By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
FORREST CITY -- The Forrest City Junior Mustangs needed one quarter to get started Monday following the long holiday break.
Hosting Jonesboro MacArthur at Mustang Arena, the Junior Mustangs found their rhythm in the second quarter on their way to a 58-37 win over the Jonesboro team.
Forrest City improves to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the AAAAA-East Conference.
Marcus Britt led all scorers with 20 points while Kelson Stewart added 12 and Stephon Weaver finished with eight. Rylan Nimocks added seven points and Terrill Lee finished with five.
With his father, Dickey and grandfather Houston Sr. watching from the stands, MacArthur's Logan Nutt scored more than half of his teams total points, finishing with 19. Grant Cook and Jeremy Thomas finished with six points each for Jonesboro.
Nutt scored 11 of his 19 points in the first half.
MacArthur slips to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
The Junior Mustangs eased to a 14-10 lead after the opening quarter and then outscored MacArthur 12-to-7 in the second quarter to take a 26-17 lead at the half.
Forrest City continued their momentum to start the second half, rolling to a 10-point lead, 31-21 with 3:25 to play and ending the third quarter with a comfortable 42-29 lead.
Both teams went to their benches in the fourth quarter to let the reserves finish out the game but not before Britt came up with a couple of midcourt thefts which led to easy layups and a 51-33 Forrest City lead with three minutes to play.
Forrest City will play at West Memphis West Thursday.
Junior Girls
MacArthur 34, F. City 21
The Junior Lady Mustangs couldn't buy a basket Monday night against Jonesboro MacArthur at Mustang Arena.
MacArthur outscored Forrest City 19-to-7 in the first half and never looked back on the way to a 34-21 win over Forrest City.
The Junior Lady Mustangs slip to 4-4 for the year and remain winless in the conference at 0-3.
Antrinette Coleman scored nine points and Sara Waddell added seven for the Lady Cyclones, who improve to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the AAAAA-East.
Fareeda Washington led Forrest City with 12 points, including a pair of second half three pointers. Matisha Dobbins added six and Cassandra Jackson added three.
MacArthur led 6-2 after the first quarter, 19-7 at halftime and 25-13 after three quarters.
The Forrest City eighth-grade girls got 11 points from Jackson and nine points from Bookita Vaughn to win their game 26-19.
The Forrest City girls will play at West Memphis West Thursday night.
Senior Girls
Marmaduke 58, Earle 54
At Earle, Brooke Smith scored 13 of her 19 points in the third quarter as Marmaduke rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Earle 58-54 Monday in senior girls' basketball.
Marmaduke (15-6) trailed 25-24 at the break, but rallied behind Smith to take a 46-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
Latoya Cheers scored a game-high 22 points for Earle.
Earle will host Hughes tonight.
Harrisburg 60, Osceola 45
At Harrisburg Monday, four players scored in double digits as Harrisburg beat Osceola 60-45 in 3AAA-South conference senior girls' basketball Monday night.
Amanda Watts scored 15 points to lead the Lady Hornets (4-8). Katie Murphy added 14 points, Justina Greer 13 and Erica Redd 13 for Harrisburg.
Indy Haynes scored 17 points for Osceola and Kiara Robinson added 16. Harrisburg led after each of the first three quarters, taking a 30-24 halftime lead and a 45-32 edge after three quarters.
Nettleton 40, Marion 23
Matt Mouzy scored 16 points as Nettleton stayed unbeaten in AAAA-East conference play with a 40-23 junior boys' victory over Marion Monday at Raider Gym.
Nettleton (10-2, 3-0 AAAA-East) led 24-12 at halftime and 33-16 after the third quarter. Darby Palmer added nine points for the Raiders.
Marion 30, Nettleton 26
Jordan Rupard tossed in 10 points but it wasn't enough as Marion edged Nettleton 30-26 Monday in junior girls' basketball at Raider Gym.
Nikki Sietz added nine points for Nettleton (8-5).
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Searcy and Jacksonville kick off the AAAAA-East Conference season tonight as the Lions host the Red Devils.
The remaining East teams, including Forrest City, will open conference play on Friday.
Blytheville will be in nonconference action tonight at New Madrid, Mo.
The Lions finished in a tie for second in the league a year ago, the school's first full year in Class AAAAA, while Jacksonville missed the playoff cut, finishing sixth.
Searcy defeated Watson Chapel in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs before losing to Little Rock Parkview.
Both the Lady Lions and the Lady Red Devils missed postseason last year.
Neither Forrest City team has played since Dec. 30.
The Mustangs won the seminole Classic tournament at Osceola while the Lady Mustangs finished seventh at the Lady Cat Classic in Conway.
The Mustangs are off and running at 8-4 overall.
In the 3AA South Conference tonight, Hughes will be at Earle for an important league game while Cross County will play at Parkin.
Palestine-Wheatley will be at Marvell as the 6AA Conference schedule gets into full swing. Altheimer plays at Barton and Clarendon will host Elaine.
Hughes finished seventh at the Seminole Classic tournament played at Osceola during the Christmas holiday break.
The Palestine-Wheatley teams did not play over the holidays.
Wynne will play Nettleton in a AAAA-East conference game on Friday.