Pollsters get it right with Melbourne

How can anyone claim a Class 2A team is better than a Class 6A powerhouse with two Division I signees, including a McDonald’s All-American?

Good question, easy answer: Head-to-head competition.

Our man, Erick Taylor, placed Melbourne No. 1 and Fort Smith Northside No. 2 in his final high school girls poll after both teams won state championships in basketball. Melbourne No. 1 and Northside No. 2 was also the verdict from a poll of statewide media members compiled each week by Scott McDonald, a veteran sports writer.

It would be hard for anyone, even Northside fans, to argue with their assessment after Melbourne beat Northside (54-48) and Jonesboro (50-40), state champions in Class 5A, during non-conference games in November. Granted, teams are often much different during the winter months than they are in March. UCLA proved as much when the No. 11 seed went 5-1 in the NCAA Tournament with consecutive wins over Alabama and Michigan after going 13-6 in conference play.

We’ve long grown accustomed to rematches in Arkansas, especially in the largest classification when 12 teams from two conference advance to the playoffs. But a rematch between the Lady Bearkatz (31-1) and Lady Bears (26-2) would’ve been dynamic, like our own Hoosiers, where tiny Milan High School beat heavily-favored Muncie Central when teams in Indiana played for one state championship in basketball.

The state of Arkansas held for years an Overall Tournament when teams from different classifications played to determine who was really the best in boys and girls basketball. That format produced the state’s own version of Hoosiers, when Class B Parkdale won the Overall Tournament after beating larger schools in Osceola, Pine Bluff, and top-ranked Marmaduke in the finals. The Dragons won 42 of 44 games that season and why the team is not in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, I can’t explain.

I covered the Overall Tournament at the Farris Center on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas a few times before it was discontinued following the 1991-92 season. The coaches killed it and a conversation I had at the time with one coach went something like this:

“We reached all of our goals and won a state championship and now we’re going home a loser (after being eliminated in the Overall Tournament). It’s not fair to our kids.”

Or to the coaches, apparently, who got their feelings hurt.

Schools in the larger classifications won the vast majority of games in the Overall Tournament, but it sure was enjoyable for fans from small communities when their teams pulled an upset. Melbourne likely wouldn’t have received a chance to play large schools like Jonesboro and Northside this season if not for a directive from the Arkansas Activities Association in September. That’s when the AAA prohibited teams from participating in tournaments because of covid-19 concerns. The ruling left teams scrambling for games and led to some rare and exciting matchups.

High school basketball fans will long remember Jersey Wolfenbarger, the Razorbacks signee and Arkansas Girls Player of the Year who led Northside to its eighth state championship in March. We’ll remember, too, Tracey Bershers, the MVP of the 6A championship game who’s headed to Oklahoma State.

And how about Haitiana Releford, who’ll return next season after scoring 20 points in the championship game?

Let’s also salute Melbourne, which won 31 consecutive games while winning its third consecutive state championship in Class 2A. The Lady Bearkats had outstanding players like Jenna Lawrence, who’ll join Wolfenbarger at Arkansas after she tries to lead Melbourne to a fourth straight title as a senior next season.

The high school basketball season is over but talk about basketball continues. Without the Overall Tournament to settle arguments, we can reach only one conclusion.

Melbourne was the best high school girls team in Arkansas this season, regardless of class.