Change: 4A-1 basketball conference in two divisions

While I guess I missed this particular bit of news, the boys and girls basketball conference play in the 4A-1 District has been split into East/West divisional play due to the extra team placed in the conference this cycle.

Last year, the 4A-1 was split and then combined with the 3A-1 to form blended conferences which met none of the sought after goals while creating new problems. That idea was scrapped, so the AAA decided to eliminate the 7A classification, pushing the 16 7A teams into the 6A class, in turn pushing those 16 teams into the 5A class, with the 5A losing 16 of their members downward, with the 4A pushing their 16 smaller members into the 3A class.

The shake out was that that two of the northern 4A districts (including the 4A1) ended up with 9 teams with the two furthest south 4A conferences winding up with 7 league members. The two districts kind of in the middle retained their normal eight team alignment. The 4A-1 lost Lincoln to the 3A class this year with Harrison and Farmington moving in to take the Wolves place.

Pea Ridge wound up in the West Division of the 4A-1 along with Gentry, Gravette, Farmington and Prairie Grove. The East Division has Berryville, Huntsville, Harrison and Shiloh Christian. The teams play at home in their own division and just a single conference game against their out of division conference opponents.

The ’Hawks were slated to play Shiloh Tuesday night for perhaps their only matchup of the season. Shiloh’s boys and girls teams are both ranked near the bottom of the state rankings which usually means a quick end to their season.

The divisional arrangement reduces the number of conference games and allows the teams a bit more flexibility in scheduling. This arrangement will be in force for this season and next, where it might likely be upended for for something new, the AAA’s usual way of doing things.

The district playoffs begin in February, with the top four district finishers going on to regionals, with the top four there going on to the state tournament.

Blackhawk girls garner all-time high ranking

Heath Neal’s Lady Blackhawk basketball girls have reached the No. 4 ranking in the MaxPreps/CBS 4A State poll this weekend.

The ’Hawks are the third team of the 4A-1 that is ranked in the top four overall in 4A. Farmington is the state’s No. 1 ranked team with fellow district opponent Berryville right behind in the second place ranking.

The Lady ’Hawks will host the No. 2 Bobcats on Jan. 18 with the top ranked Cardinals coming to town on Jan. 29. There are eight conference games left after the Shiloh game of last night.

Interestingly, the Blackhawks are ranked No. 20 in the state regardless of classification. They are ranked ahead of Rogers, Heritage, Siloam Springs, Bentonville West, Springdale and Springdale Harber, all 6A and 5A teams.

Pea Ridge has made their climb to the top despite their being placed in a much tougher classification of the current season. Half of the 2018 5A teams were moved into the 4A for this season.

The boys have a 14-4 record, but could have easily been 18-0. They lost 1-point decisions to Eureka Springs (49-48) and Robinson (43-42) while losing two games by a single basket. Farmington won 65-63 in triple overtime with Alma edging the ’Hawks 64-62. The ’Hawks four losses were by a grand total of 6 points.

MaxPreps State 4A Basketball girls poll

1. Farmington

2. Berryville

3. Batesville

4. Pea Ridge

5. Star City

6. Clarksville

7. Highland

8. Brookland 12-2 16-0 13-2 15-3 13-2 14-4 9-5 8-4

9. Harrison

10. Morillton

11. Stuttgart

12. DeQueen

13. Pulaski

14. Pottsville

15. Camden

16. Warren

17. Gravette

18. Bauxite

19. ESTEM

20. Nashville

21. Heber Springs

22. Ozark

23. Pocahontas

24. Valley View

25. Prairie Grove

26. Huntsville

27. Dardanelle

28. Mena

29. Monticello

30. Gentry

31. Magnolia

32. Robinson

33. Crossett

34. Lonoke

35. Southside

36. Dover

37. Forrest City

38. McClellan

39. Shiloh

40. Westside

41. Mills

42. Blytheville

43. Hope

44. Malvern

45. Arkadelphia

46. Hamburg

47. Wynne 12-3 12-3 15-1 11-2 6-5 8-6 12-3 5-3 8-6 13-4 10-7 7-3 8-6 8-9 8-7 6-8 5-7 6-10 5-7 7-6 6-6 5-6 6-5 4-6 10-4 6-8 3-12 7-9 3-7 3-5 5-11 4-7 4-8 1-11 1-5 2-10 2-11 2-12 0-11

MaxPreps/CBS State 4A Boys basketball poll

1. Mills

2. Westside

3. Pottsville

4. Harrison

5. ESTEM

6. Forrest City

7. Brookland

8. McClellan

9. Blytheville

10. Pea Ridge

11. Magnolia

12. Southside

13. Mena

14. Dardanelle

15. Pulaski

16. Subiaco

17. Farmington

18. Robinson

19. Lonoke

20. Valley View

21. Monticello

22. Huntsville

23. Stuttgart

24. Ozark

25. Star City

26. Morrilton

27. Warren

28. Camden

29. Nashville

30. Bauxite

31. Arkadelphia

32. Crossett

33. Highland

34. Gravette

35. Hamburg 10-3 11-2 11-3 12-3 14-7 6-5 9-3 8-5 7-4 14-4 6-3 11-4 11-4 11-2 6-3 9-5 11-6 7-5 8-5 7-6 8-4 11-5 7-6 9-6 9-4 7-8 6-4 5-6 5-3 8-8 4-4 5-6 7-6 8-7 8-8