The Mustangs (22-4) will travel to East Rutherford for a 7 p.m. game Friday. This will be a rematch of last year’s third round when East handed SM its only loss of the season. The Cavaliers went on to win the state championship.

The Lady Mustangs finished the year 14-11 with a 58-51 loss at East Rutherford.

The Mustang men (20-4) are seeded third in the West pod and will meet 14th-seeded Owen at home at 7 p.m.

The Lady Mustangs (14-10) are seeded 10th in the West. They will be at seventh-seeded East Rutherford at 6:30 p.m.

Both SM teams lost to Pisgah in the finals of the Western North Carolina Athletic Conference Tournament played Friday at Brevard.

Pisgah’s men won 73-61. Natahm Neesam and Will Carpenter both had 13 points for the Mustangs, and Mark Thompson added 11.

Pisgah’s women won 65-50. Sarah Henson had 19 points for the Lady Mustangs followed by Maris Ridenour with 16 and Courtney Fish with 12.

Local law enforcement officers have arrested Smoky Mountain High School student Cody Perry, 16, in connection with yesterday’s fire at Smoky Mountain High School.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the suspicious fire that broke out in the upstairs boys’ bathroom in C Building around 1 p.m.

After review of school surveillance video and several interviews with students and school staff, the Sheriff’s Office charged Perry, of  Thornhill Drive, Sylva, with “burning of a school house” and arrested him last night around 9 p.m.

His initial bond was set at $7,500; however, Perry is scheduled to have a 96-hour hearing today, at which point the bond could change, according to Major Shannon Queen of the Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s pretty clear that it was arson,” Superintendent Mike Murray said this morning.

The location of the fire – in a trash can in the upstairs C Building boys bathroom – rules out an electrical fire, because it’s nowhere near any outlets, Murray said.

The fire started around 1 p.m., Murray said, adding that he arrived on the scene at about 1:30 p.m. to find all 730 students evacuated.

Students waited outside in the cold, rainy weather until they were moved to the gym around 2 p.m., Murray said.

The evacuation was orderly and no one was hurt, Murray said. Classes were cancelled in C Building for the rest of the day, but classes did resume there this morning, Murray said. Students attended a previously planned student/teacher basketball game in the afternoon.

Damage to C Building was minimal, and only one wall was affected, Murray said.

Although arson is the most likely cause, Murray said Sheriff’s Office personnel are still investigating the incident. For privacy reasons, security cameras are not installed in bathrooms, but law enforcement is  studying tapes from cameras just outside the bathroom, Murray said.

Update – 2:16 p.m. The Sylva Fire Department has just cleared the scene.

Updated Friday, Feb. 17, at 9:09 a.m.

The Mustang men (20-3), the regular season champions, defeated North Henderson 78-56. Will Carpenter scored 16 points followed by Nathan Neesam with 15, Tanner Cogdill with 12 and Jalen Rosbor with 10.

The Lady Mustangs (14-9) upset regular season champ Tuscola 48-44 behind Sarah Henson’s 25 points. Maris Ridenour added 11.

The finals will be Friday at Brevard. The women will play at 6:30 p.m. followed by the men.

Cullowhee photographer Scott Hotaling is a finalist in an online photo contest with “Mt. LeConte Winter,” in the Landscape category of the Appalachian Mountains Photography Contest. Readers may vote for Hotaling’s photo by following this link  http://pca.appmtnphotocomp.org/index.asp?action=register Voting takes about 30 seconds. Follow the link, enter a valid email address and then check your inbox for the contest reply with a link to the voting page. Both the photo title and the artist’s name are listed, and Hotaling’s photo appears several categories down in landscapes. Voters are only required to vote for one photo.

Filing for political offices in North Carolina started Feb. 13 and will continue through noon on Friday, Feb. 29, according to Board of Elections Director Lisa Lovedahl.

The primary election will be May 8 with the general election Nov. 8. However, the primary serves as the general election for the school board races, which are non-partisan.

Moderate snow is falling in the Sylva area, prompting local school officials to cancel classes for the day. Southwestern Community College is on a two hour delay. Have snow pictures? Post them on our Facebook wall.