes.
Jones led the patriots with four fumble recoveries during the year.
Four patriots were named to the All-Conference Honorable Mention team. They were seniors Elijah Duncan, Seth Monroe and Rico Whitaker and junior defensive back Adam Kennedy.
P-W Coach Terry Farmer, completing his fifth year with the Patriots, was named to the All-Star Game coaching staff and has been named to the Arkansas State Farm/Hooten's Coach of the Year nominee list.
Both Fred and Antonio Leak along with Cooper, have been named to the Arkansas State Farm/Hootens Player of the Year nominee list.
Those awards will be given out Monday, Dec. 13, at a Little Rock banquet.
The Patriots finished the year as ne of Class AA's top 10 teams.
Palestine-Wheatley finished with 5,125 yards of total offense -- 4,506 of that coming on the ground.
The Patriots scored 513 points, sixth state-wide behind Booneville, Jessieville, CAC, Rison and Harding Academy, average of just over 40 points per game.
The Patriots put 122 points on the scoreboard in the three playoff games against Cross County, Lavaca and Rison.
The Patriots began the year with a loss to Carlisle and then won seven straight conference games before losing to Hughes in the season-ending game.
P-W went into the state playoffs as the No. 1 seed from the 6AA while Harding Academy was No. 2 and Hughes went No. 3.
Farmer started the season with 22 roster players and finished with 19.
The Patriots will return eight players to next year's team.
"Nine guys have been here since eighth grade," Farmer said. "That is unparalleled. They did what they were suppose to do during the season and in offseason. They are good athletes and talented but they worked hard to be a better football team."
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs almost made it look too easy against Wynne Tuesday night. From start to finish, the Mustangs were in complete control.
Sherman Allen led the Mustangs with 17 points on the way to a 65-42 win over the Yellowjackets in Yellowjacket Gym.
Forrest City improves to 6-1 for the year while Wynne slips to 2-2.
The Mustangs led 15-7 after the opening period and 31-12 at the half.
That lead gave Mustang Coach Dwight Lofton the opportunity to play a lot of people in the second half, which he did.
"We mixed it up some and were able to play some kids that needed the playing time," Lofton said.
Senior guard Nick Grady finished with 13 points while Stephon Weaver had nine. Marcus Britt added seven points and Chris Williams and Jarvis Palmer each finished with five points.
Terrence Boykin led Wynne with eight points.
The Lady Mustangs improved to 4-2 for the year by taking down Wynne 70-47 Tuesday night.
Senior Sequoria Grady scored a season-high 34 points while sophomore guard Fareeda Washington added 17 points in the win.
"We played about as well as we can play," said Forrest City Coach Jacky England. "It was a solid effort."
The Lady Mustangs led 16-10 after the first period and extended that lead to 39-22 at the half.
A 20-point third period left the Lady Mustangs up 59-32 to start the final period.
Viveca Kimble, LaShundra Rogers and Nicole Parker each finished with six points for Forrest City while Torrie Willis added five points.
K.K. Hodges led Wynne with 15 points and Chiquita Holmes added 12.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Palestine-Wheatley's girls were winners Tuesday at Hughes, but the Patriots came up a little short against the Blue Devils in a 6AA conference matchup.
Ten Hughes' players scored as the Blue Devils took a 76-63 win over the Patriots. Four of those reached double figures.
The Blue Devils improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference while the Patriots slip to 3-2 and 0-1.
Hughes led 21-19 after the first quarter, 37-26 at the half and 53-44 after three quarters of play.
The Patriots put together a strong effort in the fourth but fell short as Hughes outscored Palestine-Wheatley 23-19.
Davis Dowden led Hughes with 18 points while Marcus Washington added 14. Sophomore Kevin Brown finished with 12 while Melvin Williams had 10.
Jesse Adams led P-W with 14 points while Vince Jones had 12 and Curtis Allen and Osas Oyara had 11 points each.
The Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots moved to 4-1 overall for the year and 1-0 in the conference by taking a 50-46 win over Hughes Lady Blue Devils.
The Lady Patriots did so with two starters on the bench.
"We probably had at least 20 points sitting on the bench," said P-W Coach Lanny Allen, as point guard Cara Lansford was serving a one-game suspension after being ejected in the game played against EPC and shooting guard Tonisha Wynne did not play due to disciplinary action.
Bernice Sparkman led P-W with 20 points and was 8 of 9 from the free throw line. Kesha Stovall finished with 12 points while Fallon Parker had eight points, Whitney Smith seven and Jessica Smith three.
Hughes trailed 13-11 after the first quarter but got within one at the half, 23-22.
Palestine-Wheatley pushed their lead to 10 points, 36-26 after three quarters of play.
Hughes outscored Palestine-Wheatley 20-15 in the final frame and were within two points, 48-46 when Parker rebounded a Hughes miss and hit the layup at the buzzer to provide the four-point margin of victory. Marley Lemons struck for 19 points (including 5 three-pointers) to lead Hughes.
In the junior girls game, the P-W Junior Lady Patriots won for only the second time this season to improve to 2-4, defeating Hughes junior girls 36-19.
Deidra Ingram led P-W with 23 points, with 20 of that total coming in the second half.
P-W scored just six points in the first half and trailed Hughes 13-6 at the break. Hughes led 6-0 after the first period. P-W took the lead in the third period and were up 17-15 to start the fourth period. The Junior Lady Patriots outscored Hughes 18 to 4 to claim the win.
Ashley Middleton scored 13 points to lead Hughes.
Hughes will play at Barton Friday night.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
When the Forrest City Junior Mustangs needed a spark Tuesday against Marianna, Jesse Mitchell responded.
Mitchell scored 27 points, 12 of that total in the decisive fourth period, to help the Junior Mustangs end a two-game slide with a 53-48 victory over the Junior Trojans at Mustang Arena.
Trailing 37-32 to start the fourth period, Mitchell tied the game at 39-39 before Henry Henderson put Forrest City in front 41-39 with 2:47 to play.
After Marianna regained a 44-43 lead, Mitchell hit back to back jumpers to give the Junior Mustangs a 47-44 cushion with 1:30 to play. Marianna led once more, 48-47 with 1:06 to play but the rest of the game belonged to Mitchell and Forrest City.
Mitchell rebounded a miss by Henderson and got the putback and combine with Chris Tripp to drop in four free throws to provide the final margin.
Forrest City led 13-9 after the first period and 23-21 at the half before Marianna battled back in the third to take the lead with a key 8-0 run.
Henderson finished with eight points while Teraye Lee and Joe DeWitt added six points each for Forrest City. Arsenio Clinton had four points.
Forrest City is 3-3 for the year.
*Cassandra Jackson poured in 25 points and Chaquita Britt added nine points as the Forrest City Junior Lady Mustangs improved to 5-2 for the year with a 53-21 win over Marianna Tuesday. Kristen Rucker and La Terrica Lucas added seven points each and Anna Horton had three.
Jackson has scored in double figures in each of the team's seven games, with a season high of 32.
Forrest City led 28-16 at the half and pushed that lead to 51-21 in the fourth to invoke the mercy rule as the clock ran continuously.
Daphne Phillips scored eight points to lead the eighth grade girls past Marianna 26-19.
Erica Williams added six while Lucas and Sherika Stewart had four points each.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Paragould Lady Rams gave head coach David Moon an early Christmas present last Saturday when they defeated the East Poinsett County Lady Warriors 60-57 in the finals of the Gerald Jennings Holiday Tournament, giving Moon his first tournament title at Paragould.
The 6-0 Lady Rams now turn their focus to their own tournament, the annual McDonald's Shootout, which begins Thursday at Paragould High School.
The Lady Rams will open at 5:30 p.m. against the surging Forrest City Lady Mustangs, 4-2 for the year.
Paragould will rely heavily on the backcourt duo of Whitney Baldridge and Whitney Wells while Forrest City will look to senior forward Sequoria Grady and sophomore shooting guard Fareeda Washington for scoring help.
Grady and Washington combined for 45 points in Tuesday's 70-47 win over Wynne.
Nikki Mitchell will also play a huge role for Paragould with her inside presence.
A year ago, the Lady Mustangs defeated Paragould 69-64 to finish 1-2 in the tournament field.
Forrest City is making its second appearance in the tournament.
The Jonesboro Hurricane, one of Class AAAAA's top teams, came crashing back down to reality Tuesday night when the Class AA Earle Bulldogs put the bite on the Hurricane for a 62-61 overtime win at Jonesboro.
Earle guard Michael Conners hit a jumper with no time on the clock in overtime to end Jonesboro's unbeaten season.
After trailing 26-23 at halftime, the Hurricane (4-1) seemed to wake up in the second half, behind the hot shooting of Matt Garner and Ryan Williams.
Garner scored 11 points in the third quarter as JHS rallied to tie the game 40-40 going into the fourth quarter.
Jonesboro led 55-53 with less than 30 seconds remaining.
With :05 showing, Earle's Johnny Williams for his fourth 3-pointer of the night to tie the game 56-56. Williams led Earle with 23 points on the night.
Jonesboro's Williams had a shot to win the game in regulation but missed his shot off the iron.
In the overtime period, Earle led 60-59 before Jonesboro rallied for a 61-60 with seven seconds showing. Conners drove the length of the court and hit a leaner as time expired to set off an Earle celebration at midcourt.
Conners finished with 11 points and Dyson scored 15 for the Bulldogs.