By FRED CONLEY
Special to The Leader
Beebe was unfazed by Forrest City’s “White Out” night at Mustang Arena Tuesday and was not intimidated by Forrest City’s No. 2 ranking in Class 5A.
Especially not Beebe juniors Dayton Scott and Zack May, who combined to score 31 points in Beebe’s 45-44 victory.
Playing before a Forrest City crowd wearing mostly white in an organized show of support for the Mustangs, Beebe survived a wild finish that included a last-second Mustangs miss on a shot that could have won it.
It was the first regular-season basketball meeting between the schools and was set in place when Beebe moved into the 5A-East Conference last summer.
Beebe moved into a tie for first place with Blytheville and Forrest City, which bounced back with a victory at Paragould on Wednesday.
Beebe will host Forrest City in a rematch Monday.
“It was a tough game, and it was a tough loss, but what else would you expect from two teams who are fighting for first place in the league,” Forrest City coach Dwight Lofton said. “There were a lot of turning points in the game, by each team. It was just one of those games.”
Beebe’s biggest lead was just three points while Forrest City’s was 15-9 early in the second period.
The tone was set before the opening tip when Forrest City drew a technical foul during warmups. Beebe missed both free throws but took a 2-0 lead after hitting a putback in transition.
From that point it was back and forth in a low scoring half that saw the Mustangs take a 12-9 lead to start the second period. The Mustangs held the lead and were up 21-18 at halftime.
Forrest City’s 6-7 freshman Trey Thompson dunked to open the third period for a 23-18 lead. Beebe battled back to go ahead 24-23 when May made two free throws with fewer than six minutes to play.
A putback by Forrest City’s Jordan Chatters kept the Mustangs within 32-31 at the end of the quarter.
Wesley Booker made a transition jumper for Forrest City to give the Mustangs a 37-36 lead with less than five minutes to go in the game, forcing Beebe into taking a quick timeout.
After a miss by Young, Booker struck again to put the Mustangs ahead 39-36 with 3:15 to play.
May, one of three Badger players to finish in double figures, powered his way inside for a layup to cut Forrest City’s lead to 39-38 with 2:45 left. Forrest City senior Davyon McKinney missed a baseline layup, then Scott got a two-handed dunk off an inbounds pass from Young to give Beebe a 40-39 lead with 2:17 left.
Mekyiel Harris’ jumper made it 41-40 Mustangs before May hit a three-pointer to put the Badgers in front 43-41 with 1:18 left. Booker and Chatters misfired for the Mustangs before McKinney gave Forrest City its final lead, 45-43, with a long-range three.
“The Beebe three was huge,” Lofton said. “But we came right back with Sleepy’s three and I thought that was a huge play.”
Thompson blocked a shot by Beebe’s Austin Benton, which started a melee under the Beebe goal, resulting in McKinney picking up his fifth foul with 6.3 seconds left.
Scott hit his first free throw to tie it at 44. After a Forrest City timeout, Scott made his second free throw to give Beebe the 45-44 lead.
The Mustangs had two final chances. Following the second free throw by Scott, Harris hustled down court, drove inside, and drew a blocking foul by Benton with 2.1 seconds to play.
Benton’s foul was just the sixth of the half for Beebe which kept the Mustangs from a 1-and-1 situation and forced a Forrest City inbounds play under its goal.
After another timeout, Harris took the pass from LeCharles Boyd and put up the last-chance shot, hitting the edge of the backboard as time expired.
Chatters led the Mustangs with 12 points while Harris finished with 10 and Booker added eight.
