Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're watching the Prep Rally Podcast.
It's a new year, a new day. Welcome to the Prep Rally Podcast, sponsored by West Termite Pest and Lawn Graham Thomas here in Northwest Arkansas. Leland Barclay is in the River Valley. And folks, I'd like to introduce to you the newest member of the Prep Rally Podcast team, Sydney Mulvanen. And, Sydney, welcome to the team.
[00:00:28] Speaker B: Thank you. I'm excited to be here. I mean, normally I was behind the booth as your producer last year, so it's exciting to be sitting with you guys at the table.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: Well, if any of you guys have ever seen some of the videos that Rick Fires and I did, you know, running after each other in the parking lot or doing a dance off or playing Santa Claus and his elf, I mean, Sidney here had a big part in that.
Sydney is going to be taking over as the new host of the show. And, Sydney, I'd like you just to take a minute here and just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Well, I'll keep it brief, but in general, like, I have loved sports my whole life. I got into it when I was in high school as a sideline reporter, commentator, and naturally went to it, did journalism in college and. Yeah. And then now I'm doing this. I mean, this is something I've always wanted to do, so I'm pretty glad that I get to do this.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Well, you know what they say about high school sports, right, Leland? You know, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. It kind of gets in your blood, right?
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. You just. We never know what to expect when we walk into a press box on Friday night or walk into a gym on a Tuesday night. It's just we never know what to expect, and it's usually well worth our time.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Well, and, you know, the last time we were. We had our Prep Rally podcast, we were saying very heartfelt goodbye to Rick Fires, who is often retirement land somewhere.
But, you know, we're happy to get the show back going, and we're out of football season and we're getting into basketball. And so without any further ado, we're going to turn this thing over to Sydney and we're going to follow your lead.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: All right, well, since it's been basketball season, I thought we could start off with a preview of some of the past games. But the first one I want to talk about is the one that happened in Northwest Arkansas, harbor versus Fayetteville. What are your thoughts on that game?
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Oh, what a Titanic matchup. Anytime, anytime. Harbor and Fayetteville get together on the basketball court. It's going to be a fun night. Now, you know, the, the harbor boys defeated Fayetteville and then the Fayetteville girls defeated, defeated Harbor. And you know, it's kind of funny they split like that because I honestly thought it would had a good chance to be a Fayetteville suite. But that's just kind of why you play these games. You just never know how they're going to turn out. But what an exciting game. You know, you had two of the, what I think are the better teams in both boys and girls basketball playing on the same night. And that's kind of been a rarity these days. Like usually, you know, sometimes the girls game will be the good game and the boys game not so good or, you know, vice versa. The boys game will be good. But in this matchup in particular Fayetteville and Harbor, I mean, it's hard choosing which of those games is going to be your main game.
[00:03:24] Speaker B: Well, little side note for you, you said it was a Titanic type of game. So who was Jack and who was Rose?
[00:03:29] Speaker A: Oh my goodness.
Well, you know, Jack, we're talking about Jack Dawson here, you know, about to die sitting on or drowning in the cold water in the Titanic.
Oh, gosh, you know, for a while there I thought that might be Harbor. They're off to a tough start this year from, you know, they lost a tough one at Bentonville west the game before. But I tell you what, if harbor is Jack and they pull themselves onto that and made, made Rose share the, the bookcase with them because harbor had got a great effort from their, their whole team really, and, and got a huge win at Fayetteville.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: So I mean, I'm going to say the opposite. I think Fayetteville was Jack in this scenario because they were so close to getting on that board but came up short. But, and I say this because at the beginning they did have a rough start. I just felt that harbor had more competitiveness, they had more drive and Fayetteville kind of, it took them a while to pick it up, but once they did, I don't, I don't know, it's just, they just didn't have that extra something, that extra aggressiveness when playing with the ball. I mean, they did get it close. They did get it close by four points at the end. You know, I give them props for that. But I think looking further down the road, if they want to go to the championship and things like that, they need to have that little extra drive. And I think harbor has that, but also too, they had that close loss against Bentonville west last week. So I think that was another driving factor for them.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: You know, and Sydney, that's one of the beautiful things about, about high school sports is like just what you said, you know, they had it the other night against Fayetteville. They were jacked up and ready to go. You know, you could have made a case against Bentonville West. They were not ready to go and Bentonville west beat them in overtime. Was a huge win for Bentonville West. So, you know, I'm going to say that that was a great win for Harbor. We got a long way to go. Harbor feels like that they have the talent to compete for a state championship. They've got one of the most dynamic players in all of Arkansas in Cortland Muldrew. He's signed to go play basketball at Washington. He had a lot of Division 1 offers, including from several SEC schools like even Arkansas had offered him. And you know, they've got another good player in, Hayden Wood, who's a really good player, really good scorer. So they've, they've, they've got the potential. It's there. It's all there.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: They do. I mean, you, you brought it up. Muldrew really impressed me towards the beginning because, I mean, he had a three point shot falling backwards and I think that was one of the ones I wanted to highlight. But I said, oh my gosh, like the, the steadiness that he has, like, and accuracy in his shots, no matter where he is on the court. I was really impressed with that.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: He's a special player for sure.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And, and especially with Demarion Lee, you said earlier, some, some of them call him Marley, but yeah, he was one of those players too, where his defense, I mean, he was getting, he was getting faithful to foul so many times and I was just impressed by that. Especially when they said he was only a sophomore.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: Yeah, he's really young and you know, he has some sophomore moments out there, but when he's playing well. Yeah, you know, and I know Leland, you probably remember from what you saw from, from harbor last year, Demarian Lee, whenever, you know, he can really get up there above the rim and do some special things. And of course, we all know Cortland Muldry is a special talent.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. You know, he played his first two years at Springdale, then he transferred and went to harbor. And he was, he was good as a freshman. He started as a freshman, made an impact as a freshman. So it's no surprise what he's doing. He's climbing the charge of the, the 6A west scoring, you know, records, and he's, he's a tremendous player. And then couple him with Hayden Wood, you know, who's another dynamic player. They've, like you guys have said, and like we knew all along, they have all the ingredients and the fact that we think, and we'll get into this later, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that the state's tournament is going to be in Springdale as well. So that's, that's going to help as well because, you know, that semifinal game, having that at home or close to home is gigantic.
[00:07:47] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. I don't want to, you know, count out Fayetteville yet, though. Brad Stamps is a really good coach. They've got some good players. Xavier Brown is one of the best guards in Northwest Arkansas. And, you know, they're going to, they're going to have a say in the matter now. You know, they lost some pieces. They're a little bit smaller than they've been. But, you know, I just.
If we, if we write off Fayetteville right now, that's a mistake because they're going to be in the mix.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: And I know I called them, you know, the Jack of the Titanic, but, you know, who knows? Maybe they could rewrite their ending. Maybe they could rewrite the story where they actually do get on the boat and they actually do surprise some people towards the end of the season. I just think, you know, they, they keep having those slow starts. They just don't have that competitiveness, at least what it looks like to me, when they start off the bat, they get it going, but, I mean, in those championship games, they need to have it off the bat.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: So they, they need to get off the bus, is what you're saying.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Essentially, yes. But I mean, like I said, I think, you know, when you're playing players, especially a sophomore like demarien Lee, who has the maturity of playing like a senior. I mean, I thought he was a senior the entire time. You have players like that who are, who, who are young and aggressive like that, and they're playing against these seniors and just tiring them out at the beginning. I mean, those are the younger players that want it. They just have that drive. And Fayetteville just didn't look like they had it, even though they got close.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: You know, and our guy, Scotty Bordelon, who covered the game for us, he does, he does a great job helping us on Friday nights and Tuesday nights. And, you know, his story kind of Pointed that out, that, you know, they just. They put themselves in too big of a hole too early. So you're right.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: They got to get off the bus and just. But a final thing, too, is this is kind of what I was mentioning to a lot of people earlier. You know, I went to Faithful High school. Yeah, I'm a Faithful.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: Okay, so we got to get that off right off the bat.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: I'm not trying to be biased here. I wasn't.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: We're not wearing any purple over here.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: Exactly. I was trying to be neutral over here. I was trying to be unbiased. But. But what I noticed, too, is that the lack of the environment at these high school games. I mean, mind you, I went to a time in high school where my sophomore year of high school, you had Malik Monk playing at Bentonville and you had Peyton Willis playing at Fayetteville. So those games, I mean, I was looking up some of those games the other day. The arenas were packed, I mean, even for the harbor game. And yesterday with the. Sorry. The other day with the atmosphere, I'm not gonna lie, when I turned on the game, I thought it was a JV game at first, because one, the players don't look how they used to, because you watch some of these games. I mean, Malik Monk is still in the NBA. I mean, those are maybe rarities for Northwest Arkansas, those types of players in basketball, as many as there were at that time. But it just didn't seem like the arena had that many people. Like, it just wasn't alive as it used to be. And I think for Fayetteville's point, this was a home game. They had some students show up, but I really think if they had that crowd like they did back in the day, they. They could really start to have that competitiveness from the crowd.
[00:10:57] Speaker A: You just never know with these crowds, because I'll tell you, last year, and I don't know if Leland got to watch this game or not, because it was on a Saturday. It was one of those deals where harbor and Fayetteville had to play on a Saturday afternoon or late afternoon. And that place was jammed to the gills. It was so much fun.
You know, Tuesday night or. No, I'm sorry, this was a Monday night game. So there's no telling what. Why the crowd was, what it was.
But yeah, like Leland said, you know, if either of those teams makes, you know, a state semifinal, being up here, it will be packed.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: I mean, hopefully. I mean, how was it in the River Valley, Leland, who was your. Who was your top matchup? Of the week.
[00:11:41] Speaker C: Well, I think, you know, Tuesday nights are especially special in the River Valley because Tuesday night is rivalry night in the 5A west between Greenwood, Almond, Van Buren. They play on six of the eight Tuesday nights. Last week, of course, Van Buren went to Greenwood. This week, on Tuesday night, Greenwood went to Alma. Next week on Tuesday, Alma goes to Van Buren. So that's kind of rivalry night. Also next week Northside and South side play. So those are always the biggest games in, in our area, especially with three of the teams being in the same conference and then north side and south side being in the same conference. You know, seeing Fayetteville boys last night was. And you guys were talking about Xavier Brown Monday night in the loss to Harbor. Xavier Brown was held to a season low five points last night or on Tuesday night against Northside, he scored 16 points in the second quarter and finished with 23 points. And yeah, he's a tremendous player.
Northside led at the end of the first quarter and then Fayetteville behind Xavier Brown scored 25 points in the second quarter and took command of that. That game. And then of course we talk about Greenwood, Greenwood's off to their first two and oh. In conference play since 2017.
And raise your hand if you thought Kane Archer was going to be a good basketball player.
Well, I didn't, but he is a tremendous.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: Okay, then we need to rephrase. Obviously raise your hand if we need to rephrase that. Raise your hand if you thought he was going to be a basketball player at all.
[00:13:21] Speaker C: Well, at all.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: I can't even raise my hand. Like I'm so amazed he's playing.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: Hey, I think with. When it comes to. When you see really competitive, good athletes, I mean, I'm not surprised when they play multiple sports.
[00:13:35] Speaker C: Well, and you're right. But now Kane Archer hadn't played basketball in a long time. But you did touch on the thing that makes him and makes the whole team around him good. His competitiveness because he has that drive, that fire in, you know, against Van BUREN he had 13 points and seven rebounds. Against Alma in that win, he had 11 points and three rebounds. I mean, he's a. Also he had three block shots in that game against Alma and he kind of leads that, you know, helps lead that team. Grant Carnes and Jaden Garnes.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: Boy, that's not good.
[00:14:11] Speaker C: Also two very good players as well.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: Grant. Grant Carnes and Jaden Garnes. That's. I saw that one last night on, on Harold's Story. I'm like, wow, that, that's Keeping those two separate. Now, luckily, Grant Carnes is such a great football player that, that, that won't be too difficult because you talk about another great athlete good at multiple sports. Ladies and gentlemen, Grant Carnes.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: You really had to take a pause in between that.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: Well, you know, that's.
[00:14:38] Speaker C: Well, in Grant, Grant Carnes last nine, he only played 11 minutes in the game. Of course he starts and he had 14 or 17 rebounds last night and six points against Van Buren last week. He didn't score, but he had eight rebounds and they were just crucial. I mean he's such a. Also a competitive competitor, you know, that he's, you know, he kind of, he makes that team go. So does you know, Jane Garnes and you know, Kane Archer, you know, Leland.
[00:15:10] Speaker A: Kind of touched on it. Greenwood is two and oh, I believe for the first time in the league since 2017.
Sydney may not know this, but as good as Greenwood has been in football the last, I don't know, 20 years, let's just say 20, 25 years in basketball, boys basketball, that has not been the case. They've had a few good years here and now, but they've really struggled. And it's not because they don't have good athletes. A lot of those good football players have always played basketball too. So it's really good to see Coach B.J. ross and the Bulldogs off to a great start because they could be really tough and that they could really make that 5A west conference even more interesting than it already is. Leaving.
[00:15:54] Speaker C: Well, and they held Alma, which returned five starters, two of the first players off the bench last year. So they returned seven guys off a conference championship team that went to the second round of the playoffs last year. And they held them to 32 points last night. And here is the stat of the week from the Alma Greenwood boys game on Tuesday night.
Zero three pointers made by either team. There were no three pointers in the game by either team. And I don't think I can't remember the last time that I saw that in a boys basketball game. But neither team, they were combined over 24. Alma was over 13. Greenwood was oh for 11, zero for 24 from three point range. But still Alma gutted it out and won 45 to 32.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: Well, with that being said, here comes a very important question. Who is your Jack and who is your Rose?
[00:16:53] Speaker C: Wow. Well, you know, I've got to stay with, with, you know, it's got to be Kane Archer. I mean his, his play and just his attitude and his, you know, his Effort and everything. It would, it would have to be Kane Archer.
And then I think for the rose, you know, I'm going to stay, you know, stay in the 5A west and go with AJ McDonald from Van Buren. She's had in back to back conference game double doubles, seven on the year. Now last night in a win at Russellville she had 24 points and 12 rebounds. And against Greenwood last week she had or no last night, Tuesday she had 27 points and 12 rebounds. Against Greenwood she had 24 points and 12 rebounds in a loss last week. So seven double doubles, two in a row in the 5A West.
[00:17:49] Speaker B: So you're saying Kane Archer was your Jack. Like he, he didn't survive.
[00:17:55] Speaker C: Well, he, he will survive.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: Well, looks like we're going to come up on a break here, but when we come back, we're going to give you the top five in the northwest and top five in the River Valley. This is Prep rally.
Welcome back to the Prep rally podcast sponsored by West Termite Pest and Lawn. I'm here with Graham Thomas of Northwest Arkansas and Leland Barclay of the River Valley. Guys, it is time to give our top five. Leland, take it away. Who is it?
[00:18:25] Speaker C: This is a give me five. The top five performances of the last week in the River Valley. Number one and number two. Of course we always start with our players of the week. This week, number one, the girls player of the week is Jordan Gramlich of alma. In a 56:35 win against Russellville last week, she scored 27 points, had nine rebounds and three assists. And then against Greenwood on Tuesday in a loss, she came back with a 17 point and 17 rebound effort for the first two games for Alma in the 5A West.
Number two, Maddox Terry of Charleston. In a 58 to 44 win over Boonville last week, Terry scored 43 points and added 13 rebounds. He was 7 of 14 from three point range, 4 of 7 from two point range and hit 14 of 18 free throws in the game. He had 20 of Charleston's 23 first half points in that game.
Number three, we have a trio north sides. Cameron Schmidt, Hasley Grote John and Ariana Gooden combined for 62 points in a 77 to 65 win over Fayetteville on Tuesday night. Cameron Schmidt, the transfer from van Buren had 23 points. Ariana Gooden matched a season high with 26 points, also pulled down 10 rebounds. And then Grote John 13 points.
Those three have been tremendous for Northside all year long. And Ariana good now has 1661 points in her career Continuing just an outstanding effort. Of course, she's going to Colorado to play collegiately.
Number four, we've already mentioned A.J. mcDonald for Van Buren, a junior. In a 53 to 34 win at Russellville, she had 27 points and 12 rebounds. And then in a loss to Greenwood, she had 24 points and 12 rebounds. And she now has seven double doubles on the season, including two in a row to start five a West play five. We're going to go to a different court, switch it over to volleyball because the number five significant. But Kalyn Freeman of Hackett won the Gatorade Arkansas volleyball player of the year award. That is the fifth player from the River Valley over the past few months to win the Gatorade player of the year award. To go with some outstanding athletes, including Kane Archer of Greenwood, who just won the Gatorade football player of the year.
[00:21:01] Speaker A: Award and including her sister who won the Gatorade softball player of the Year.
[00:21:07] Speaker C: Softball player of the year Family.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I mean the Freeman, the Freeman sisters from Hackett just, I mean, unbelievable athletes there.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Well, with that being said, who's your top five?
[00:21:20] Speaker A: All right, the top five for Northwest Arkansas this week. We'll also start with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette players of the week.
Braxton Lindsay of Rogers really kind of took over the ball game on January 7th against Fort Smith. Northside kind of just really dominated. He had 25 points in the win, was the best player on the floor. And the big story there was, you know, and really with Braxton Lindsey, this is his last year to play varsity basketball. He'll be a big time Division 1 football recruit next year as a senior and so plans on graduating early, won't be able to play senior basketball season. So he's really making a big to do of this, being his last basketball season and really playing well for the Mounties. Our NWADG girls player of the week was Reese Thornton of Farmington. She had 19 points off the bench and a big win over Siloam Springs on also on January 7th.
The big thing about her performance, you know, is she went 8 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line. Just a perfect night shooting the basketball. That Farmington team is really good again and I'm really excited to talk about one of their games a little bit later on. That's coming up. Number two is going to be Cortland Muldrew. We've talked about already that he had 25 points in that win at Fayetteville on, on last Monday night in a makeup game. And you know, this guy, he had 34, I believe, at Bentonville west and overtime loss just. He's averaging about 28 points a game. He's just a, you know, he's a highlight show every time he touches the basketball and just a really good player. Number three, I'm going to go with Landon Price from Bentonville West.
Landon had 18 points and 414 rebounds at Fort Smith Northside last Monday.
Just one of the, you know, you look at me like you don't look like much of a basketball player. He's a big, strong kid, but he just doesn't really have that basketball look to him. But he's a really good player. Kind of a double double waiting to happen is always, you know, kind of one of those backbone players there for Bentonville West. And you know, the Bentonville west team, they're surprising. They're three, you know, I believe in the conference and just playing really well. Number four, Mackenzie Stites at Pea Ridge had 32 points in a win against Prairie Grove on Tuesday night.
Coach Heath Neal at Pea Ridge is real big on, on Stites, just a junior. She's been playing since she was a freshman and she's a really good player and had a really big night against Prairie Grove. And the number five and last, certainly not least, we're going to go with Harrison's Rider scribner. He had 30 points on Tuesday as Harrison beat one at Farmington and handed the Cardinals their first conference loss in four years. And Leland, I know, you know, the 5A west is one of the leagues you get to see a lot of and I know you'll look forward to seeing those Harrison boys when they roll through because that was a huge win for, for the, for the Goblins.
[00:24:37] Speaker C: Well, you know, when we were putting together the, the basketball football tab, it became very evident that Harrison was going to be near or at the top with, with the players that they have coming back from last year, including Scribner. So we knew Harrison was going to be there and I've heard all year that it's, you know, kind of Harrison and Farmington at the top. And it looks like Harrison certainly made a statement with a huge win on the road last, you know, on Tuesday night.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: There was a nice feature story on, on Ryder in the, in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette on Sunday written by the, the Arkansas Democrat Gazettes. Eric Taylor. That whole Harrison team, what they were talking about was, you know, they didn't make the playoffs last year. They were a state semifinalist team the year before that had everybody Coming back and missed the playoffs, you know, and they, they've taken it personal and it's not because they weren't a good team. They just play in that tough of a league. Right, Leland?
[00:25:40] Speaker C: Absolutely. Yes. That is, that is the number one reason. It is, it is nothing against Harrison. It is just that conference is brutal. And then you throw in the fact that there's such travel involved. Harrison, you know, Salem Springs, you know, Russellville, and then the, you know, to the River Valley and throw in winter and having to come up with, you know, makeup games, sometimes three in a week, sometimes moving them to back to back nights. There are a lot of challenges in that league on top of it just being a highly competitive league, top to bottom.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: Well, with that being said, you guys, we're going to take another break here on Prep Rally, but when we come back, we're going to play a new game for the first time on this show and a few other surprises. So stay tuned. This is Prep Rally.
Welcome back to Prep Rally, sponsored by West Termite Pest and Lawn. All right, you guys, you ready to try a new game?
[00:26:36] Speaker A: I'm. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. How about you, Leland?
[00:26:40] Speaker C: Absolutely. Bring it on.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: You know what? I love the enthusiasm, you guys. All right, so we're starting a new game here on Prep Rally and it's going to be called on the clock. So every week you're going to have each of you two minutes to discuss your on the clock. Literally, I'm gonna time it to discuss whatever topic we have for on the clock that week. So this week, the on the clock topic is top matchup of the week. And so how it's gonna go is I'm gonna give each of you two minutes to explain your top pick. And then we're gonna have our producer Diana pick who she thinks had the better argument.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
I'm gonna lose this every time. You know that.
[00:27:21] Speaker C: No, you're not.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: My gosh. You got it. What about you, Leland? How do you feel?
[00:27:28] Speaker C: Well, I kind of have to would agree with Graham.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: You guys got it. All right, who wants to go first? You want a rock, paper, scissors? Who goes first?
[00:27:39] Speaker C: I'll go first. Okay.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: You were ready.
[00:27:42] Speaker A: I was ready for rock, paper, scissors, but. Okay, Leland can go first.
[00:27:45] Speaker B: Okay. All right, Leland, when you hear this timer go off, it means you're done. No matter. If you're in the middle of a sentence, you gotta stop. Okay, you're good to go in three, two, one.
[00:28:00] Speaker C: Well, my, my big one has got to be the 5A West Tuesday night, rivalry night. There's six of them in the 5A west, three in the first half, three in the second half, and there's none of them bigger than Alma at Van Buren. It's a dog fight between the Airedales and the Pointers. Alma suffered a loss on Tuesday night against Greenwood, so they're going to be hungry. Van Buren lost to Greenwood last week, 43 to 41. They were held without a basket, without a point for five minutes in a crucial stretch of the fourth quarter and lost that game. So they're looking to bounce back there at home hosting Alma, which won the conference championship last year. They went 13 and one doesn't. They've already lost a game this year.
They were a heavy favorite to repeat as conference champions with five starters returning. They're still loaded, but now they have a loss early in the season. You know, one thing they talked about at media day was last year they were the hunter they went into the conference with barely with a little under a.500 record and just kind of surprised everybody. They're not surprising anybody this year. And including on Tuesday night against Greenwood. So Alma lost at home. Van Buren is looking to win a conference game. So that's the. That is the game of the week in the River Valley. Alma at Van Buren in a key five a west game.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: Wow. With 32 seconds left to spare. Congrats.
[00:29:31] Speaker C: Talk fast.
[00:29:32] Speaker A: I'm away the white flag right now.
[00:29:35] Speaker B: No, you can't.
You haven't even tried it already.
[00:29:40] Speaker C: Okay, come on.
[00:29:41] Speaker B: You can do it.
All right, you ready?
[00:29:46] Speaker A: I'm gonna talk really slow like Mountain Man.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: You're gonna be ready in three, two, one, go.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: Okay, so my big game of the week is gonna be the Springdale Boys visiting Bentonville West. And you know, if you had told me even a week ago or so that this would be a huge game, I would have laughed in your face. But Bentonville west is really on a roll. They have picked up, you know, they've beaten harbor in conference play, and then they have won at Northside, and then they walloped Rogers last night. So they are three and. Oh, and feeling good about themselves. And so, you know, a game that I would have thought that Springdale Boys, the Witches just loaded the Spring. The Springdale Boys are just loaded with talent. It's sick. And I thought you, you know, and they may very well go in there and roll up Bentonville west pretty good. But the way Bentonville west is playing under first year coach Trent Lloyd, I must say that this is going to Be a heck of a ball game. It should be one of those. One of those Atmosphere City that you would appreciate because the Bentonville west student section is pretty good.
You know, the Springvale boys, you know, we. We've all kind of circled them. You know, they've got Isaiah Seeley, they've got Jackson Conley. They've got.
Oh, gosh, the name of the guy, Cy Bates, I think Malik Sosa.
They've just got all kinds of talent. Right. Right on down the line of good players and. But, you know, and Bentonville west going to rule out these guys who don't look as good as Springdale does in a uniform. But I just feel like it's got all the makings of a really good ball game simply because Bentonville west plays with the chip on their shoulder, you know. So that is my game of the week. And I'm sorry, but not sorry about it.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: So 15 seconds left to spare. I will have to say. I don't know. I mean, I want Diana to pick, but Leland. I think that was an interference call on the.
[00:31:49] Speaker C: Sorry, I was just helping him out with side Bates.
[00:31:53] Speaker B: Leland, for anyone who doesn't know, he's like an encyclopedia of sports. He knows so much of everything about high school sports. But with that being said, Diana, hold up a 1 if you think Graham won, and hold up a 2 if you think Leland won.
Okay? Graham is saying. And Diana is saying. Saying, Leland. So Graham and Diana are saying, leland, congrats.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: Even with the 15 yard penalty, he.
[00:32:23] Speaker A: Has a bevy of notes in front of him, though. Like, you just can't see them. Like, he might even have, like, a board there. Like.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: And that might be two interference. Leland, that might be 30 yards.
I don't know.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: I blame the cat at home.
She keeps me up.
[00:32:39] Speaker C: The cat. 80s homework, right?
[00:32:43] Speaker A: No, what it is, I come home from a long day of covering basketball and she makes me forget everything that, you know, she just rubs up against my leg and, oh, daddy, you're home. And all that, so. No, I'm just kidding. No, Leland's right, though. That Alma Van Buren is gonna be a heck of a. You know, if I could skip out on what I'm doing, I'd go down there to watch that one.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Yeah, well, to Phil included, I was gonna do something a little off the rails. I'm gonna have a bummer of the week. Is that okay with you?
Sure. Okay.
[00:33:15] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
I've seen the bummer of the week. In fact, I was there.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: Yeah. So I thought we should have a Bummer of the week, because it's not all, you know, happy go lucky in basketball and high school basketball right now, I think.
I think one of the teams to watch out for is Springdale.
Our producers, Alma Modern, which she's excited about because for the first time in a long time, they're actually really good.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: At basketball, and they've got a beautiful new arena. Leland. I can't wait for you to see it.
[00:33:44] Speaker B: That's true. But. So, yeah, I was really impressed with Springdale, their win against Rogers, 74 to 59. I thought they looked great in that game. But then last night, Springdale versus Rogers Heritage. That's my bummer of the week. I was really impressed by Springdale, but with Heritage, it was just one of those where, I'm not gonna lie, y'all. My first reaction, because it was 81 to 27 victory. And it kind of reminded me of the Arkansas vs Nicholls State game in football when they won 77. 7. Because I'd never seen a deficit that large before other than that football game. So that. That was kind of a bummer to me. I mean, good for Springdale. But Heritage has a lot to work on. I mean, I watched the first quarter of that, and it just really didn't change after that.
[00:34:35] Speaker A: Well, in. In fairness to Rogers Heritage spirit, Springdale has the capability of making a lot of teams, including Bentonville west, look that bad. So, yeah, when they're. When they're on and played well, it really kind of snowballed on Heritage. I was there last night, and it was just a tough deal.
[00:34:52] Speaker B: Every time you say I was there last night, you just sound so disappointed.
[00:34:57] Speaker A: Oh, well, you know, it's a long season and a lot of late nights during basketball. And, you know, with football season, you kind of gear up for that Friday night, and then you have all day Saturday. Well, I had to get up and go to work this morning, so Leland didn't have to get up and go to work anymore.
[00:35:13] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Lucky Leland. What the heck?
[00:35:17] Speaker C: Very blessed.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: Yes.
Well, anyway, to kind of cap it off, is there anything you guys would like to add? We're also, too. We actually had a question come in on our Instagram polls for both of you guys. If you'd like to answer it. A little Q and A style. But who do you think is going to be the standout player for the upcoming games this weekend? Like, who do you think, out of all the games, is going to be the standout player? There can only be. There can only be one for each of them.
[00:35:46] Speaker A: I'll Go first. And I'm going to go Isaiah Seely. And this is, and this is why he picked up three fouls less than four minutes into the game last night against Rogers Heritage. You know, and the Arkansas signee, Isaiah Seeley didn't really get to play a whole lot. I think he is going to have a big, big, big game on Friday against Bentonville west or will play a large role in it so that he's my pick.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: Okay, Leland.
[00:36:14] Speaker C: Well, I'm going to go back to the Almond Van Buren game. And you know one guy that we've not heard much from this basketball season. We heard a lot from him in football. We've heard a lot about him in his career. But I think the standout guy, the, the guy that's going to be the difference in the Alma and vampir and game. And I bet Graham's sitting there and he knows.
[00:36:34] Speaker A: I know who you're talking about. Trenton Cooley.
[00:36:37] Speaker C: Trenton Cooley's really good. Yes, you're right. Israel Towns Robinson. Because we've heard a lot about Trenton Cooley already in basketball season and he makes that team go. But I tell you, we haven't heard much about Israel Towns Robinson. And he is a tremendous force down low and he's just, he's almost unstoppable when he gets the ball inside. I think he makes the difference on Friday, on Tuesday night in the dogfight at Van Buren.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: That's a good pick you mentioned. Just a couple of things here up in Northwest Arkansas. So Springdale harbor announced the hiring of. Aaron Dannenhauer is their new head football coach. He was the offensive coordinator at Bentonville. Got a big, big tall task in front of him. We all want to see harbor get back to. To where they used to compete at in the upper echelons of that conference.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: I don't. But also I'm a.
I mean, I mean, I'm a Fayetteville alum. I gotta stay. I gotta stay true to my.
[00:37:37] Speaker A: If you, if you were to meet Aaron Dandenhauer, you'd love him, I promise. But he's a Bentonville guy. So if a Bentonville alum can.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: I mean, again, I think Fayetteville's the betterville.
[00:37:47] Speaker A: So there you go.
[00:37:49] Speaker B: Touchy subject there, too.
[00:37:52] Speaker A: So another big item coming up on Thursday. The AAA is going to meet down in Little Rock and the sites for the regional and state tournaments for just about everything. Basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, track and field, volleyball. For the upcoming fall, all that's going to be decided. Henry Apple will have full Coverage of all that.
Spoiler alert though. We know that Springdale will get that state tournament, Leland. And so we're, we're all. Yeah, they're the only ones who have bid on that in 6A. So we are excited.
[00:38:24] Speaker C: Absolutely. And that kind of goes back to the gentleman's agreement that the two, six, eight conferences have that alternates between the Central and the, and the West. So it's, it's good that Springdale, you know, has the new arena. It's now ready to go. And that's going to be a certainly a treat for Northwest Arkansas and the teams in the 6A West. They kind of get to play close to home.
So that's a big deal. Of course, 5A and on down, you know, who knows?
[00:38:53] Speaker A: Yep, Alma in the bidding for 5A. It'd be great to have it back at Alma. Cindy, if you've never been to a basketball game at Alma, it's a real treat.
Other big games coming up. Just one last thing for me. We mentioned Springdale and Bentonville west also on Friday. Northside and Bentonville girls are going to play. That's going to be a real good game.
You know. Then on Tuesday, your Fayetteville Bulldogs are going to be at Bentonville West. Another big big matchup. Bentonville and Rogers play. How about this one, Leland? You would, I bet even you would travel all the way to Mountain Home to go watch Farmington's girls play at Mountain Home on Tuesday.
[00:39:31] Speaker C: That may very well be for the conference championship at least one of two meetings. Now it's hard to believe that we're in this deep into the first prep rally podcast of the basketball season and we have not mentioned the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs yet. So that's, that's a shocker in itself. You know, they've won the last three state championships. So to say that Farmington and Mountain Home is, is the game that's going to decide the conference championship. I think the Lady Bulldogs are sitting there saying what about us, Kyla Piercey and Izzy Smith? You know, they played the final non conference game of the year. They played was against Bryant.
Piercey and Smith combined for 50 points in that win. The next Tuesday against Van Buren in the 5A west opener. They combined for 56 points in that game. Now against Alma on Tuesday night, they were held a 15 apiece. I say held a 15 apiece. That's still 30 combined points. Alma came back and won. Our Greenwood came back and won 52 to 44. But you know, Greenwood has still got something to say about that. Farmington Mountain home game, but it is a big one.
[00:40:44] Speaker A: Leland, did you have anything you needed to get mentioned about the River Valley?
[00:40:49] Speaker C: Well, of course, you know, we've still got, you know, a lot of things going on, but the Sequoia county tournament in Oklahoma just wrapped up. Roland won their second straight Sequoia county tournament championship. Muldrow, the number two seed, came out of the boys and defeated Salazar Central which knocked off top seed Rolling in the semifinals. Muldrow won that game 57 to 47.
And we talk about players in the River Valley and we talked about Tegan Collins a lot during football season. He is a highlight waiting to happen on the basketball court as well. I think he had three slams the other night, 11 points, nine rebounds, three steals, three slams. And he's a just a tremendous player. And of course coming up next week is the annual Lafleur county tournament which now goes back 100 years, consecutive years that that's been played.
Both Pecola teams are the top seeds. And Alyssa Parker of Pecola going to Oklahoma to play softball. Well, she just went over the 2,000 point mark in her basketball career too. So she's a pretty good, you know, basketball player as well. Of course we have wrestling, swimming, bowling going on, the indoor cross country or the indoor track seasons upon us too. So it's a very, very busy January and February. But anytime we talk about sports in January and February, we always have to say weather permitting.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: Well, with that being said, you guys, it has been a great first show and we will see you next week here on Prep Rally. Another thanks to our sponsor West Termite Pest and Lawn. And we'll see you guys next Wednesday.
