By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Junior Mustangs are champions for the second time this school year.
Friday night, the Junior Mustangs captured the AAAAA-East District Tournament title which will sit alongside the AAAAA-East Conference football championship trophy the team won back in November.
All except two players on the junior high basketball team were on the football team.
By ESPN standards, Friday's championship game should be declared an instant classic.
From opening tip to the final buzzer, Forrest City and Jonesboro MacArthur provided what very well may have been the most entertaining junior high boys game ever played at Mustang Arena.
Maybe it was the fact that the junior boys had the chance to win a second title.
Maybe it was the fact that Forrest City was playing on their home floor where they are 20-1 over the past two seasons.
Maybe it was because it was the final game for long-time veteran Forrest City Coach Jimmy Williams, who is retiring.
Maybe it was all of the above that lifted the No. 2 seeded Junior Mustangs to a thrilling 37-28 win over top-seeded MacArthur.
Jonesboro MacArthur, led by Logan Nutt, son of Arkansas State University basketball coach Dickey Nutt, finished their year at 16-3. Two of those three losses came against Forrest City. The Junior Mustangs finish 17-3 overall.
Friday night, however, Nutt was not a factor after injuring his ankle early in the first period and sitting out until the second half when he reinjured it in the fourth period and didn't return. Nutt finished with just four points.
Forrest City trailed at the half and at the end of the third period and opened the fourth period in an uncharacteristic slow pace.
"We slowed the pace because the kids were tired," Williams said. "We wanted to surprise them by throwing a quick press on them and then backing off. And we wanted to go to Rylan Nimocks inside. He hit some big points for us in the fourth."
Forrest City, trailing 25-23, did not attempt a shot until the 4:20 mark of the fourth period when Kelson Stewart missed a long three. MacArthur missed twice on the transition. After Nutt left the game Marcus Britt, the tournament MVP, drove the lane to tie the game at 25-25 with 3:20 left to play.
Terrell Lee's basket after a MacArthur turnover gave Forrest City at 27-25 lead with 2:28
Rylan Nimocks pushed the Forrest City lead to 29-25 before MacArthur answered with 1:07 left to play.
Stewart hit both sides of a one-and-one with 35 seconds to play for a 31-27 Forrest City cushion and Nimocks forced a turnover. On the inbounds play after a Forrest City time out, Stephon Weaver hit two free throws after beng fouled as the Junior Mustangs stretched their lead to 33-27 with 24 seconds to play.
MacArthur missed a long three and Nimocks was fouled on the rebound attempt and hit both of his free throws with 12 seconds left. Weaver iced the game with two free throws.
Both teams played to a 12-12 tie after one period and MacArthur led 19-18 at the half.
Britt, who averaged just over 17 points per game in the tournament, led all scorers with 16 points --14 of that coming in the first half, eight in the first period.
Weaver, who averaged just over 16 points per game in the tournament, finished with 10 while Nimocks had six and Stewart finished with three.
Jeremy Thomas led MacArthur with 10 points while Grant Cook and Roosevelt Griffin added six points each.
Griffin and Nutt were both named to the All-Tournament team as were Weaver, Britt and Stewart.
Britt and Weaver were named to the AAAAA-East All-Conference team and Weaver was named the league's MVP for the season.
The Sportsmanship Award was given to West Memphis West.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Junior Lady Mustangs played a solid second half against West Memphis West in the girls' championship game of the AAAAA-East District Tournament at Mustang Arena.
Unfortunately, the team's first-half effort wasn't as good.
Falling behind 22-10 at the half, Forrest City, seeded sixth into the tournament, cut West's lead to 32-24 to start the fourth and got as close as four points with 27 seconds left in the game before falling 46-38.
The Junior Lady Mustangs were making their first-ever appearance in the district finals after winning their first postseason game last Monday night in more than a decade.
They opened the tournament by ousting No. 3 seeded Jonesboro MacArthur 53-43 and then stunned second-seeded Blytheville 56-55 in the semifinals.
Against West, a 10-point first half (only two points in the first period) played large in ending Forrest City's hopes of winning the district title.
The Junior Lady Mustangs, led by Cassandra Jackson's 19 second-half points, outscored West 28-to-24 in the third and fourth periods but fell just short.
West led 14-2 after one period and 22-10 at the half.
After getting within 32-24 to start the fourth, Forrest City got within 42-38 with 27 seconds to play. The Junior Lady Mustangs missed their last half dozen shots.
Jackson finished with 12 points while Astrin Allen added 10. Fareeda Washington helped with nine points and Matisha Dobbins added seven.
West Memphis West's Brea Banks, the tournament MVP, led all scorers with 18 points while Tashley Gaines added 14.
Washington and Allen were both named to the All-Tournament team while Banks, Gaines and Chance Brown represented West on the team.
The tournament's Sportsmanship Trophy was awarded to West Memphis East.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
ALTHEIMER -- The third-seeded Palestine-Wheatley Patriots defeated fourth-seeded Marvell Thursday night and then got past second-seeded Elaine Friday to reach the finals of the 6AA District tournament at Altheimer.
However, it was Altheimer, the defending Class AA state champions and the top-ranked team in Class AA, winning the district title and the No. 1 seed into the Class AA region 6 Tournament this week at Augusta.
The Patriots enter the regional tournament as the No. 2 seed from the 6AA and will play Harding Academy, Thursday, Feb. 26, at 5:30 p.m.
On Friday, the Palestine-Wheatley Junior Lady Patriots defeated Ealine 41-24 using 15 points from Jessica Smith and 12 points from Kesha Stovall to reach Saturday's final at the 6AA Junior District at Altheimer.
The junior girls came up just a little short against Marvell in the finals, losing 228-26.
Stovall led in that game with nine points while Chelsea Jumper had five points and Smith added four.
Palestine-Wheatley suffered a turnover with two seconds left to play in the game.
Marvell led 8-6 after one period and the two teams were tied at 14-14 at the half.
The Junior Lady Patriots led in the fourth period before falling.
P-W ends their season at 10-6. They were the No. 2 seeded team
into the district tournament.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
MOUNTAIN HOME --When Mountain Home went the first 5:41 of Friday's AAAAA-East Conference game without scoring, it appeared the Forrest City Mustangs were well on their way to a win and the fourth-place seed from the East into the upcoming Class AAAAA State Tournament.
After all, the Mustangs jumped to a quick 12-0 lead and led 16-7 to start the second period.
Then, someone inside the Hangar must have punched a button and the lid closed on Forrest City's goal as the Mustangs scored just three points in the second period and lost the "must win game" to Mountain Home 46-44.
That makes Tuesday's final home game against Jonesboro another "must win" for the Mustangs.
"We were getting the same looks and taking the same shots in the second period as we were in the first period," said Forrest City Coach dwight Lofton. "The shots just weren't falling for us."
Not falling is probably an understatement.
As a team, the Mustangs hit just 17-of-44 attempts from the floor and were a pitiful 7-for-20 from the foul line.
A loss to Jonesboro, coupled with a Jacksonville win over Mountain Home, leaves Forrest City out of the state tournament picture.
"We can hope that Mountain Home gets the win over Jacksonville," Lofton said. "If we end in a tie with Jacksonville, we have the tie-breaker."
As Forrest city's shots went south in the second period, the Bombers used a 15-to-3 run to grab a 22-19 lead at the half.
The Bombers adapted to the spoiler role well after they were eliminated from playoff contention with Tuesday's loss to Jonesboro. Mountain Home improved to 8-18 on the season and 4-9 in the league. Forrest City slips to 14-11 and 6-7 in the conference.
Mountain Home senior Zach McGrath started the comeback with a three and that sparked the rally.
Down 18-9, Kyle Presley hit two free throws and McGrath sank 1-of-2 to get another run going. After a charity toss by Forrest City's Jarvis Palmer, Mountain Home's Sam Rorie scored eight straight points on two field goals, a free throw and a 3-pointer to give the Bombers their first lead at 20-19.
A late McGrath basket sent Mountain Home into the break with a 22-19 advantage.
The Bombers went dry once more as the second half got underway and trailed 25-22 by the time Rorie filled the hoop with 3:46 left in the third quarter. Taurus Moore countered with a free throw and field goal for Forrest City, but McGrath hit a bucket and Byrd sank 1-of-2 at the line to make it 28-27 to end the third period.
Mountain Home took the lead on a bucket by Joe Schmitt to open the fourth and McGrath followed with a deuce for a 31-28 lead.
The teams traded buckets, with Forrest City taking a 32-21 lead on a field goal by Cameron Henderson, before Byrd ripped a three-pointer. Kyley Newth added a free throw and Rorie knocked home a bucket for a 37-32 lead with 3:25 remaining.
The Bombers then began to work the clock and the Mustangs spent almost two minutes trying to reach the seven-foul mark to send Mountain Home to the free-throw line.
The ploy worked as Mountain Home's McGrath missed the front end of a 1-and-1, with Roy Parker hitting two free throws as Forrest City pulled within 37-36.
Forrest City continued to battle back and finally drew even at 41-all on a three-pointer by Parker at the 29 second mark. McGrath was fouled and hit both free throws and the Mustangs then turned the ball over with just 17 seconds remaining.
Byrd hit 1-of-2 free throws after the turnover to give Mountain Home a three-point lead.
The Bombers then committed a foul, but Forrest City's Moore missed the from side of the one-and-one chance with 13 seconds showing and Mountain Home in ront 44-41.
Kyle Presley hit two free throws for a 46-41 cushion and Forrest City's Lorenzo Spearmon made the final when he drained a three with three seconds to play.
McGrath led the Bombers with 15 points, Rorie followed with 14 off the bench and Byrd tossed in 12.
Spearmon had 12 points for Forrest City while Henderson finished with nine and Moore and Parker both had seven.
The Forrest City Lady Mustangs fell behind 25-8 in the first period and never recovered as the Mountain Home Lady Bombers took a 70-39 win and another big step toward a state tournament berth.
The Lady Bombers are tied with West Memphis for the fourth spot and have a chance to enter the Class AAAAA state tournament as the third seed if they can defeat Jacksonville Tuesday and hope for a Cabot win over West Memphis.
The Lady Bombers increased their lead to 44-19 at the half and 61-27 to start the final period.
Mountain Home, as a team, buried 12 threes against Forrest City.
Trina Wynne led the Lady Mustangs with 20 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots while Shari Rogers and Viveca Kimble each finished with seven points each. Sequoria Grady had just three points and one rebound in the game.
The AAAAA-East Conference teams will end their regular season Tuesday.
The state tournament will open on March 2, at North Little Rock.
*The Forrest JV Lady Mustangs got six points each from Jasmina Morton, Anita McDonald and LaShndra Rogers in their 28-26 win over Mountain Home Friday.
Mountain Home led 9-8 after one period and the two teams were tied at 17-17 at the half.