ALMA - Forrest City senior Trey Thompson came up big for his team when it needed him most against Alma on Thursday in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament.

Thompson, who had a game-high 27 points, scored 15 of the Mustangs’ 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as Forrest City held on for a 68-65 victory at Charles B. Dyer Arena.

“We just pounded him inside often,” Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton said of Thompson. “He messed up his hamstring pretty bad last week. He was about 75percent, but the kid wants to make plays for us.”

Alma tied the game at 59-59 with a basket by Jake Folkerts with 1:07 left in the game and forced overtime after Forrest City failed to score after that.

The Airedales tied the game at 65-65 with 1:07 left in overtime with another basket by Folkerts, but the Mustangs held on even with Alma having a shot with 3.1 seconds left to tie the game.

Lofton told his team before the game it was going to be a tough against Alma, and he was right as the game feature 14 lead changes and 11 ties.

“Those Alma kids know about winning,” Lofton said. “For us to pull away a victory, it makes me super proud. I wasn’t shocked by Alma’s play. I told our kids the first one is going to be the toughest one”

Thompson finished 12 of 16 from the field and had a game-high 15 rebounds with 4 blocked shots.

“These guys just won’t ever quit,” Alma Coach Stan Flenor said. “We are playing a No. 1 seed but never felt like we didn’t have a chance to win the game. Scoring inside was the difference in the game. They did get some easy baskets.”

Austin Lee had a team high 23 points for Alma. Folkerts added 15.

Robert Glasper finished with 13 points for Forrest City.

CLARKSVILLE 57, BEEBE 45

Clarksville used a strong second half to break open the game and pulled away late behind FrederickLee, who finished with a team-high 17 points.

Beebe trailed 24-19 at halftime, but Clarksville outscored the Badgers 18-11 in the final quarter to seal its victory.

Clarksville forced 16 turnovers while just committing five. Lee led the way with three steals.

Tanner Chapman scored a game-high 21 points for Beebe and finished with a team-high seven rebounds.

HOT SPRINGS 53, LR CHRISTIAN 38

Hot Springs (18-8) made 13 of 17 shots in the second half as it pulled away from Little Rock Christian (12-13).

Kajuan Christon finished with a team high 15 points and team-high seven rebounds, and Jeremy Blackmon added 12 points for Hot Springs, which led just 20-19 at halftime.

Little Rock Christian was limited to six points in the third quarter and finished 7 of 23 from the field in the second half after shooting 7 of 15 in the first half.

Alex Caroom scored a game-high 22 for Little Rock Christian.

Sports, Pages 22 on 03/07/2014