There are only two Arkansas 4A high schools that have navigated the competitive waters of AAA-sanctioned basketball but who have escaped unscathed to this date on the schedule.
Little Rock's Baptist Prep and our own Blackhawk boys have not been beaten at all this season by any fellow member of the Arkansas Activities Association. Baptist Prep has won 16 games against four defeats with all those losses coming against out of state opponents. Pea Ridge has won 18 times with their only loss suffered at the hands of Providence, a non-member of the AAA, and technically not even an Arkansas team.
Providence is a private academy in Rogers which is currently aligned with and a member of the Oklahoma Christian School athletic association. Some of the athletes on their roster would not be eligible to compete under AAA regulations, but the AAA allows them to compete with regular AAA teams, resulting in a lessening of travel costs and time for both them and the local teams they face.
This is not all that unusual. There are three western Arkansas based academies who compete with Oklahoma Christian schools, and the best Christian basketball team in Arkansas is likely Southwest Christian Academy of Little Rock. Southwest Christian competes in the Texas Christian Athletic League, competing in 4A Region 4. They have teams from Tulsa, Okla., and Wichita, Kan., in their region of the Texas school arrangement.
Back when the 'Hawks played Providence, they were without the services of the football players who are now playing with the team. Even in that game, they appeared headed for victory until they couldn't connect with a field goal in the last quarter and a half, allowing the Rogers team the chance to tie. Tie they did and the 'Hawks lost in overtime. Their coach at the time admitted that he was glad they weren't playing the 'Hawks with a full roster as things would have been different.
Anyhow, since the 'Hawks have fully integrated the players who had late starts for whatever reason, they have not lost a game. For the past two weeks, they have competed with two outstanding teams (Monticello and Gravette) and have come out on top in each game.
In Little Rock in the Martin Luther King Classic last week, they played before big crowds in near state tournament like conditions. The game last Friday in Gravette was to a packed audience of mostly Lion partisans which contributed to a very large, hostile environment. Head coach Trent Loyd was appreciative of the chance to play under those conditions.
The Blackhawks' schedule was weakened this year when the AAA decided to go with blended conferences. The result was picking up eight games against 3A classified teams, none of which are very competitive in the 4A dominated conference. Huntsville has a much weaker conference schedule when they had to go with the new schedule. The Eagles have only one 4A school in their conference with the rest being 3A class schools, something the Huntsville coach is not at all pleased with.
Huntsville has some routine 30- and 40-point wins over their conference foes and really haven't had a tough game in the league games to date. Their two losses have been against Farmington and Ozark. They recently recorded a 20-point win over Providence, the only team to have beaten the 'Hawks. But the game the 'Hawks lost to Providence lost was then, and this is now.
After the game at Greenland last night, the 'Hawks have four home games and two on the road before we get into post season play at Berryville.
This Friday, Pea Ridge hosts rival Shiloh then plays three games the following week. Next Monday, the 'Hawks will be hoping to nail down the 3A-4A-1 crown by topping Gravette one more time. At present, the 'Hawks have a one-game lead over the Lions and at least a three-game edge over the rest of the conference. Win the Gravette game and the championship is nearly in their grasp.
Pea Ridge will squeeze in Lincoln this next Tuesday before hosting Haas Hall on Friday. If they beat Gravette, the 'Hawks would have to lose three of the four against Prairie Grove, Haas Hall, Elkins and Lincoln to finish out the season. With the 'Hawks' depth and maturity this season, that scenario is very, very unlikely.
With the 4A-1 not playing a round robin format before the district tournament this year, I am not sure how they will seed the competition. They can't seed on a head to head basis since Berryville and Huntsville didn't play many of their old conference foes this season, including Pea Ridge. I would think under any scenario, they would likely rank the Eagles and 'Hawks the top two teams, setting up a final of highly ranked teams if both survive the early rounds.
Even though the Region Tournament will be hosted by the 4A-4 district in 2017, the host school is West Fork. The Tigers are a new addition to the 4A-4 though playing this season in the 'Hawks' 3A-4A league. West Fork is much closer to the 4A-1 teams geographically than it is to the other 4A-4 teams, so that location will be a plus to the 4A teams in the 'Hawks conference.
Democrat-Gazette
4A Boys Super Six
Jan. 22
1. Baptist Prep 16-4
2. Pea Ridge 18-1
3. Huntsville 18-2
4. Batesville Southside 16-2
5. Cave City 17-2
6. Monticello 12-6
MasPreps Arkansas State 4A poll
Jan. 23
School won pwr +/-
-loss rtg
1. Baptist
Prep 16-4 19.4 +0.6
2. Batesville Southside 16-2 17.9 -0.1
3. Huntsville 18-2 14.8 -0.5
4. Pea Ridge 18-1 14.0 +0.8
5. Cave City 17-2 13.6 unch
6. Pottsville 14-3 11.2 -1.0
7. Gravette 14-4 11.2 -0.9
8. Jonesboro
Westside 12-6 10.9 -0.6
9. Nashville 15-2 10.8 -1.0
9. Jonesboro
Westside 13-5 11.4 -1.0
10. Bauxite 13-5 10.5 new
27. Prairie
Grove 10-9 2.6 -0.6
29. Shiloh 10-9 0.7 -1.0
34. Gentry 7-7 -0.7 -1.0
37. Berryville 7-9 -2.4 unch
49. Lincoln 2-13 -12.2 -0.3
4A North Region Boys poll
1. Huntsville 18-2
2. Pea Ridge 18-1
3. Pottsville 15-4
4. Gravette 14-4
5 .Dardanelle 14-5
6. Ozark 10-7
7. Booneville 13-7
8. Prairie Grove 9-9
9. West Fork 10-8
10. Shiloh 10-9
3A-4A-1 Boys conference*
Jan. 23
1. Pea Ridge 11-0
2. Gravette 10-1
3. Prairie Grove 7-3**
4. Gentry 6-4**
5. West Fork 6-5
6. Shiloh 6-6
7. Elkins 5-6
8. Greenland 4-7
9. Haas Hall 1-11
10. Lincoln 0-10
MaxPreps/CBS State 4A Girls Poll
School won pwr +/-
-loss rtg
1. Central
Arkansas 14-2 21.4 -0.4
2. Nashville 10-1 20.2 -0.2
3. Pocahontas 17-3 19.4 +1.3
4. Star City 12-2 16.8 +1.1
5. Monticello 15-4 16.2 -0.6
6. West Fork 14-0 15.7 -0.5
7. Ozark 11-2 14.4 +0.3
8. Pottsville 11-5 13.2 +1.2
6. Star City 9.2 15.7 +4.2
7. Ozark 11-2 14.1 +0.8
8. Pottsville 10-5 12.0 -1.0
9. Huntsville 10-7 11.3 +1.6
10 Brookland 10-6 11.1 new
15. Berryville 10-9 6.7 +0.2
16. Pea Ridge 10-6 5.9 -1.9
17. Gravette 10-7 4.7 +0.8
26. Prairie
Grove 6-8 1.1 +2.9
29. Gentry 8-6 0.5 -2.0
35. Shiloh 5-9 -4.1 +0.8
4A North Region
Girls poll
1. West Fork 14-0
2. Ozark 11-2
3. Pottsville 11-5
4. Huntsville 10-7
5. Berryville 10-9
6. Pea Ridge 10-6
7. Gravette 10-7
8. Dardanelle 8-10
9. Prairie Grove 6-8
10. Gentry 10-7
3A-4A-1 Girls conference
Halfway point
1. West Fork 11-0
2. Pea Ridge 8-4
3. Gravette 8-3
4. Greenland 7-3
5. Prairie Grove 6-5
6. Elkins 5-5
7. Gentry 4-6
8. Shiloh 2-9
9. Haas Hall 2-9
10. Lincoln 1-10
•••
Editor's note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 01/25/2017