Girls’ 1A finalists bear resemblance

Classifying Mammoth Spring’s and Norfork’s runs to the Class 1A girls state-title game as surprising is about as tongue-in-cheek as it gets for a pair of programs that have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 all season.

Both returned the bulk of the lineups they trotted out in last year’s championship game when the two met, and each has won 30-plus games apiece for the second consecutive year.

About the only thing that could serve as a shocker when they meet today at 6 p.m. at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs is if either wins by a wide margin, and even that may not be likely.

“We’re so much alike,” Norfork Coach Luke Cornett said. “Even when we played [Mammoth Spring] over at regionals a few weeks ago, I felt like it was two evenly-matched teams out there. Both of us are pretty close as far as matchups go. They’ve got a lot of young experience back just like we do, and that makes for a pretty good game, especially when there’s a state title on the line.”

Norfork (31-7), the defending champion, and Mammoth Spring (37-4) have indirectly been joined at the hip ever since the Lady Panthers pulled out a 48-43 victory over the Lady Bears to win the 2022 championship, particularly because of what each had coming back. But in Norfork’s case, the pressure to repeat wasn’t as profound as some may think.

Mammoth Spring has been the team situated atop Class 1A rankings instead of the reigning champs, so in a sense, that burden hasn’t been as heavy for Norfork. That’s not to say the Lady Panthers haven’t been shouldering any additional weight.

“I think the girls have felt some pressure at times to get back to the final,” Cornett explained. “It’s a little bit of a different dynamic this year, but they knew they had to play well if they were going to get back to Hot Springs. It’s not just given to you so I think they’ve been pretty focused about it all.

“They went into every game knowing they’d have to play their best. We’ve got some 11th-graders that have two years of finals experience, and that’s been helpful because they know how tough it was last year just to get there.”

Among that junior contingent are a pair of 1,000-point career scorers in Liza Shaddy and Keely Blanchard, who both scored 11 points during Norfork’s 55-26 victory over Rural Special in last week’s semifinal. Both logged nearly 30 minutes a year ago in the title game and are expected to be on the court extensively in the rematch.

The Lady Panthers have generally been at their best when senior Kiley Alman, another 1,000-point scorer, is on. The 5-8 guard, who was the most valuable player of last season’s tournament, led the way with 21 points in Norfork’s previous game.

The Lady Bears do have just as much experience as the Lady Panthers. All five of Mammoth Spring’s starters played at least 15 minutes in the prior title tilt, and they’ve been just as dominant as the team they’ll confront today.

Brynn Washam is averaging more than 20 points while others regularly land in double figures for a team that’s won 30 of its 37 games by at least 15 points. One of the few games where the Lady Bears didn’t blow out their opponents occurred in the 1A-2 Regional final when they held off Norfork 44-40.

“We just turned the ball over too much to win that game,” Cornett said. “If we don’t do that, then we’ve got a really good chance to win, not saying that we would’ve. I think we’d have a good shot in that fourth quarter. Instead, we were trying to play catchup, and that was the difference in the game.”

Limiting those mistakes are one of the recipes that Cornett believes his team needs to follow if they’re going to repeat.

“We’ve got to shoot it well and handle their pressure, too,” he said. “That’s a big key for us, and we’ve got to slow down No. 4 [Washam]. I know there will be a few nerves at the start for the girls because it’s the biggest stage of basketball in Arkansas. I actually hope they do feel some so it’ll kind of focus them a little bit.

“But at the same time, we need to play relaxed, find that happy medium.”