By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
It will be interesting tonight at Patriot Gym.
The Marvell Mustangs come to town as Palestine-Wheatley prepares for its annual homecoming game.
In one of the better rivalries within the 6AA Conference, fireworks are always the norm when P-W and Marvell take the floor against each other.
The activities begin at 5 p.m., when the P-W Junior Lady Patriots take the floor.
Immediately preceding the senior girls game, at approximately 6 p.m., the P-W homecoming court will be introduced.
Then, it's the Lady Patriots and the Patriots in action.
In the first meeting of the year between the two teams, the Marvell Lady Mustangs handed P-W a 49-44 conference loss.
The Lady Patriots have lost two straight games -- a nonconference bout against Arkansas Baptist last Friday and to Gillett on Tuesday to fall to 3-3 in the 6AA Conference.
The Patriots, at 4-2 in the conference, are coming off a win over Gillett and downed Marvell 70-65 in overtime in the first meeting between the two teams.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City and Jonesboro are similar in several areas this season.
Both the Mustangs and Hurricane started the conference season 0-2 and both have rebounded to get to 3-3 in the AAAAA-East.
That makes tonight's scheduled conference matchup at Hurricane Gym very important for each team.
"Pivotal" best describes tonight's game.
Both teams are tied for third place in the conference and following Tuesday's results, the race for the league's top four spots now appears to be a five-team affair.
A loss tonight could severely damage any postseason hopes.
"No surprises," said Forrest City's Dwight Lofton, "Just another game where we have to execute if we want to come home with a win."
Lofton's Mustangs lost a thriller Tuesday at Jacksonville, losing to the Red Devils 60-54 in a game that came down to the final 20 seconds.
Lofton will be a little short-handed tonight, both on the floor and on the bench.
Assistant coach John Burgess will not make the trip after being hospitalized briefly this week.
On the court, the Mustangs have lost the services of senior guard John Foreman, who broke his finger Sunday and will require corrective surgery.
"Losing Foreman affects our guard rotation a the two spot," Lofton said. "That could be key for us the rest of the way."
Under Lofton, the Mustangs are 3-4 in games played at Hurricane Gym.
Jonesboro stayed hot Tuesday by taking a 76-64 win over Mountain Home at Hurricane Gym
The Hurricane shot 72 percent from the field and canned 28-of-32 free throws, hitting 25 straight. Ryan Williams scored 28 points and Ronnie Tagge finished with 15 points.
"We have to contain Williams and Tagge," Lofton said. "At least we have to slow them down. And Lorenzo Spearmon has to get back on his game tonight." Spearmon finished with just nine points Tuesday against Jacksonville.
Lady Mustang coach Sue Jayroe has several questions entering tonight's game against the league-leading and unbeaten Jonesboro lady Hurricane.
The first would be "how much does her teams have left after Tuesday's two hour, 80-75 double overtime victory at Jacksonville."
The next would be "how to stop or slow down Jonesboro's tag-team scoring duo of Rachel Allison and Jackie Gilbert."
"They have been the heart and soul of the Jonesboro team the past several games," Jayroe said. "We have to play well and contain them and deny them the inside, especially Allison."
Jonesboro is 6-0 in the conference while the Lady Mustangs are 2-4 going into tonght's game. the lady Hurricane have won their last eight games.
Against Jacksonville Tuesday, the Lady Mustangs hit 75 percent of their free throws and got a huge 30-point effort from junior forward Sequoria Grady. They will need more of the same tonight.
Tonight's four-game set begins at 4 p.m. with the junior varsity girls. followed by the junior varsity boys and the two varsity games.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WEST MEMPHIS -- Jonesboro MacArthur's Roosevelt Griffin scored a game-high 22 points as the Cyclones trounced West Memphis West 53-38 Thursday in junior boys' basketball.
Grant Cook added 10 points for MacArthur, which improves to 12-2 overall and 8-1 AAAAA-East.
With the 8-1 conference mark, MacArthur moves into sole possession of first place in the league. The Cyclones started the game tied for first with Forrest City's Junior Mustangs, who had an open date Thursday.
Forrest City and MacArthur will meet Monday night at MacArthur in a game that could decide the conference champion.
The Junior Mustangs, 11-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference, defeated MacArthur 58-37 in the first meeting of the season played at Mustang Arena.
*Delta Cleary hit both ends of a one-and-one to seal Annie Camp's 34-31 victory over West Memphis East Thursday in junior boys' basketball.
Murray Benton led Annie Camp (9-6, 4-5 AAAAA-East) with 13 points followed by Cleary with eight.
Annie Camp led 16-11 at the half, but East tied the game at 25-all after three quarters.
*Natashia LaGrone led Annie Camp with nine points as the Lady Whirlwinds crushed West Memphis East 42-16 in junior girls' basketball Thursday.
Katie Osment added seven points for Annie Camp (6-10, 4-5 AAAAA-East).
*D'Atra Anderson and Anna Kaloghirou hit key free throws down the stretch as MacArthur held off West Memphis West 31-26 in junior girls' basketball Thursday.
Kaloghirou led the Lady Cyclones with 13 points.
*Forrest City will host the AAAAA-East Junior High Conference
Tournament, beginning Monday, Feb. 16, at Mustang Arena.
RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech needed a wake up call Thursday night and head coach Kurt Budke provided it in a unique way.
With the Lady Techsters leading Boise State only 50-39 with 15:50 remaining in the game, Budke awoke the entire Thomas Assembly Center crowd and his players when he was hit with a technical foul arguing an offensive foul called against Trina Frierson.
Budke's emotional tirade was exactly what his team needed as it responded by turning up the defensive pressure and outscoring the Broncos 45-18 the rest of the way en route to a 95-57 victory.
Immediately following the technical, the Techsters (14-2, 7-1 WAC) steadily pulled away behind their full court pressure that forced a season-high 38 turnovers. The lead quickly ballooned to 63-43 at the 9:53 mark of the game and eventually rose to as big as 43 at 94-51 with 2:05 remaining.
"That was the turning point of the game," said junior guard Erica Smith-Taylor, former of Palestine-Wheatley. "We hate for him to get upset. It did a lot for us. Got us pumped up and gave us a little boost."
Boise State (6-11, 3-5) started strong and trailed by only 37-32 at the half.
Tech used its full court press almost the entire second half, forcing 21 second half turnovers leading to a number of easy buckets for the Lady Techsters as Tech also recorded a season-best 24 steals, including six by Smith-Taylor and five by Tasha Crain.
Senior forward Amisha Carter led Tech offensively with 23 points
while Amber Obaze added 17, Trina Frierson 16, Shan Moore 12,
Smith-Taylor 11 and Crain 10.
Registration for the upcoming Forrest City Recreation Department's youth baseball and softball seasons will begin Monday, Feb. 2, and will continue through March 15.
Registration for the adult men's and women's softball league will begin on March 1.
The registration process for the adult leagues will continue through April 2.
The youth baseball and softball fees are $15 per child living in the Forrest City city limits and $25 per child living outside the city limits.
Adult softball league fees are $350 per team plus $10 for each out-of-town player on each team.
The minimum age to participate in the adult women's softball league is 17.
Registration for either of the above-mentioned leagues can be made at the Forrest City Recreation Department, located at Forrest City City Hall.
For more information call Kenneth Taylor at 633-3667.