Day hoops stopped
Class 2A title teams had pre-game worries
Melbourne girls basketball Coach Eric Teague and England boys Coach Trent Morgan haven’t been cruising through their respective towns as much as normal recently.
It’s essentially the status quo nowadays for coaches and players across Arkansas since the coronavirus pandemic forced a statewide shutdown of high school sports.
“After winning the championship, everything was shut down so quick, you didn’t really have a lot of time to enjoy it with the kids,” said Teague, who along with Morgan may wind up being the state’s last two title-winning coaches this season. “But the thing about that is that I’ve had some time to sit back and kind of reflect on what we accomplished, and it’s been really nice.”
For a time, Teague and his Lady Bearkatz weren’t sure if their title game would take place.
Before Melbourne’s Class 2A title game March 12 against Quitman, there were rumblings about whether the game would be played because of ongoing sports cancellations nationwide. Both the Class 1A girls and boys championship games had been completed hours earlier at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs, even as nationwide concerns ratcheted up.
Other high school sports organizations across the country had begun postponing or canceling basketball tournaments and finals. When sports entities such as the NBA and NCAA conferences started shutting down, it seemed inevitable the Natural State would be hit, too.
“There was definitely some concern for us,” said Morgan, who guided the Lions to their second consecutive Class 2A boys crown by beating Earle 68-57 in the last game March 12. “We were there for the 1A boys game between Nevada and Izard County, but we left afterwards to go eat.
“It wasn’t until we were going through a walk-through at Magnet Cove High School that calls started pouring in about possible cancellations. Needless to say it was stressful, especially because we were supposed to play in the last game of the night.”
Teague also was aware of the hearsay surrounding the games and the increasing discomfort surrounding the pandemic.
“Actually, we were eating when we started hearing a lot of rumors going back and forth that games may be canceled,” he said. “We knew the 1A games had gone on, but we started hearing that it was a possibility that they’d cancel ours. For our girls, there was a lot of anxiety about that.
“That bothered them pretty badly because they were that close, and it was a possibility that they weren’t going to get to play.”
To compound worries, the event’s format had changed this year. Instead of games being played one after the other throughout the day, they were broken up into two games per session. That meant at least a 21/2-hour break between the final game of the first session and the first game of the second session.
The Arkansas Activities Association issued a news release not long after Nevada’s 48-47 victory over Izard County closed out the first session. It decided the last two Thursday games would be played, but games Friday and Saturday were postponed.
“That was kind of a relief for us at least,” said Teague, whose team beat Quitman 4728. “To be honest, that news kind of calmed the nerves just a little bit because the girls were more worried about the game being played at all. That may sound funny, but that’s where their anxiety came from.
“We were the hunted all year long and defended our title from Day One. I think by the time we got to the state tournament and the final game, the nerves had already been worked out. Because of that, they were able to just come out relaxed and play once it was decided that there was going to be a game.”
The Lions were just as calm when they took the floor at 7:45 p.m. against Earle, but the lead up was anything but smooth sailing.
Morgan, who served as an assistant during England’s title run last season, said he tried to get his team ready to play as best he could, but the uncertainty was difficult.
“[The phone calls] would come through, and I would just start kicking them out because, of course, I was getting ready for the game to be played,” he said. “Luckily, my assistant coach took the calls, and people were saying, ‘Y’all’s game won’t be played,’ and things like that.
“I was still going on the fact that we were going to play until I heard it from our athletic director or Lance Taylor, who’s the director of the AAA. If I didn’t hear from them, I told the guys we were going to prepare as if we were playing the game.”
It was business as usual once they heard the game would go on, with a few additional butterflies.
“Even though we were there last year, it’s still a different feeling because it’s the biggest game on the schedule … it’s the state championship game,” Morgan said. “You could kind of tell early on they were a little nervous, but we came out and played pretty well from the tip. We always get everybody’s best shot, and that’s the crazy thing about being at the top per se. Everybody plays you hard.”
Both Melbourne and England will head into next season searching for a threepeat, but the AAA mandated a dead period that began March 17. That ruling prohibited coaches and any registered volunteers from participating in sports-related activities with athletes through March 30, and high school athletic facilities were ordered to close during that time. The length of the dead period has been extended through at least April 17 since then.
Both coaches said the shutdown has kept them from getting workouts in with their ballclubs, but Teague thinks the pause can do his Lady Bearkatz some good.
“A lot of these kids play AAU ball, so for the last two years, they’ve played a lot of basketball,” he said. “We’ve made those deep runs at state, so I think this is a blessing for us because they needed a break. Several of the kids, you can tell they were really getting tired with so much basketball being played. Hopefully, they’ll come back fresh and ready to work when everything gets back to normal.”
Morgan said he is going to try to ensure the Lions stay somewhat sharp.
“England is a basketball town, and that’s what I love about it,” he said. “As coaches, we can kind of do a few things behind the scenes, like looking at possibly drills, things like that. For the kids, they can’t get in the gym.
“But if you drive through England and get to that second stoplight, you’re gonna see people out there playing on that blacktop. My kids ask me, ‘Coach, can you set up some things for us to do? What can we do?’ For the guys coming back, they’re hungry, and they’re gonna put the work in one way or the other to get back to that final game next season.”