Harrison set for national tournament

North Arkansas College in Harrison has hosted the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II women’s basketball tournament the past two seasons.

The college will host the tournament a third consecutive time, beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Pioneer Pavilion.

The 16-team tournament runs from Tuesday-Saturday, featuring teams from Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

North Arkansas College public relations and marketing director Micki Somers said the school bid for the tournament in 2016. The NJCAA has the college with the winning bid host the tournament for three seasons and charges the school an average of $6,500 a year to put on the tournament.

Seeing how the local community has hosted several high school sports tournaments over the years, Somers said the college saw an opportunity with bringing a national tournament to the city.

“Sports is a big draw here,” Somers said.

Somers said improvements were made to Pioneer Pavilion before 2017, including a

new wood basketball court for $100,000 and remodeled locker rooms for $40,000.

The Harrison Convention and Visitors Bureau told North Arkansas College that the tournament in 2018 brought in $2 million to the

city’s economy.

“We have 16 teams that come from around the nation,” Somers said. “Last year, 156 hotel rooms were rented out, which meant 106 nights. They reported about spending $45,000 for food.”

Somers said Harrison and area residents will support certain schools throughout the tournament.

“They go eat with them,” Somers said. “They give them all of the information. They cheer them on.”

When out-of-town fans aren’t watching the games, Somers said they’ll travel in the region.

“They explore here between the games,” Somers said of the teams and their fans. “Some of them float the Buffalo River. Some of them go to Branson.”

Illinois Central (31-1) is the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The Cougars have won 31 consecutive games since a season-opening loss to North Iowa Area on Nov. 2.

North Iowa Area (27-5) is the No. 2 seed. Kansas City, Kan. (28-4), Moraine Valley (Ill.) (28-4) and Niagara County (N.Y.) (31-0) round out the top five seeds.

Monroe Community College in New York won last year’s NJCAA Division II women’s national championship.

Hosting the tournament has been worth it for North Arkansas College, Somers said.

“It’s a draw for us to recruit,” Somers said.

The tournament will move to St. Clair, Mich., where it will be held from 2020-22.