The 2016-17 version of the Pea Ridge basketball Blackhawks has raised a high bar for future generations.
The current roundballers recorded the Blackhawks' first regional 4A basketball championship in school history while amassing a school record 30 wins along the way against a pair of defeats. Their three game sweep of the 4A North Region has catapulted them back up to the No. 2 ranking state ranking among all other 49 4A schools.
Pea Ridge cruised by host West Fork 62-34 in the opener, topped a state top 10 Subiaco team 61-48 in the semis, then thoroughly whipped No. 6 Huntsville 54-37 in the regional finals. The Eagles had beaten No. 5 Pottsville 47-35 in their semifinals.
The win meant that the Hawks were automatically in the "Elite Eight" as they earned a bye past the first round. Four teams received byes in the first round, with the other eight finalists battling Wednesday to get their ticket to the quarterfinals punched.
The four teams earning the bye were Pea Ridge, Warren, Baptist Prep, and Nashville, The other eight finalists include Huntsville and Jonesboro Westside as No. 2 seeds, Pottsville, Cave City, and Robinson as No. 3 seeds with Subiaco, Truman, and Bauxite coming in with No. 4 seeds.
The easiest path to state may well have been the East Region's Baptist Prep crew who played four straight teams with losing records through district competition and the first game in regions. They then dispatched two top ten teams in the East Region in Jonesboro Westside (65-36) and Cave City (70-35) so their overall top ranking is well deserved. Baptist Prep is the defending 4A state champion.
The Hawks played four of their six district/region games against highly ranked opponents, but managed to outscore the competition by an average 50-30 margin in the districts and then kept their same winning average of 20 points per game in the regions (59-39).
The state tournament is in Nashville, Ark., this week where the 'Hawks will go down and take on the winner of Truman/Robinson tomorrow. The winner Thursday will play in a Saturday afternoon semi-final game in Nashville.
Truman is this year's surprise entry into the state finals. They ended the regular season with only five victories, then played a good first round game to upset Gosnell and get into the district semis and therefore earn a region berth. They drew a team with a losing record (West Helena) in the region first round, and then won that game to qualify for the state tournament. They were fairly well crushed in their two other region battles, losing by 16 and 32. With a record of 8-21, I don't see them beating Robinson, but who knows. In Robinsons' favor is that the game is on Robinson's home district floor (4A-7) of Nashville.
The No. 2 ranked 'Hawks have No. 36 Truman, No. 9 Robinson, No. 19 Warren, No. 7 Westside and No. 5 Pottsville on their side of the bracket. I would kind of like to to see Pea Ridge play Warren at some point for a little payback for football season but I don't know if they could beat either Pottsville or Westside in their quarter-final game.
On the other side of the bracket sits defending champion Baptist Prep team. They will open with either Huntsville or Bauxite in their quarter-final. What Mark Laster remarked on the Pea Ridge/Huntsville game last Saturday was true, that it was better to finish third than second in our region If the No. 3 seed in our region (Pottsville) wins in their opener, they will take on No. 19-ranked Warren. If the No. 2 seed Huntsville team wins their opener, they can look forward to matching up with the No. 1 Baptist Prep team. Hardly seems fair, but given that the AAA is running things, kind of par for the course.
Speaking of Mark Laster, he was the cause of the 'Hawks lone miss at the free throw line against Subiaco. The 'Hawks had not missed a free throw mid-way through the second half, and Mr. Laster said something like "the 'Hawks haven't a single ... well ... they have done really well." It was too late, the jinx was in. The 'Hawks missed the next shot and it was the only free throw they missed that night. It's kind of like telling a pitcher he has a no hitter in the seventh inning, same kind of thing.
I really appreciate the work that Laster does in broadcasting these games. With my daughter at our house recovering from brain surgery, I really need to stick around home to do my part. We were sitting around the table talking while I tuned in with my smart phone so I could keep track of the action. I would much rather be there, but this is the next best thing.
Now what are the Blackhawks' chances in the this tournament? The first thing is to get through the next two games to get into the finals which will be next week in Hot Springs. That is very doable, and if the 'Hawks can keep their pressure cooker defense fired up, they should qualify to make the trip next week.
Huntsville gave the 'Hawks a battle in their first matchup, but they just could not solve the Pea Ridge defense in the district final. Britton Caudill led the offense that week against the Eagles with 17 points, and with him out with a broken arm this time around, Huntsville may have thought they had the edge in the region final. However, the stiff 'Hawk defense of two weeks ago became even stiffer and the Eagles could not overcome it. The Eagles' top scorer Jack Eaton was hampered with four fouls but three of them were whistled when he tried just barreling through 'Hawk defenders, offensive fouls. In the two games against Pea Ridge this year, the Eagles' prolific scorer made very few field goals.
Playing against the kind of defense the 'Hawks have been employing lately is quite frustrating to the other team. I haven't seen that kind of defensive movement in my life as a high school writer or observer. The Blackhawks switch off with precision, and make nearly every shot attempted a tough one. My old high school coach Benny Lawson told us over and over that "sometimes your shots fall, and sometimes they don't but good defense is all the time."
It ought to be a fun two weeks.
State meet stats
I did a little research on the 12 teams in the finals of the state tournament and here is what I found. These are the averages from the regional tournaments.
Highest scoring teams
per game average
1. Baptist Prep^63
2. Pea Ridge^59
3. Westside^56
4. Cave City^53
5. Nashville^53
6. Warren^53
7. Robinson^52
8. Bauxite^51
9. Pottsville^50
10. Subiaco^49
11. Huntsville^48
12. Truman^48
Best defensive avg.
1. Baptist Prep^36
2. Pea Ridge^39
3. Huntsville^41
4. Warren^47
5. Robinson^49
6. Pottsville^50
7. Bauxite^50
8. Westside^51
9. Nashville^51
10. Subiaco^52
11. Cave City^52
12. Truman^63
Best winning margin avg.
1. Baptist Prep^+27
2. Pea Ridge^+20
3. Huntsville^+7
4. Warren^+6
5. Westside^+5
6. Robinson^+3
7. Nashville^+2
8. Cave City^+1
9. Bauxite^+1
10. Pottsville^+0
11. Subiaco^-3
12. Truman^-15
Overall best records
1. Pea Ridge^30-2
2. Cave City^29-3
3. Baptist Prep^28-4
4. Huntsville^28-4
5. Nashville^26-4
6. Pottsville^26-5
7. Westside^23-8
8. Bauxite^22-10
9. Warren^22-11
10. Robinson^16-11
11. Subiaco^16-13
12. Truman^8-21
CBS/MaxPreps State 4A Basketball Poll
Feb. 26, 2017
1. Baptist Prep^28-4
2. Pea Ridge^30-2
3. Batesville Southside^24-3
4. Cave City^29-3
5. Pottsville^26-5
6. Huntsville^28-4
7. Jonesboro Westside^23-8
8. Nashville^26-4
9. LR Robinson^16-11
10. Bauxite^22-10
12. Gravette^21-8
24. Shiloh^16-12
32. Prairie Grove^12-14
34. Gentry^12-11
35. Berryville^13-15
45. Lincoln^9-18
•••
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].
Editorial on 03/01/2017