Title long time coming for Bigelow, Marshall
Whoever wins today’s boys Class 2A state championship between Bigelow and Marshall can reach a noteworthy milestone inside Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs, and the opposing coaches each feel their programs are long overdue.
“I think that’s probably kind of an understatement for us,” said a laughing Marshall Coach Donnie Smith. “The last time the team got there was in 1946 when they won it, long before I was thought of. But just the fact that we’ve got the opportunity to end that drought, that’s exciting in itself. The kids are pumped, I’m pumped, the community and town. … It’s been great.
“Honestly, I feel more excited for everyone else than I do myself because it’s been a long time coming.”
It hasn’t been nearly as long since Bigelow played in a state championship game. The Panthers played in the Class 2A final in 2005, but the excitement level is just as intense. In fact, the enthusiasm is at an all-time high according to head coach Craig Neumeier.
“It’s been unbelievable,” he said. “Just the support from the school, the community and even on the outside from some other schools and people who’ve reached out to us. It’s exciting for all of us.”
Neumeier was coaching on the sidelines the last time Bigelow made its championship appearance when his Panthers came up short in a 63-35 loss to Buffalo Island Central. The team hasn’t been back since that time so he can imagine how bringing home a state title would feel for not only he and his program, but for everyone in the Perry County town.
“Oh man, it’d be such a big deal,” Neumeier said. “At the very first of the year, we talked about all our goals and expectations, and we thought we had a chance to get [to the finals] because we knew we’d be pretty good. But about the middle of January, me and [assistant] Coach [Craig] Wilson were just like, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good’. It wasn’t us bragging or anything, either.
“The kids believed it, and they kept working at it, but they didn’t settle. And I think every since the regional tournament, each game we’ve gotten a little better, and at this time of the year, that’s hard to do.”
What the Panthers have done is hard for any team to accomplish. Bigelow (30-2) has won 19 consecutive games since its last loss — a 61-56 decision at Concord — during the Mount Vernon-Enola Holiday Tournament. The Panthers would go on to easily romp to the 2A-5 Conference title by winning 13 of their league contests by double figures before carrying that torrid pace to the postseason, culminatig with a hard-fought 69-61 win over Rector in last week’s semifinal round on the Cougars’ home floor.
Today, they’ll have a chance to cap it all if it can do something they did back on Feb. 24, and that’s beat Marshall (27-8).
Bigelow big man Javon Orr (20 points) and Bennett Wilson (17) combined for 37 points in a 63-47 victory during that meeting in the finals of the 2A-Central Regional tournament.
“Man we played terrible defense that night,” Smith said. “For them, [Wilson] and [Orr] are some huge pieces. [Wilson] is hard to guard, especially because he can shoot the three and get to the rim, but with the big guy, you’ve got to keep him out of the lane. If he gets in there, he’s gonna score every time, and that’s pretty much what did the last time we saw them.”
Despite what the Panthers were able to do in that first matchup, Neumeier is leery of the Bobcats, especially their leading scorer Payton DePriest.
“He’s really, really good,” he mentioned. “They’ve got some size with [Logan Ward] and the [Jessie] Ragland kid. He likes to play around the post a lot, but he can step out and hit perimeter shots, and that caused us some problems at times when we tried to match up. And shoot, we couldn’t have started the game any worse the first time because we got down 8-0 quick.
“But then we found a little rotation that started to work, and it kind of changed it for us.”
Neumeier and Smith agree they would’ve anticipated a tight down-to-wire kind of game even if a state title wasn’t on the line, but because there’s more than just an average game up for grabs, the intensity is expected to be greater.
That notion is alone is why Smith believes his group has to up the ante even moreso.
“We’ve got to be locked in from the tip, especially on defense,” he said. “Sell out and understand that defense is what’s gonna get the win for us. Crashing the boards goes along with that, but we’ve got to get after them and try to limit what they’re able to do.
“If we can do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance to maybe score one more point than they do.”