Wildcats to face Chickasaws in state playoffs
The state playoffs are a new stage to the current Watson Chapel boys basketball players, but senior Kamron Wilkins is happy to be there.
“It feels good for it to be my last year and go out with a big bang, hopefully trying to win a state championship,” the guard said.
After back-to-back losing seasons, the Wildcats will experience their own March Madness for the first time tonight against a Blytheville team that won its first-round battle with Dardanelle, 63-47, Wednesday night. Tipoff is at 7 tonight at Morrilton High School.
Watson Chapel (139) took advantage of a lucky draw as the No. 2 seed from the 4A South Region, which was given a first-round bye this year along with the three region champions.
“We’ve been working hard for the last three years with Coach [Marcus] Adams, and we finally got to the point where we’re supposed to,” Wilkins said. “For the young guys, they get the experience. This is their first time with me. So it’s real inspirational.”
Inspirational is a likely description for the Wildcats’ season in general. On Jan. 5, they were 2-7 following a 58-47 loss to Conference 4A-8 nemesis Magnolia. Ten days later, they were 5-7 before having to pause their season due to a positive covid-19 case and contact tracing.
Eighteen days passed before they could extend their winning streak, which reached nine before a district championship loss to Magnolia. In the wake of a fatal shooting on their next-door junior high school campus, the Wildcats played on and finished second to Magnolia in the 4A South Region final.
Now in search of the school’s first state championship since 1999, Watson Chapel isn’t planning on going to state just for the experience.
“We have to win this game so we can go win the next game to go back [to Hot Springs] and try to win the whole state championship,” said junior Christopher Fountain, coming off a 13-point effort in the region final six days ago.
Watson Chapel or Blytheville will play 7 p.m. Saturday against the winner of today’s Mills-Farmington battle for a ticket to Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs on March 20.
Since their last game, the Wildcats only rested enough to ramp up the intensity on the practice floor in hopes of matching Blytheville’s allaround strength.
“We’re in the state tournament, and you’ve got to be strong-minded physically and in toughness,” the third-year head coach said. “You’re at this point, now. It’s about who wants it the most.”
Extra practice time allowed Watson Chapel to “clean up some stuff” from regionals, Adams said, as the Wildcats waited to get a scouting report on the next opponent. Adams wrote out a scouting report on Blytheville (27-4) on his whiteboard to show to his players at the start of Thursday’s practice.
The Chickasaws went 13-0 in Conference 4A-3 but lost their East Region final to Mills 54-52 to fall into the Dardanelle matchup. All but three of their players are 6 feet or taller, but none are shorter than 5-foot-9.
“Coach McKenzie Pierce does a very good job with that program,” Adams said. “Those kids are extremely athletic. They’re physical, and they play hard.”
Pierce is a former University of Arkansas graduate assistant who previously served as head coach at East Poinsett County. With the Chickasaws, Pierce has built a team that Adams says is similar to Magnolia and Bryant in terms of talent and size.
“If we can match their physicality and toughness, hopefully by the fourth quarter it can be a ballgame,” Adams said. “I know my guys are up for the challenge, and I know my young guys are capable of doing it. It’s just when the ball goes in the air, what are we willing to do to try to survive and advance?”