Hawks’ stellar season comes to a close

Heath Neal’s Blackhawk girls basketball girls very successful season came to a quicker than hoped end with a 43-41 loss to Little Rock Pulaski in the 4A State Tournament Quarterfinals last Friday in Morrilton.

The Lady Hawks won a hard fought 42-37 victory over Nashville in the state tourney’s opening round. All three representatives of our 4A-1 District made it to the Elite Eight, the state quarterfinals. Farmington won their first round game 59-45 over Batesville Southside with Harrison whipping Brookland 49-41.

While our Hawks lost a tough decision in the quarterfinals, Harrison upset defending champion Star City 62-57 in their matchup with Farmington thumping favored Mena 72-47 in their quest to get to the next round. In the semifinals, Harrison dispatched Morrilton 54-48 with Farmington edging Pulaski 67-62 to set up an all 4A-1 State Championship final this coming weekend in Hot Springs.

Ironically, in the District Tournament, Pea Ridge finished ahead of both Farmington and Harrison, beating the Cardinals along the way. In the regional, the Hawks were again the top finishing team from the 4A1, besting Harrison en route to the finals. Now the state championship comes down to a game between Harrison and Farmington, teams the Hawks defeated during their playoff run.

This year’s playoff competition has seen the tightest competition I have seen in years with so many very, very close scores. There were perhaps seven or eight teams capable of capturing the 2021 4A State Title, but Farmington and Harrison were the teams to make it to the final dance.

The girls ran up 23 victories in a covid-ravaged season, not a small thing. That’s more games than Harrison will win this year and the total is currently tied with Farmington. The Lady Hawks proved this season that they could play with anyone and could have won a state title in 2021. They played with class and with a lot of heart and I, like other fans, hate to see it come to a close.

The Blackhawks are losing a lot of talent through graduation this spring, but they will return a nucleus of seasoned players, two of them starters, for the 20212022 campaign.

I regret missing their last two days as an unexpected cancer surgery sidelined me last week through the weekend. WIth no broadcast available, all I could find on the internet were final scores.

With girls’ basketball coming to a close, fans won’t have wait to catch Lady Blackhawk athletes in action as the softball and track and field seasons are already in full swing.

Heather Wade’s tracksters have won the last five state track and field championships available, missing out on the last two only because they were cancelled. I will have more on the upcoming track and field campaign in next week’s column.

You can’t win them all

The Razorback mens baseball team won the first 12 games of the 2021 season, combining with their four-game winning streak at the NCAA shut down baseball season in 2020 giving them a 16-game skein. That streak came to an end when they lost a 2-0 decision at Louisiana Tech this past Sunday.

I have always been a baseball fan, rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals since 1964, picking up the Hogs as a favored team when I moved to Arkansas in the 1980s.

While I love baseball, the only weak point of the game, if you could call it that, is the ability of a good pitcher to take over a game. Arkansas had been averaging a bunch of runs per game until the Sunday afternoon down in Louisiana. Tech starter Jarrett Whorff lasted the whole nine innings on the mound, allowing just two hits. Hog pitcher Lael Lockhart allowed just four hits, none of them hard, but two of them came together in the fifth inning to provide the only runs in the contest.

The Hogs played Oklahoma Tuesday in Fayetteville, and they will open SEC play at home this weekend, hosting the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Sooners were 7-7 headed into the match having beaten SEC teams Auburn and Missouri in single games. Notably, they lost a game with Arkansas State 15-14 last Sunday.

Alabama has started out hot, piling up a 14-3 record in 2021. They swept McNeese State, Wright State, and took two of three from Stetson and College of Charleston. The Tide is ranked in the top 20 in some polls.

Arkansas was ranked No. 1 prior to the Louisiana game with the following polls. CBI National Poll, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1 Baseball, NCBWA and USA Today. The lone loss may or may not topple the Hogs from No. 1 as they did win the series against Louisiana Tech 2-1.

Hardcourt Hogs back in the big dance

After several years of looking in the window, the Arkansas Razorbacks men’s team are back in it with a No. 3 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Division 1 National Basketball Tournament.

This year, all the games are being played in and around Indianapolis, Ind., due to covid concerns, so the West, North, South and East Regions are all playing in the same area.

Coach Eric Musselman is being considered for national coach of the year honors with his sharp turnaround of Hog basketball futures. Compiling their best record in years at 22-6, the Hogs drew first round opponent Colgate, who captured the Patriot League Tournament to get their ticket to the show.

Colgate has only played 15 games, compiling a 14-1 record. However, 12 of those games came against just five teams. They played four games against Holy Cross, all of which they won, and they carry a 57th ranking among all the school in the tournament.

Arkansas is the No. 9 seed overall for the tournament, even after stumbling against LSU in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. If they beat Colgate, they will play the winner of Texas Tech (17-10) and Utah State (208). Texas Tech is ranked 22nd nationally with Utah State ranked 42nd.

If Arkansas wins those two games, they will have to play the survivor of Florida (14-9), Virginia Tech (15-6), Ohio State (21-9) and Oral Roberts (16-10). The No. 1 seed in the upper bracket is Baylor, who is 22-2 with a No. 2 national seeding.

The Razorbacks have made tremendous strides over the past few months, and they have talent and the coaching to go far this playoff season.

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Editor’s note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg.com.