Volleyball 'Hawks in state tourney this week

The Lady Blackhawks third-place finish in the Northwest 4A Regional earned them a trip to the Arkansas 4A State Championship Tournament this week in Batesville.

The Lady 'Hawks were to play Central Arkansas Tuesday in the late game on the Lyon College campus in Batesville. CAC was the Central Region runner-up.

The 'Hawks are currently the 14th ranked team in 4A with a 20-10 record with Central Arkansas ranked 11th with a 17-8 record. The winner of the Pea Ridge/CAC game will meet the winner of the Mena/Harrisburg matchup. Mean is the ninth-ranked team in the state with a 19-12 mark with Harrisburg holding the 15th spot with a 9-10 standard.

Whoever wins the subbracket in which the 'Hawks are playing will probably encounter either Shiloh or Brookland in the semi-finals. Shiloh was beaten by Berryville in the region competition and is currently ranked fifth with s 21-13 record. Brookland is the top seeded and top ranked team in the state with a 22-9 mark.

Last week, Pea Ridge qualified for the state tournament with a 25-16, 25-13 and 25-9 beating of Gravette in the regional quarterfinals. In semifinal action, the 'Hawks jumped out ahead of Shiloh by winning the first set 25-22, but lost the next three sets. In the third place playoff, the 'Hawks dominated Huntsville, winning 25-16, 25-23 and then 25-16.

No. 16 Huntsville (17-15) plays Baptist Prep (No. 3, 25-5) and seventh-ranked Berryville (29-6) plays 12th-ranked Batesville Southside (22-6) on the other side of the bracket. Baptist Prep and Berryville are the two top seeds in that half of the bracket.

Playoffs looming ahead

for football 'Hawks

The Blackhawks have a lock to participate in their fourth straight 4A state playoffs with their four conference victories against no defeats. They have already clinched at least a No. 3 seed, with the top seed on the line a week from Friday at Shiloh.

The top four teams in the 1-4A District changed partners from last week's lineup, but didn't take on each other as the divide between the top and bottom in the conference widened. The top four teams rank fourth, fifth, ninth and 14th in the MaxPreps Poll with the bottom four ranked 33rd, 34th, 38th and 46th.

Gravette devastated Huntsville last week 62-28 and look poised to claim the fourth playoff seed for the fourth year in succession. Austin O'Brian's five touchdown effort and 200 yard plus rushing effort sparked the Lions who have a chance to claim a third seed if they can upset Shiloh at home this week. Shiloh will not shut O'Brien down but can Gravette keep a lid on Shiloh's prolific passing attack? They could and might.

Gentry got belted 32-7 by Prairie Grove last week with Shiloh besting Lincoln 55-6. This sets up the Gentry/Lincoln game this week at Lincoln. The winner will take over possession of fifth place and the battle will likely decide the fifth seed regardless of what happens in the league finale a week hence.

Across the state

The biggest game outside our area was the Dardanelle/Booneville matchup which was won 21-20 in the final minutes by Booneville. Dardanelle led nearly the whole game, using two touchdowns and two field goals to keep Booneville at bay, leading 20-14 until the fourth quarter. The Bearcats' late TD and subsequent PAT lifted Booneville to the victory and in line for the top seed on the right half of the playoff bracket. The winners of the 1-4A district and the 4-4A could meet in the third round of the playoffs.

Arkadelphia crushed Ashdown 44-26 to take sole possession of second place in the 7-4A District. With Robinson looking unstoppable as the 7-4A champion, there is now a battle for the third seed looming between Nashville and Ashdown. The third seed from that conference will play in the same sub-bracket as the 4-4A winner.

Ashdown could put the lie to Robinson's inevitability as they host Robinson this week in Ashdown. Malvern hosts Nashville and they could still make the playoffs if they can solve the Scrappers' offense.

Over in the 2-4A, Batesville Southside suffered a mild setback by losing a narrow battle to Heber Springs. Should they win this week at West Helena, they still have an excellent shot at earning the top seed from their district.

Hawks stay on top

Gazette poll for 7th week

Batesville Southside moved out but the 'Hawks stayed on top in the Democrat-Gazette 4A Football Poll. This was the seventh straight week the Blackhawks have been the state's biggest newspaper's top-ranked team

Over in the Hootens Poll, nothing changed at all at the top. Warren and Pea Ridge have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in that order since last December.

In the MaxPreps/CBS 4A poll, the 'Hawks slipped a place to fourth. Robinson was the top team in that poll for the third straight week, with four other teams having been atop that poll in previous editions this fall, including Pea Ridge. Only six teams in the top 25 kept their previous position.

Democrat-Gazette 4A poll

1. Pea Ridge^8-0

2. Warren^7-1

3. Robinson^8-0

4. Prairie Grove^7-1

5. Arkadelphia^7-1

6. Booneville^7-1

Hooten's 4A poll

1. Warren^7-1

2. Pea Ridge^8-0

3. Robinson^8-0

4. Arkadelphia^7-1

5. Prairie Grove^7-1

6. Booneville^7-1

MaxPreps/CBS 4A poll

1. Robinson^8-0

2. Arkadelphia^7-1

3. Warren^7-1

4. Pea Ridge^8-0

5. Prairie Grove^6-1

6. Nashville^5-3

7. Ashdown^6-2

8. Booneville^7-1

9. Shiloh^6-2

10. Stuttgart^5-3

11. Dardanelle^7-1

12. Ozark^6-2

13. Batesville SS^7-1

14. Gravette^4-4

15. Bauxite^4-4

16. Riverview^6-2

17. Heber Springs^5-3

18. Trumann^7-1

19. Gosnell^5-3

20. Malvern^3-5

21. Fountain Lake^3-5

22. West Helena^6-2

23. Dumas^5-3

24. Pottsville^4-4

25. Hamburg^5-3

•••

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. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Sports on 10/25/2017