By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
If, according to the movie, Texas had the best little house of ill-repute, then surely the AAAAA-East has the best little inner-conference rivalry.
That would be Forrest City and Jacksonville -- more specifically Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton and Jacksonville Coach Jerry Wilson.
The two coaches know each other very well and they are the best of friends. They talk to each other every game night during the course of a basketball season and when the two meet face-to-face each year in their home-and-home conference games, the two always find time to visit before the game starts.
"At 7:30, that all changes," Lofton, who is in his eighth season at Forrest City, said. "We are good friends until tip-off and then the competitive juices start flowing and we both want to win and the other knows that."
Aside from Blytheville's David Hixson and West Memphis' Larry Bray, Lofton and Wilson are the biggest rivals in the East.
Wilson, who is in his ninth season as the Red Devils' head coach, agrees.
"We are as close off the court as we are on the court," Wilson said. "I don't know if I would call the rivalry personal, but it is a good one and it is one that each one of us enjoys."
Lofton has no problem calling the rivalry "personal."
"It is a built-in rivalry," Lofton said. "Jerry is one of my closest friends, but during game time, yes, it is personal. I want to beat him as often as I can and believe me, he feels the same way."
Lofton said his Mustang teams have always been aware of the rivalry's personal nature and he uses that rivalry in his talks to help motivate his team before each Jacksonville matchup.
Lofton, who spent nine years at North Little Rock before coming to Forrest City, and Wilson forged their friendship long before each were elevated to their present head coaching positions.
Being head coaches in the same conference only intensified the rivalry and in the past seven seasons, the Forrest City-Jacksonville battles have been intense and at times, downright fierce.
The two teams have played four overtime games -- probably more than any other two teams in the East.
Each team has won two of the overtime victories.
Overall, Jacksonville leads the conference series, 9-to-5.
Game No. 15 will be played tonight at Jacksonville. There is no reason to think tonight's game will be any different than the previous 14 head-on collision's between the two teams.
"Tonight is big," Lofton said. "We are tied for third with Jacksonville. After tonight, one of us will be 4-2 and the other will be 3-3, and in some trouble because the league only gets tougher from here on out."
The Mustangs have won three straight conference games to get to 3-2 while Jacksonville, after winning their first two games to start the conference season, has lost two of their last three to stand at 3-2.
The fact that both teams are always contenders for one of the four Class AAAAA state tournament slots from the East, is another reason the rivalry has prospered.
During the past seven years, Lofton has taken Forrest City to the state tournament four times while Wilson and his Red Devils have made the trip three times. Only one year -- the 1999-2000 season -- did both teams get to postseason. Forrest City went as the No. 2 seed from the East while Jacksonville entered postseason as the No. 3 seed.
In six of the seven seasons, one of the two teams have gone to state and only one season, the 1996-97 year -- Lofton's first and Wilson's second -- both teams failed to make the postseason cut.
The games have always been close with seven of the past 14 games being decided by 10 points or less, five of those being decided by five points or less and four of the games being decided by two points or less.
Jacksonville's largest margin of victory was 22 while Forrest City's biggest win was a 17-point victory.
Even the seven-year conference mark reflects just how consistent the two teams have been over the past 98 conference games.
Going into this year, Forrest City is 44-54 while Jacksonville is 48-50.
"Both programs are very similar," Lofton said. "We both play the same type of basketball and both programs have established themselves as perennial conference contenders in the East. I think that also has helped the rivalry to continue because each time we step on the floor with Jacksonville, each team has the potential to win at anytime."
Despite the Pulaski County school bus driver's strike, the game will be played as scheduled tonight.
The two-game, varsity only set begins at 6 p.m., when the Forrest City Lady Mustangs take on the Jacksonville Lady Red Devils.
Another chapter in the "Forrest City-Jacksonville" rivalry will be written at approximately 7:30 when the senior boys take the floor.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WEST MEMPHIS -- Forrest City kept pace with Jonesboro MacArthur Monday night in junior high boys' basketball action.
Forrest City downed West Memphis Wonder 35-30 Monday while Jonesboro MacArthur defeated Jonesboro Annie Camp 45-41.
That leaves Forrest City and MacArthur at 7-1 in the AAAAA-East Conference and tied for the league lead.
The two teams will lock up next Monday at MacArthur in a game that should decide the conference champion.
The Junior Mustangs notched their eighth straight win Monday and improve to 11-2 overall, again, the same as MacArthur.
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, at Mustang Arena, Forrest City handed MacArthur their only loss, winning 58-37.
At Wonder, Stephon Weaver stepped up to score 21 points in Forrest City's win.
"Our shots just weren't falling," said Forrest City Coach Jimmy Williams. "Stephon picked us up when we needed some offense. defensively, we played strong enough to win the game."
At Hurricane Gym in Jonesboro, MacArthur held Annie Camp to 3-of-14 shooting in the fourth quarter to capture the 45-41 junior boys' victory.
MacArthur (11-2, 7-1) led 33-32 heading into the fourth quarter of the junior boys' game, then jumped forward on a 7-0 run to start the period. Jeremy Thomas scored a pair of baskets inside and Bryan Schmidt drained a 3-pointer for a 40-32 lead.
Annie Camp (8-6, 3-5) cut the lead to six points three times in the final period but could not string together any baskets to make a threatening run.
Thomas led all scorers with 13 points by muscling his way to the basket and finishing strong. Also contributing for the Cyclones were Logan Nutt with 10 points and Grant Cook with nine.
The Forrest City Junior Lady Mustangs played very well Monday night, but couldn't come through with the win as Wonder held on for a 37-32 decision.
It was a vast difference that the first meeting between the two teams when Wonder ran all over the Junior Lady Mustangs 50-29.
"We played a good game," said Forrest City Coach Jacky England. "I was really proud of the girls. We need to keep this level of intensity for the rest of the season. We have four games left and we need to stay focused for the postseason conference tournament."
Wonder led 26-16 at the half but Forrest City cut it to eight points to start the fourth period and even cut the Wonder lead to two, 32-30 with a minute and a half left to play in the game.
"We had the looks, we just couldn't get the shots to fall for us," England said. "We put ourselves in a position to win the game and that's all I can ask the girls to do."
Cassandra Jackson and Bookita Vaughn led Forrest City with 11 points each while Fareeda Washington and Matisha Dobbins finished with four points each.
At Jonesboro, in junior girls' action, Annie Camp shocked MacArthur 35-33 in overtime. Natashia LaGrone hit the game-winner with :04 left to give the Lady Whirlwinds their first victory over the Lady Cyclones in three tries this season.
Annie Camp also won two eighth-grade contests.
Annie Camp hurried two missed shots but the ball landed in the hands of LaGrone, who hit the game winner.
The Lady Whirlwinds (5-10, 3-5) missed three straight shots then a tipped rebound found LaGrone 25 feet from the basket. LaGrone fired up a prayer at the horn and it fell, sending the Annie Camp bench into a frenzy.
LaGrone led Annie Camp with 10 points.
Sara Waddell led MacArthur (7-7, 4-4) with 10 points.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Palestine-Whjeatley Patriots will host Gillett tonight in the first meeting between the two conference teams this season.
The original date of Nov. 24, was cancelled. Thast game has been rescheduled for Feb. 5.
The Patriots are coming off a nonconference victory over Arkansas Baptist on Friday and currently are in third place in the 6AA Conference behind Altheimer and Elaine.
The Lady Patriots lost to Arkansas Baptist last Friday.
The three-game set begins at 5 p.m., when the Junior Patriots take the floor.
Palestine-Wheatley will be at home again Friday when they host Marvell for the annual homecoming activities.
The Hughes Blue Devils jump out of conference play tonight to host Middle College beginning at 5 p.m.
Both the Blue Devils and Lady Blue Devils are coming off conference victories over Cross County in a 3AA-South Conference game Friday night.