Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Prep Rally Podcast. I'm Graham Thomas here in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette Studios.
Leland Barclay joins me in the River Valley.
We are, we have just wrapped up state basketball tournament week, Leland, and it was an exciting week all across the state.
Lots of, lots of games to get to. Good morning down there in the River Valley.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Good morning. Yes, you're exactly right. Big week in basketball. Biggest week of the year for high school basketball obviously in the state. Now I know the week coming up is, you know, decide state championship.
State championships across the board. But yeah, the state tournaments, a lot of drama, a lot of stuff went on.
You know, some buzzer beating shots and you know, a lot of heartbreak and a lot of as, as the old AD used to say, the, you know, agony of defeat. And you know, that's the way it goes in, in March basketball.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: A lot of happy smiles and a lot of sad tears and probably even some happy tears along the way. And I just know after all these years, Leland, the tears, I just, I can't take them. They're just, they're, they're tough to, you know, when you cover kids a long time and you cover, you know, throughout their season and you know, you see them upset because, you know, their season just ended. It's, it's tough. And yeah, it doesn't matter.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: It doesn't matter if it's a fourth seed team going against the number one team in the state or what it is or if it's a last second buzzer beater, you know, whatever it's, boy it is, it can be a tough part of the year. But like you said on the other side, a lot of elation.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: And we're going to see some more of that this week as we, as we talk about the state finals down in Hot Springs, that's a really cool experience too, by the. And I know you've done it. I've done it.
It's just a unique atmosphere with all the teams descending on, on Bank Ozk arena and at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
So a lot of teams from our area are going to get to experience that this week and we'll get to it. Before we do that though, Leland, let's talk about last week and the state tournaments.
How about we start with the Class 6A state tournament in Bryant?
The, the big news out of, out of our area is that the Springdale Harbor Girls for the first time in school history have punched their ticket to go to the state finals.
Coach Kimberly Jenkins, his team has had a great year. I believe they went 16 and oh, in league play, I don't think that's ever been done.
And you know, they won big against Conway on Friday night and then one again on Saturday against Bentonville west and dominated both games about like we thought they might.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I think when. When Saniya Coachman went over there to join the Campbell twins in the summer, I think there was a.
I think it was a very distinct possibility, maybe even a probability that this would be the case. But teams have to play to get there. And. And it was the. I think it's the first time for a team to go 16 those in nine years in the conference. It's. It's certainly a rarity.
It's a trip. It's a rarity. You go through any, any conference undefeated, but especially the new 19 format. But I think we all thought that it was. If there was a team capable of doing it, it would be the Harbor Lady Wildcats. And the fact that it's two conference champions meeting up is, you know, kind of the way, you hate to say the way it should be. But it's certainly the.
Not a surprise that these two teams, North Little Rock and Harbor, is playing for the. For the state championship on, you know, Saturday night.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: Yeah, no surprise that North Little Rock is there. I do believe they beat Springdale harbor earlier in the year in Texas during an internment over there. I.
Tournaments in December are just. They're a little bit different. You know, I don't know that first matchup has any bearing.
Both teams will have their hands full come when they play on Saturday evening.
Give a shout out to the north side Lady Bears. They made it to the state semifinals and got beat by North. North Little Rock, I believe. And you know, north side was in trouble Friday night against Bentonville. Bentonville had them down by double digits in north side with a great rally to come back and send the game in overtime and to win it. We were kind of following that one from afar, Leland.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. It was, you know, we. We follow all the, you know, with all the live streams. That's one of the great things about the live streams. We can kind of check in on other, other games. We also kind of have our sports riders text match text going that we can keep up with things. So, yeah, we keep, I guess, most of our attention on the games that we're covering, but we also kind of glance and see what. What else is going on because our teams are so spread out. I mean, there are state tournaments really and truly all over the state, North, south, east and west. So it's it is, it is fun to keep up with that stuff and you know, a lot of, lot of surprises, but some of them are not surprised, especially in 6A. I think even the boys, it's, it's not really surprised. It's an all central championship game.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Well, speaking of the boys, Fayetteville boys did make it to the semifinal round and were, were beaten.
You know, it. Bryant is a really tough team, defending state champions, and we knew Fayetteville would have their hands full if they got that far.
Springdale harbor was another team we had our eye on. And the boys, they were beaten in the quarterfinal round.
It's tough, Leland, to get to that part of the year. And it's really, really difficult to win basketball games.
You know, both you and I got a chance to go to Farmington last week at different times of the week to experience the Class 5A state tournament.
I was not there, but you know, the historic performance of Easton McCullough in game one, the very first game of the state tournament where she went for 54 points and 12 three pointers, a state tournament record, you know, that, that one kind of set the tone for the rest of the week. And you know, obviously the Farmington Lady Cardinals won three games, including beating Greene County Tech on Saturday to reach the state finals. And they had their hands full, but they, you know, but they, they showed they're more than just an Easton McCullough team. They had a lot of kids step up.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: Well, you're right. I mean, that was the very first game of the state tournament.
Class 5A state tournament at Farmington. So she kind of, she kind of set the standard pretty high for the rest of the week for anybody across the state. And, and nobody matched that performance.
119 points in three games for her in the state tournament.
And again, it is not a surprise, I thought all year that there was a very distinct possibility that Farmington and Mountain Home would play three times. And it is not a surprise at all that they're going to be playing again on Saturday afternoon. Mountain home starts five seniors, three of which are three year starters that have combined for over 30, I guess 3,700 points now.
So. But again, you know, and there's the saying it's hard to beat a team three times.
Well, Farmington's good enough to do it, but I do think Mountain Home will, you know, they've, they've played them close during the regular season during 5A west play. So we'll see what happens.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: Dale Leonard is a really good coach. He'll have something drawn up that Farmington wouldn't have seen before and they'll have to adjust to it.
Over on the 5A boys side, Farmington boys were defeated, defeated by Marion in the state semifinals. Marion, a lot of teams believe they're the number one team in the state or, you know, a lot of people think they're the number one team in the state. They won a very low scoring game, which, you know, probably was a little bit shocking for both teams. It was a defensive battle.
Farmington boys with a great year.
And we'll talk a little bit more about them as we go. Leland, I do want to mention, you know, our teams from the river valley in Class 5A.
Every one of them put up a great fight down there against, you know, teams that were really, really good. I'd like you to speak on that.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. You know, two of the four seeds, Van Buren having to go up against Marion, you know, tremendous effort on Van Buren's part.
You know, they were part of that three way tie for third place and they were the fourth seed on the tiebreaker.
You know, a tremendous effort by Vay Buren as, as we knew it would be by any, you know, Brad Autry, coach, team. And then of course the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs, you know, put up a tremendous fight against Greene County Tech, a number one seed. How about Kyla Piercey, 33 points in her finale in a Lady Bulldogs jersey.
You talk about somebody that man went out, went out with, you know, a strong effort. Kyla Percy finished over 2000 points in her career and as the school's all time leading score, get a great performance by her.
And then of course the Alma boys, you know, a second seed, put up a great battle as well, you know, against West Memphis, the number three seed out of the East.
We talk about great performances, you know, Shep Newcomb, 20, 22 points in his last game as an Airedale and his only season for the Airedales, you know, and then the Van Buren girls, you know, the Lady Pointers. Man, what an effort too by AJ McDonald in her finale in a Van Buren uniform.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: So, yeah, what a gutsy performance there too for her just coming off, what, five days earlier of appendectomy. I mean, unbelievable.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: Yep. Yeah. In fact, she was just cleared on Wednesday. If they would have played Tuesday or Wednesday, she would not have been able to have played. So she was just cleared on Wednesday, went through a practice, a light practice, and then played.
I don't remember.
She might have come off the court for a few minutes at one point, but pretty much Played the whole game and had a. Had a great performance in her finale.
Five seniors for the Lady Pointers, you know, went out as the number three seed in another great game. So great performances by all of them all the way around. Just, you know, it was an honor to cover all of them all season long and watch that two month grind that is the 5A West.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: I'm going to sneak over here to the Class 4A state tournament. Henry Apple was there all week for us in moral to. He might still be there, we're not sure.
Saw a lot of basketball games, but one of the games he got to see was Pea Ridge with the crazy victory over Heber Springs in the quarterfinals. They were down in the final seconds. They stole the inbounds pass, put it in at the buzzer, and Peerage gets a little redemption after. They were, according to what you hear and what you read in the regional tournament, they were kind of robbed of a victory on a. On a buzzer beater in that against Pottsville.
And, you know, it's like I say, though, Leland, these things usually kind of have a way of evening out. Pea Ridge with the miracle finish, stays alive in the quarterfinals and then beats Joe T. Robinson in the semifinals. And now the Blackhawks are going to the state championship game.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: Well, and, and correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Pea Ridge a four seed?
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Yes, but they were not a four seed. That's kind of what we go back to, right?
[00:13:07] Speaker A: And you know, they, they did lose on that.
You know, we'll call it a buzzer beater, but still a fourth seed. So they are a perfect example of the beauty of, you know, postseason basketball by being a fourth seed. And they're going to play for a state championship on Thursday. So I mean, how.
Or on Friday. So, I mean, how great is that for them as a four seed? And, you know, we've seen some, some teams do that before as a four seed, but it's. It is not common and it's very difficult to do so. Man, congratulations to them.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: Yep, some good runs I want to highlight here. These are teams that went to the semifinals and came up short. Well, you have the Jasper boys and 1A, the Greenland girls and 3A, Bergman boys and 3A, Shiloh Christian boys in 4A, Farmington boys in 5A, Fayetteville boys and 6A. Fort Smith Northside girls and Bentonville west girls and 6A.
Look, you get that far, you've had a really good year. I know it stinks. To come up short of the ultimate goal but only one team can win it.
So great, great job by those teams that I've just mentioned. We'll look forward to getting back after it next year and seeing more basketball from them.
Leland, one more thing I want to visit about just this morning.
Some big news out of Fayetteville last week was that Casey Dick, the head football coach, left, announced that he was leaving Fayetteville for a head coaching job in his home state of Texas.
On a personal note, I think all of us really enjoyed dealing with Coach Dick when he was at Fayetteville. Always very accessible and made us feel welcome around his program. So we're sad to see him leave. But you can't argue a guy going home. You know, he's from Allen, Texas, and you know, that is a football crazy area in the Dallas metroplex.
He's going to Rockwall Heath, just not far away from Allen, Texas.
So I know you, you got to deal with Coach Dick even before he was at Fayetteville, when he was at Van Buren.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Absolutely dealt with him quite a while and he was absolutely fantastic to deal with every single step of the way. Whenever I'd run into him after he left Van Buren and went back to Fayetteville or went to, I guess back to Fayetteville, being a former Razorback quarterback, you know, I'd run into him at seven on Sevens at team camps, you know, you know, Fayetteville always played Greenwood in a scrimmage game, benefit scrimmage game, and just always fantastic to deal with. Always had a smile on his face whenever I talk to him.
Even after those scrimmage games. I know the last one this year, he was not pleased with his team at all. But also, but like you said, extremely accessible and just great to deal with. And that's, you know, that always makes a coach, you know, one of our favorites when they're like that. But we wish him well. And like you said, it's, it's hard to argue against a guy going home, especially when home is about Texas high school football. We know how big that is. So I'm sure he's enjoying that and we wish him well.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: And you know, in the meantime, Fayetteville's got to find him a new football coach. They will have no shortage of applicants by any means.
And you know, Fayetteville the last couple years has not probably played up to the standard that they feel like. You know, their standard is like what they did a couple of years ago when they went 13 and oh, and you know, just ran the table in the, in the 7A West Conference. That's a really hard thing to do, as we've seen over the years.
But, you know, obviously that's where they expect to be at. They've always got the athletes to do it and the talent to do it. So no doubt they're going to find them a great high school football coach and we'll see what happens with the Purple Dogs down the road.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: Absolutely.
Yeah. There'll be plenty of applicants for that job, and that's one of those jobs as an athletic director that it would be hard to choose among the wide range of applicants that they will get for that job.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: All right, well, we're going to take a break and but before we do that, we'd like to say thanks to our sponsor, West Termite. Take control of your pests with West. Whether it's termites, mosquitoes, bed bugs, weeds or lawn disease, west has the experience serving Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma since 2003.
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And Leland with the cue cards.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: All right, just in case you needed a little help there.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Well, I definitely need all the help I can get these days.
When we come back, we will look ahead to the state championship games next week. This is Prep Rally.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Prep Rally Podcast. I'm Graham Thomas. Leland. Leland Barclay joins us in the River Valley, and we're going to go ahead and look to this week's state championship games involving Northwest Arkansas teams. No River Valley teams in the state championship this year, Leland. But that's a, that is truly a rarity. We've had years, we've had multiple teams in it. So, so you just never know.
[00:19:09] Speaker A: In fact, I was talking to my son Brennan about it this morning and I mean, we're almost shocked that we don't have one there. You know, Greenwood won, the girls won three in a row.
You know, Northside wanted last year. Greenwood wanted three in a row. The Lady Bulldogs before that. County Line recently has won a Class A state championship. Lavaca, you know, just seems like a couple of days ago that they won a state championship.
So, yeah, we're kind of in shock, I guess.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: You know what, I neglected to mention the good work County Line did in the state tournament, too. They were, they were really good. They lost on Friday, I believe, and in the quarterfinals. Very in a buzzer beater type situation. But, you know, good season for them, too.
Class 4A girls. So that this is going to be Friday, 6 o', clock, peerage and Pulaski Academy, you know, Pulaski Academy just rolled to the, to the state finals. They clobbered Batesville south side 60 to 29 on Saturday, PEA Ridge with a lot of fight and a lot of work to get there. So they're going to meet up in the state finals.
You know, Peerage is a fourth seed and people are going to look at that, but I think they're a lot better than a fourth seed. They played in a really tough conference with Shiloh Christian and then they played in a tough regional with all those teams like Pottsville and, and all that. So, you know, this one, you know, you almost have to kind of give the edge to Pulaski Academy, but if Pea Ridge has showed us anything, you can't ever count them out.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Absolutely. The, you know, the, the edge obviously would go to Pulaski Academy, but after going through the, you know, the gauntlet that Peerage did, I definitely would not count them out. But again, Pulaski Academy would be the favorite.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: I would say that Farmington will be the favorite at noon on Saturday when they face Mountain Home. They've already beaten Mountain Home twice, including at Mountain Home, which is a really tough thing to do.
Farmington, you know, they, they've really rolled in a lot of their games. The last two, though, they, they beat Greene County Tech by eight. They beat Little Rock Christian by 19, a little bit closer than what the 19 final score was.
So, you know, this time of year, Leland, you know, you're, you're pulling out, you're pulling out all the stops to try and win ball games. I know that's what Little Rock Christian did. I know that's what Greene County Tech did. It, it narrowed the score a little bit. Okay, so you got to imagine that Mountain Home is going to have a plan as well. They may have to put eight on the floor to do it, but they're going to have a great plan to go up against Farmington.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Well, like you said, you know, Coach Leonard is, he'll, you know, he's been here and been there and done that, and he'll have something different planned for Farmington. Now. Will it be enough?
Easton McCullough is just a generational type talent.
I mean, obviously we've seen her score 50 a couple of times. She led the conference in scoring. She's up around, I think, 1800 points for her career or maybe 1700 points for her career as a sophomore.
119 points in three state tournament games.
You know, she's the difference maker in this game. I still like Mountain Homes. Five seniors or those, those Three that have been three year starters.
You know, falseness can be a difference for them inside and I think that might be.
That's, that's the one place where I do think Farmington has an edge or I mean Mountain Home has an edge over Farmington. But Easton McCullough is still the difference maker.
[00:23:06] Speaker B: You know, she only had 29 against Little Rock Christian and she only had 36.
And I say that, you know, very tongue in cheek. I mean she was very good in those games too. But I didn't feel like, especially in the, the semifinals against Tech. I didn't feel like she just got off to a, you know, rip roaring, you know, start from shooting the ball behind the three point line. If she, if she has one of those kind of nights, watch out.
[00:23:35] Speaker A: Well, watch out. But one thing that we have noticed through the years of going to the state championship games at Bank Ozk is that because of that huge backdrop there, it is very difficult for jump shot shooting teams to really go into Bank Ozk and light it up. I mean routinely we see really good shooting teams go in there and shoot 30% or 35% from the floor especially and even lower from, from three point range. So that again is one area where a fastness inside four Mountain Home can make a difference.
[00:24:21] Speaker B: All right, well, should be a great matchup. And just a reminder, all these games are going to be televised on. I guess it's still called pbs. Is it still called.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: I think it's called Arkansas.
It's not PBS anymore. I think it's just Arkansas sports.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Whatever it is, they'll be available to watch. And I'll, I'll definitely plan on doing a lot of that on Friday and Saturday for sure.
The Class 6A girls state final is, you know, just has all the makings of being a dandy. At six o' clock on Saturday night when Springdale, harbor and North Little Rock hook up and you know, you're, you know, you're talking one team, harbor is 28 and four, North Little Rock is 29 and three.
Kimberly Jenkins has done a great job at harbor since she's been there. Daryl Fimple is just a mastermind over there at North Little Rock.
You know, North Little rock beat Harbor 54 to 40 in Mansfield, Texas on December 31st.
You know, that was in a, that was a day after harbor had played twice on the 30th.
You know, so it was in a tournament. And we just, we just don't know what kind of, what kind of mindset either of those teams was in on that day when you're just, you've played a lot and you're tired and ready to go home and celebrate the new year.
But ever since then, harbor has not lost. They have just, they've won every game.
And really they were the only team that really challenged them in conference play was Fort Smith Northside at Northside on that one Saturday afternoon. Leland. So you know, I like harbor in this one. I like the Campbell twins. They're very disruptive. I like Sinai Coachman. And then they've. Harbor's got some role players like Maya Haney and Gracie Davenport that can step up and make big plays as well.
Kind of hard to say that, you know, they would be the underdogs in this one. Although I do know North Little Rock is very good.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: North Little Rock's very good. You know, the thing about these two teams is, and these two coaches, they're not going to try to surprise each other or surprise the other team or come up with some gimmick or something like that. These two teams are just going to go toe to toe and this is going to be like a, one of those old fashioned heavyweight boxing matches. They're just going to go at each other with the best that each of them have. Mia Hopkins is probably going to be the best player on the court on Saturday night for north of the Rock. But I think the three headed monster of harbor, you know, the Campbell sisters and Sinai Coachman, they, they've been consistent all season long.
There's no reason to think that they won't be again on, on, on Saturday night. And I just think Harbor I guess would win their, I guess their 19th game in a row would be Saturday night. So I just, I think harbor comes out of this game with a state championship.
[00:27:40] Speaker B: Well, I kind of tend to agree they're kind of hard to, kind of hard to go against with this point. They're on a roll and they're playing really well.
So I mean that's, that sets the table for our teams. You know, folks, you know, there are, there's four games a day on Thursday, four games on Friday, four games on Saturday. There's a noon and 1:30 session and then six and 7:30 session. It's a really cool environment to be down there for. I'd encourage anyone, if they've got the ability to do it to go down there and check it out. A lot of, a lot of great, great moments and Hot Springs is just a really cool town to visit anyway,
[00:28:21] Speaker A: so I like the, I like the format that they have now is Two games early, two games later.
You know, there's not any huge delays between, you know, as far as maybe that fourth game of the day tipping off an hour and a half late, like what we get sometimes in the state tournaments and things like that.
As of right now, the AAA has not made any kind of rulings on the Bart and England in the 2A semifinal game where there was a bench clearing brawl.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah, that was ugly. I've seen videos of that.
I've seen multiple videos of that one, like from different, you know, different angles. And there's a lot to sort out there for sure.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And they're going to have a very short time to do it. But if they go by the rule book, there might be some interest, interesting ramifications from that. You know, the AAA will rule on that. It's. It's certainly something that should not happen in high school basketball.
But the. I know what I would, you know, do in this case. And if they go by the rules, well, again, it's going to be very interesting to see what happens because that game is slated to tip off on Thursday night.
So it's a short turnaround for whatever the Arkansas Activities association decides to do.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: And to contrast the really just awful things that happened in that brawl, Leland, I don't know if you saw but the in the 3A boys over at Osceola, you had a matchup between Osceola and Rivercrest, two huge rivals over there and have been that way for years and years and years.
Some of the best sportsmanship you've ever seen with players from the winning team picking up players from the losing team and, you know, trying to encourage them in the midst of celebrations. And, you know, we love to see that, you know, more than anything. And it's about sportsmanship.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: That's certainly a contrast in how to handle victory and defeat, not only from the players, but to the coaches and the fans as well. And you're right, that's a hotbed of basketball in that, in that area. So if they can handle that that way, there's no reason why everybody can't handle it that way.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: Before we get into the top five and give me five, we want to remind everyone that nwaonline.com and rivervalleydemocratgazette.com are the premier spots to get all the latest news on all high school sports.
Subscribe to our newsletter and get the top stories every single week. Additionally, you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok preparally sports where we share exclusive interviews with players and have a lot of fun over there. I remember seeing some videos of Sydney and the Cardinal mascot doing a dance with the cheerleaders over at Farmington. So we definitely do have some fun over there.
And with that we will jump into the River Valley. Gimme five.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: My name is Damonte Owens. We're from Rolan. This is the River Valley. Gimme five. These are the top five performances, et cetera, from the last week in the River Valley. Number five, we start in Oklahoma where the Roland Rangers and Spiral Lady Bulldogs advance to the Class 3A state tournament on Wednesday. Spyro will play Wednesday at 10:30. Roland will play Wednesday night at 7:30 in the New big house in Oklahoma City. Roland breezed through. I say breeze through. They won the area tournament, so they'll cruise into the state tournament or the state championship or the state tournament, which is one loss this season.
Spiral, on the other hand, lost their final game of the regional tournament and then had to win three games in three days in the area tournament, all elimination games, to advance to the state tournament for the first time in 12 years.
Number four, the Ozark Hillbillies went one and one advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state tournament last week. Cooper Dewar went out with 2525 points in their last game in the quarterfinals for the for the Hillbillies.
Number three, Paris and Subiaco Academy both also advanced to the quarterfinals last week. Paris defeated Rosebud before losing the River Crest. Subiaco defeated Haskell Harmony Grove before losing to Newport. Both of them finished outstanding seasons and in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state tournament. And then number two, the county line Indians just continue to marvel. They they won 30 games this year. They also advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament in Class A. They defeated a very good Park Tree team in the first round, bounced back from a deficit to win that game and then lost on a buzzer beater at the buzzer 53 to 50 to Clarendon in the quarterfinals. A tough defeat for them. Clarendon is playing for the state championship on Wednesday night. And then number one, how about the Fort Smith Northside Lady Bears lost their top score and rebounder late in conference play and still advanced to the semifinals of the Class 6A state tournament on Saturday.
They defeated Bentonville West 51 to 47 in overtime in the second round of the state tournament. And then before losing to North Thurrock 44 to 39 on Saturday afternoon and finish the year. Another great year for Ricky Smith.
And then we want to give a shout out Again to Paris and Mountainburg for hosting fantastic regional tournaments last year. And also to all the teams that made the state tournament.
This is McKinley Campbell from Harvard. And this is NWA top five.
[00:34:40] Speaker B: Number five, the Fayetteville Boys advanced to the state semifinals.
You know, Fayetteville had a great season.
They, they tied with Springdale harbor for the conference championship at 13 and 3.
Kind of, you know, they were, they were on the radar and had a great year.
Didn't know they'd be this good.
Just great season for coach Brad Stamps and his guys, DJ Hudson and the boys.
Number four, the Farmington and Shiloh Christian boys. A couple of great stories this year.
Both of them advanced to the state semifinals in their class. And both were defeated on Saturday. Farmington boys finished 32 and 2.
Just a great year for coach Taylor and his team. And then the Shiloh Christian boys 33 and 4 with a 27 game win streak snapped.
You know, coach Jonathan Bolington was our coach of the year last year and his team was even better this year.
Won a whole lot of ball games this year.
The number three, the Peerage girls. Wow, what a, what a state tournament run they had. In the finals against Joe T. In the semifinals against Joe T. Robinson, Brooklyn Win hit five three pointers and scored all 15 of her points on three pointers.
You know, MacKenzie Stites added 13 points in the semifinals. Then we have Presley Hudson who made the miracle play in the quarterfinals the night before. To keep Peerage alive. The Peerage Lady Blackhawks will play for the state title on Friday at 6 o' clock against Pulaski Academy. Number two, Sinai Coachman. We talked about earlier making the move over from Fayetteville earlier during the summer. And in the semifinals against Bentonville west, she had 25 points, seven rebounds, five steals as harbor defeated West very soundly, 71 to 37. And the Lady Wildcats have reached their first ever state title game.
Number one, no surprise here. East of McCullough, Farmington with 119 total points in three state tournament games.
She got 54 of those in the opening game with 12 three pointers against Batesville. She then had 29 points against Little Rock Christian, where, you know, she was. She was matched up with another great player, Whitley Rogers, who's going to come into the University of Arkansas.
So that was a great matchup. 29 points against little Rock Christian. And then in the semifinals against Green County, Greene county tech, she had 36, including 21 in the second half.
And I know for sure I saw a couple of those three pointers, you know, spin out of the rim.
Just some bad luck on that one. So she could have had quite a bit more in the, in the tournament for sure.
So, Leland, I tell you what, man, it's been, it's been a fun basketball season. It all wraps up this week at Bank Ozk Arena. We will have one last edition of the basketball podcast next week to recap the state championships.
And then we'll take a little break and be back periodically for some spring sport check ins.
But folks, get down to Hot Springs if you can, you know, or watch them on the, on the tv. A lot of good basketball this week for Leland Barclay in the River Valley. I'm Graham Thomas signing off. We love you, Sa.
