The Blytheville Chickasaws battled back to make things interesting against 5A/6A blended conference opponent West Memphis Blue Devils on Tuesday but in the end, fell 76-71. The Chickasaws and Blue Devils went back and forth in the first quarter. WMHS senior forward Zachary Byrd hit a layup as time expired to regain the lead 18-16 at the end of the first. They never fell behind until Tony Newmy Jr. connected on a layup to give the Chicks a two-point lead late in the second quarter. Blue Devils sophomore guard Chris Moore connected on a midrange jumper to retake a 36-34 lead over the Chicks with under a minute to go. With 3.6 seconds left before the half, BHS junior forward Winston Peace tied the game at 36 with two free throws. The Blue Devils opened the third quarter on a 12-6 run that forced BHS head coach McKenzie Pierce to call a timeout. Newmy ended the third quarter with a one foot leaning deep three that banked in off the backboard. The Chicks trailed 57-52. The Blue Devils added to their lead and led by as many as 14 points twice in the fourth quarter, but with a little over two minutes left to go in the game the Chicks stormed back and cut the WMHS lead to seven before West Memphis called a timeout with 1:38. Michael Caruthers, BHS senior guard, connected on a three-pointer with 44.0 seconds to go to cut the West Memphis lead to four. Caruthers then drained another three-point basket with 25.0 left on the clock that forced a Blue Devils timeout and Chickasaw Gymnasium to erupt. Sidney Stinson, WMHS senior, hit one of two from the charity stripe to take a 73-71 lead. WMHS called a timeout and the Chicks received the ball with 19.9 seconds remaining. Newmy’s layup was blocked out of bounds and the Chicks had another opportunity with 14.7 left in the game. Caruthers found an opening and drove the lane but the ball fell short. WMHS junior guard Cavin Paige connected on both free throws after being fouled on the inbound pass and the Blue Devils came away with a 76-71 victory. The Chicks (5-5, 2-2) will look to regain their crown at the Northeast Arkansas Invitational on Saturday as they face crosstown opponent the Gosnell Pirates in the second round. The Chicks come into the matchup on a first round bye after being seeded number one. “I’m not sure why it takes the NEA tournament for us to have to play [Gosnell Pirates]. I know we would like to make that a regular game and hopefully this will make it a pathway to having them on the schedule regularly,” said Pierce. “They’re a good team. It’s a weird thing, is it a rivalry game? I don’t know. When was the last time we’ve played them, but certainly kids are familiar with each other and probably have grown up with each other and all that. So from that stand point it’ll be a fun game, but at the end of the day it’s just another game. It’s a tournament win or go home.” Pierce said the Pirates are well coached and have some good players including senior guard Brandon Partee who transferred from Gosnell to Blytheville back to Gosnell last school year.