The boys Blackhawk roundballers came from behind to take down rival Shiloh for the second Friday night in a row, but couldn't do the same to Huntsville as they settled for the runner-up spot in the District 4A-1 Tournament.
Thursday night at 8:30, the 'Hawks will journey back down to Prairie Grove for week two of the playoffs to tackle the Pottsville Apaches. Pottsville was third in the 4A-4 with a 16-9 record. Pottsville is ranked 14th in the state and own a victory over No. 10-ranked Ozark. Against the state's No. 2 team Baptist Prep, the Apaches were close to toppling their conference rival in January but lost by 19 in the district semifinals.
Pottsville carries a large roster (21 players) with six seniors, none of which are taller than 6'0". They do a have a tall junior class, with three of the seven of them being 6'3", 6'4" and 6'5". Their athletes are similar to Pea Ridge as they had a good year in football which most of Arkansas 4A schools being good in one sport or the other but not both.
Baptist Prep opens the tournament as the top seed Wednesday, set to battle Shiloh. The red, white and blue Eagles have been on a roll as late, taking their last four victories by an average of 29 points. They currently reign as the second-ranked team in the state while Shiloh as the No. 38 ranking. Despite their vast difference in the rankings, with Baptist Prep making the long journey to Prairie Grove, it is conceivable that Shiloh could pull the upset.
Shiloh used illegal screens to great effect last week and had a penchant to stay in the lane on offense well past the 3-second limit on multiple occasions. If the same referees are working this week, the private school from Springdale might have a chance. Their perimeter shooting would have to be working well to elevate their chances a layups against the twin 7-footers will be hard to come by.
The winners of the Pea Ridge/Apache game and the Shiloh/Baptist Prep battle will play each other at 8:30 Friday. The loser of the first round will have their season brought to an end with the winner of the opening round earning a spot in next week's state tournament.
The other two opening round games will see Huntsville playing Dover Wednesday with Ozark playing Berryville Thursday. Both games are at 5:30 p.m.
In the East Region, the top ranked team there is Riverview, the winner of the Pea Ridge basketball tournament back in December. Other top 10 ranked teams in that tournament include Jonesboro Westside and West Helena.
Over in the South Region, Malvern will be the top-ranked team as well as being the top-ranked team in the state. Malvern was also at the Pea Ridge tournament, finishing up with the consolation trophy after getting upset in the first round. There are three other top 10 teams in the South Region led by Monticello, the state's top ranked team until very recently. Dumas and Dollarway are the other top 10 teams in the mix.
Hawk tracksters crack state top 10
Coach Heather Wade's Lady Blackhawk track squad scored 19 points in the recent State High School Indoor Track and Field Championships to finish in the ninth position, just a single point from seventh place.
The meet, held at the University of Arkansas Razorback facility, was composed of all teams in the 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A classifications. Gravette finished seventh with 20 points with Gentry finishing 26th with 5 points. No other 4A-1 school scored in the meet.
Kieleigh Williams was the big gun for the 'Hawks, scoring 12 individual points by taking second in the pole vault (9'0") and fifth in the triple jump (31'1"). Vanessa Wing was the next highest scorer, taking fourth place in the high jump (4'10").
The 'Hawks had a couple of eighth-place winners with Ashtyn Mondy taking a medal in the 60 meter dash (8.58) and Allison Langford placing eighth in the pole vault (7'6"). The 'Hawks' final point was earned by the 4x400 meter relay team which finished eighth in 4:54.91
The indoor meet kicks off the 2016 track season which will begin in earnest in early March. Coach Wade has built the Blackhawk girls program into a formidable power in northwest Arkansas, piling up a lot of championship hardware the past two seasons.
New number one in state
Malvern slipped past Monticello to claim the top spot in the MaxPreps/CBS 4A state basketball poll last week.
All 4A district tournaments in the state were completed last week with the lone exception of the 4A-8 as they most southerly league has long eschewed the idea of playing one. They, instead, assign their top four conference finishers to the 4A South Region led by Monticello.
Pea Ridge losses to Berryville and Huntsville knocked them out of the state top 10 and down a notch in the 4A North Region poll. They are still highly ranked at No. 12, however, and a good run at regional competition could get them back up in the top 10 again.
Pea Ridge has recently been slowed by injuries and having a break till the semi-finals on Thursday will give them some extra time to prepare. When the 'Hawks are healthy and and on their game, they are quite formidable. With all but one key player back next year along with the infusion of talented ninth graders from this year's outstanding junior high boys team, the future of Pea Ridge basketball has never looked better.
Boys region and state rankings
4A North Region poll
1. Baptist Prep
2. Huntsville
3. Ozark
4. Pea Ridge
5. Dover
6. Pottsville
7. Dardanelle
8. Gentry
9. Berryville
10. Subiaco
State 4A MaxPreps/CBS poll
1. Malvern
2. LR Baptist Prep
3. Monticello
4. Jonesboro Westside
5. West Helena
6. Huntsville
7. Riverview
8. Dumas
9. Dollarway
10. Ozark
12. Pea Ridge
23. Gentry
24. Berryville
27. Gravette
38. Shiloh
45. Prairie Grove
47. Lincoln
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 02/24/2016