Watson Chapel takes fall at regionals

The 4A South regional basketball tournament wasn’t kind to southeast Arkansas teams, including Watson Chapel.

The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats both dropped their opening-round games in Nashville, ending their respective seasons Thursday night.

The Watson Chapel girls, who finished as Conference 4A-8 co-champions with Hamburg, fell 60-56 in overtime to Magnolia, the Lady Wildcats’ second close loss to the Lady Panthers this season. The boys lost 53-48 to Camden Fairview.

The Lady Wildcats (238) led Magnolia 36-30 after the third quarter, but the Lady Panthers scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Magnolia outscored Watson Chapel 10-6 in overtime to advance to the regional semifinals and clinch a spot in the 4A state tournament.

Watson Chapel junior Kha’leyce Cooper led the Lady Wildcats with 24 points, including 4 in overtime. Maranda Emerson scored 14, and fellow sophomore Christian Lovett scored 10.

The Watson Chapel boys (15-13) trailed 15-9 after the first quarter and couldn’t catch up. Armon Leavy led the Wildcats with 14 points.

Watson Chapel wasn’t alone in suffering first round losses. In the girls’ bracket, all four 4A-8 teams lost to 4A-7 teams in the opening round. Top-seed Hamburg fell 66-37 to Arkadelphia, Star City lost 5551 to Camden Fairview, and Mills University Studies lost 72-26 to host Nashville.

On the boys’ side, Stuttgart fell 85-57 to top-seeded Magnolia, but Warren advanced with a 67-61 win against Arkadelphia. Mills, the top seed from 4A-8, beat Nashville 82-65. Friday, Mills topped Warren 78-50 in the regional semifinals.

Southeast Arkansas had more success in the 3A-4 tournament in Jessieville. Among the boys, Dumas beat Genoa Central 57-30, while Lake Village Lakeside beat Centerpoint 52-46. McGehee advanced with a 5950 win against the hosts, but DeWitt fell 49-39 to Haskell Harmony Grove. Dumas went on to beat Lakeside 6339 Friday, while McGehee and Harmony Grove met after press time.

On the girls’ side, Dumas beat Harmony Grove 53-31, and Drew Central edged Centerpoint 35-34 in overtime. DeWitt fell 81-27 to Fouke, while McGehee lost 71-61 to Jessieville. Friday afternoon, Dumas beat Drew Central 70-25 in the semifinals.

All three southeast Arkansas teams in the 2A South tournament in Acorn advanced. The Fordyce boys beat Acorn 75-33, and Woodlawn took down Spring Hill 62-57. They met after press time Friday night. The Woodlawn girls beat Murfreesboro 46-41 to advance, then fell 55-26 to Acorn on Friday.

In the 1A-4 regional in Emerson, the Dermott boys advanced with a 92-69 win against Lafayette County, but the girls fell 73-32 to Taylor. The Dermott boys played Bradley after press time Friday.

Teams which won opening round games at regionals will play in their respective state tournaments.