Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Class 6A seedings still up in the air
With state tournament play officially starting next week, there’s still a lot left to be determined in Arkansas’ largest classification.
All of it will be worked out by the end of tonight.
In the 6A-Central, Little Rock Central (24-5, 9-2) and Jonesboro ( 26-3, 10-1) will play for the conference’s highest seed. The Golden Hurricane beat the Tigers 53-44 on Jan. 27 and can still earn the No. 1 seed even with a loss — as long as it’s by nine points or less. Central could gain a share of the league title with a win but would have to beat Jonesboro by at least 10 points to finish in the top spot.
The No. 3-6 seeds were determined Thursday night, with Cabot (19-8, 7-5) landing third after beating North Little Rock (17-9, 6-6) 56-55, which dropped to fourth. Bryant (20-10, 5-7) wrestled fifth place from Conway (1513, 4-8) by virtue of its 50-39 victory.
On the girls side, Conway (25-5, 11-1) and North Little Rock (24-5, 9-3) are one and two, respectively. Central (16-11, 7-4) can take third if it handles Jonesboro (10-16, 3-8), but if it loses, the Lady Tigers would switch spots with Cabot (21-6, 7-5) due to tiebreaker points. Bryant (1511, 4-8) is No. 5 while Jonesboro is No. 6.
Over in the 6A-West, Bentonville West (24-3, 13-2) will look to exact revenge on Springdale Har-Ber (20-6, 123) when it hosts the Wildcats in the regular-season finale. The Wolverines, who lost to Har-Ber earlier in the year, will grab the No. 1 seed with a win but would fall to second if they lose. If the Wildcats are victorious, they would ascend to first. However, a loss could potentially knock Har-Ber down to third behind Springdale (22-7, 11-4) if the Bulldogs defeat Fort Smith Northside (17-12, 8-7).
The other three seeds are already set with Bentonville locked in at No. 4, Fayetteville (19-9, 9-6) at No. 5 and Northside at No. 6.
Things are more murky for the girls teams in the 6A-West, especially since there could potentially be a three-way tie for first. Bentonville (24-6, 13-3), which is finished with its regular season, will be tied with HarBer (18-8, 12-3) and Northside (22-5, 12-3) if both manage to pick up road victories. If that happens, the Lady Tigers would get the No. 1 seed not only because of their season sweep over the Lady Bears, but also due to their head-tohead points advantage in its two-game split with the Lady Wildcats.
Northside would also have the edge on Har-Ber for the No. 2 seed because of its points advantage when both won on their respective home floors in their two meetings.
In addition, Rogers Heritage (18-10, 7-8) and Rogers (12-16, 7-8) will meet for the No. 5 and 6 seeds. Fayetteville (15-13, 8-7) is fourth no matter how its game with Fort Smith Southside turns out.