The Blytheville Chickasaws were officially eliminated from postseason play Saturday night after a 91-81 loss to the Forrest City Mustangs at Chickasaw Gym.
In what had the feel of a matinee, the Chicks and Mustangs laced them up early Saturday evening after Friday night's postponement because of another round of wintry weather that stormed through northeast Arkansas.
It was a must-win situation for the Chicks who came into the game needing to win their three remaining games and hope that Nettleton lost their final three games to make the playoffs. Early on, it was made apparent that Forrest City felt no sympathy for the desperate Chickasaws.
Forrest City's R.J. Glasper's three-pointer to open the game was a sign of things to come as Mustangs buried five from downtown in the first eight minutes of play and jumped out to a double-digit lead. It was the exact opposite for the Chicks. While Forrest City made five of their seven attempts from beyond the arc in the first period, Blytheville missed on all seven of their attempts as the Mustangs took a 27-14 lead into the second period with Glasper scoring 11 of his game-high 34 points in the frame.
Robert Moss opened the second period with back-to-back buckets for the Chicks followed by a layup from Malik Cason as Blytheville battled back to a seven point deficit at 27-20 but the Mustangs answered with four in a row and kept the lead above double digits for most of the second period to lead 48-35 heading into halftime.
The Mustangs turned things up a notch in the third period and led by as many as 23 and led 69-51 heading into the final frame.
Blytheville made one final push in the fourth period. Patrick Beasley's bucket with four and a half minutes left cut the lead to 77-66 but the Chicks were unable to get the deficit below double digits. Merrendes Jackson hit a three as time expired to to finish the scoring for the evening for the Chickasaws.
After the game, Chickasaw head coach Jason James had few words to describe what took place Saturday.
"They (Forrest City) played better. That's about all there is to say," he said.
For the game, Jackson led the Chicks with 19 points and six boards and Moss scored 13.
Forrest City had four players in double figures. Glasper led with 34 points, Lamontrell Randle scored 18, Braxton Williams chipped in16 and Trajan Normant added 13.
Blytheville (12-11, 5-7 5A-East) has two games remaining on the season. The Chicks head to Greene County Tech Tuesday night to take on the Eagles and then return home next Thursday to take on Batesville in the season finale.
Behind a 35-point performance from senior Dejah Prude, the Blytheville Lady Chickasaws defeated the Forrest City Lady Mustangs, 58-35, Saturday afternoon at Chickasaw Gym.
The Lady Chicks led 16-12 at the end of one and 30-22 heading into halftime.
Forrest City opened the second half by scoring the first eight points of the third period to tie the game up at 30-30 with 5:43 to play. The Lady Mustangs led briefly at 34-32 and 36-34 but Blytheville answered each time and took the lead for good at 38-36 after a Prude bucket with 2:07 remaining in the third.
After trailing 36-34, Blytheville went on a 14-4 run that extended into the fourth period to take a 48-40 lead with six minutes left in the game.
The Blytheville defense held the Lady Mustangs to just five points over the remaining six minutes to seal the deal.
Prude's 35 points led all scorers on the evening and Timara Rogers added 10 points for the Lady Chickasaws in the win.
Jabrisha Hawkins led Forrest City with 15 points and Tamira Ray added 12.
The Lady Chickasaws are 5-16 overall and 3-9 in the 5A East with two games remaining.