Ridger Sports: ’Hawks climb to No. 5 in state class 4A; district tourney this week

The ’Hawks’ double wins last week over Farmington and Ozark, combined with Farmington’s near upset by lowly Prairie Grove, has elevated Pea Ridge to the No. 5 position in the Maxpreps/CBS Arkansas State 4A Basketball poll.

The ’Hawks swapped places with Farmington which fell from fifth to sixth position. Both teams have byes into the 4A-1 district semi-finals where the Cards will be playing Gravette most likely, with Pea Ridge likely to play the winner of the Ozark/Lincoln game. Both games are contingent on earlier outcomes of games that were to have been played Tuesday, Feb. 12.

The boys’ district tournament kicked off yesterday with No. 5 seed Lincoln taking on No. 8 seed Gentry, followed by No.

6 Berryville game against No. 7 Prairie Grove. Today (Wednesday, Feb. 13), No. 4 Ozark will tip it off against the Lincoln/Gentry winner with No. 3 Gravette facing the winner of the Berryville/Prairie Grove match.

There will be a day of rest Thursday with the semi-finals slated Friday followed by the championship final on Saturday.

All-semifinalists advance on to the North Regional which, oddly enough, is being played in Maumelle, a town in the Little Rock metro area.

The 4A-1 district tournament champion will play the 4A-4 fourth seed in the regional first round, with the No. 2 team playing the 4A-4 third best team. The third and fourth seeds out of our district will likely open with either Pottsville or Maumelle, two teams ranked in the state’s top 10.

All first-round survivors of the regional will advance on to the State 4A tournament which will be played at Cave City, that is, until the final game which will be contested in venerable Barton Coliseum in Little Rock. Barton is located in south Little Rock on the state fairgrounds and has hosted state final games in the past, although it was far into the past.

Razorback signee makes ESPN news

Alex Collins of Florida is considered one of thetop high school running backs in the USA. A fan of new Razorback coach Bret Bielema, Collins agreed to sign a scholarship offer from the University of Arkansas and was excited about his prospects of becoming a Hog next season.

His high status made his signing day event a big one, with numerous news and media outlets on hand to record the festivities. Then a funny thing happened.

He didn’t get to sign.

No, he didn’t change his mind, but it seems that his mother ran off with his signing papers. She had decided that he had to go to the University of Miami but he wanted none of that. He decided the U of A was the best place for him and set his mind to attend the Fayetteville school. With no papers to sign, and no parent to sign them, Collins contacted his biological father, who quickly agreed to sign on his papers. The NCAA was contacted, their blessings given, and Collins was signed, sealed and delivered the next day.

Meanwhile, his mother contacted the Johnny Cochran law firm, of O.J.

Simpson fame. She decided to sue her son, the U of A, and anybody else whodidn’t agree with her. After a few days of this media circus, the mother finally relented and decided not to continue litigation to force her son to attend Miami.

I think I know why this particular athlete wants to go to a school far, far from his home in Florida. To his credit, Collins was a class act throughout the ordeal and showed more maturity and level-headedness that a whole lot of the “grownups” who were involved in the brouhaha.

It is kind of odd that an 18-year-old American male can join the Army on his own and go off to fight and die and his parents have no say in the matter, but if you want to play college football (or any college sport) on a scholarship, you have to receive parental permission. That’s a rule that ought to go by the wayside.

Maxpreps State 4A Boys Basketball Poll

Feb. 10, 2013

1). Monticello

2). Pine Bluff Dollarway

3). Pottsville

4). Brookland

5). Pea Ridge

6). Farmington

7). Maumelle

8). Lonoke

9). Cave City

10). Central Arkansas

Other 4A-1 District schools

14). Gravette

20). Ozark

25). Lincoln

28). Berryville

35). Prairie Grove

47). Gentry

North Region Top 10 Poll

1). Pottsville

2). Pea Ridge

3). Farmington

4). Maumelle

5). Gravette

6). Waldron

7). Subiaco

8). Ozark

9). Lincoln

10). Dardanelle

4A-1 District Standings

1). Pea Ridge 12-2*

2). Farmington 12-2

3). Gravette 9-5

4). Lincoln 7-7

5). Ozark 7-7*

6). Berryville 5-9

7). Prairie Grove 3-11

8). Gentry 0-12

*Holds the tiebreaker Maxpreps State

4A Girls Basketball Poll

Feb.10, 2013

1). Prairie Grove

2). Malvern

3). Star City

4). Farmngton

5). Central Arkansas

6). Valley View

7). Bauxite

8). Ozark

9). Lincoln

10). Heber Springs

Other 4A-1 schools

12). Berryville

17). Gravette

18). Gentry

33(. Pea Ridge

North Region Top 10 Poll

1). Prairie Grove

2). Farmington

3). Ozark

4). Lincoln

5). Berryville

6). Pottsville

7). Maumelle

8). Gravette

9). Gentry

10). Dover

4A-1 Girls District Standings

1). Prairie Grove 14-0

2). Farmington 12-2

3). Lincoln 10-4

4). Ozark 7-5

5). Berryville 5-7

6). Gravette 3-11

7). Gentry 2-12

8). Pea Ridge 1-13

•••

Editor’s note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Sports, Pages 8 on 02/13/2013