What could have been … state 4A basketball tournament

Wouldn’t you know it? Two of the teams that the girls’ Blackhawk basketball team whipped in District and Region competition would wind up as the two teams to play for the 4A State Championship Saturday, March 13.

Harrison wound up with the 2021 State Title, cruising past Farmington 68-54 in the championship final. Both teams shot poorly from the 3-point line (mid20%), their turnovers were about the same, Harrison only scored four more from the free throw line than Farmington, but the stat that proved to be the difference was the Goblins’ 46% shooting from the floor compared to just 37% by the Cardinals.

The Boone county school used their defense to never let Farmington have very few wide open shots. They were also helped mightily by Alpena transfer Alex Hill who scored nearly half of Harrison’s points with 30. Hill was an all-state player for Alpena but decided to transfer to Harrison for her senior year.

The 4A-1 District claimed both finalists, with the eventual state champion

Harrison team failing to even make the district or region finals. The Goblins finished third in district, fourth in the regions, even though the statewide paper inferred that Harrison lost to Farmington for the North Region crown, when they were really actually playing for third.

Heath Neal’s Lady Hawks had a great year, won a lot of games. The few they lost were games they could have won, meaning they were never out of any game, especially after Christmas. It’s hard to win ’em all, as sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way. The greatest thing I take away from this season was that we had a team that never gave up in the face of adversity, never went off the rails because of poor officiating, and never bemoaned their sometimes bad luck, battling to the end of every game to earn that “W.” I think this edition of Lady Blackhawk basketball produced the best girls’ team ever seen on campus.

When I first came to Arkansas, I was surprised to see the way the state activities association run their tournaments. In nearly all other states, (maybe all of them), the state basketball playoffs are like the football playoffs. You play until you lose, then you’re done. Pea Ridge lost twice in the playoffs before retiring, but Harrison lost three times but ended up playing for a title nonetheless.

I understand the rationale, as more playoff games are played, the more money the association makes. In Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, your first loss in the basketball playoffs ends your season, just like the NCAA tournaments going on right now. A single loss tournament would have led to a six-team state tournament the week after district. Would that have been better? Harrison and Farmington would of course say, “No!”

While it would have been so great had the Blackhawks taken the state title, they do have the knowledge they beat both teams in the playoffs that wound up in the state final. This was a year in which there was no team in the state in 4A that the Hawks could not have beaten. That is a rare thing.

Thanks girls, for the memories.

Hard court Hogs

Eric Musselman is proving with every week that passes, that the University of Arkansas got the best possible candidate to take over the moribund Arkansas basketball program.

Prior to Musselman’s tenure, the Hogs had the hardest time winning any games on the road, relying on home victories to give them winning records. In just his second season, Musselman has the Hogs’ won/lost record at 24-6, best in a long while, picking up the No. 3 seed in the South Region.

Arkansas defeated Colgate 85-68 in first round action, then battled past Texas Tech 68-66 to get into the Sweet 16 — the last 16 teams left in the tournament. They now play Oral Roberts Saturday, March 27, in the region semifinals for a shot at the region finals.

Arkansas played ORU last December, falling behind 40-30 at the half, then roaring to life in the second to outscore the Eagles 57-36 to claim a final 87-76 victory.

The Tulsa private school was a No. 15 seed who shocked heavily favored Ohio State in the first round with a furious late rally to knock off the No. 2 seed 75-72. They fell behind No. 7 seed Florida Sunday, then made a furious run to win by 3, 81-78. The Eagles have two sharp shooters who score the great majority of their points, and if the Hogs can corral them a bit, Arkansas may be playing No. 1 overall seed Baylor in the region final. Baylor plays No. 5 seed Villanova in their semifinal matchup.

Meanwhile the Razorback women were also in the Big Dance in San Antonio. They played No. 13 seed Wright State as the No. 4 seed.

The Lady Hogs did not get past Wright State, losing a nailbiter 66-62. Wright State will play the winner of California at Davis, or Missouri State. Missouri State is 21-2. Missouri recently crushed Loyola who defeated No. 1 seed Illinois Sunday. All of the Bears wins have come off midmajor programs so they are relatively unknown.

Both Razorback squads had excellent shots at making the region finals in their respective places. The men’s games are all in and around Indianapolis with the women having played in San Antonio.

Players are having the least fun of any national tournament as they are sequestered in their rooms when they aren’t playing or practicing. The boys had the unusual experience of playing in Hinkle Fieldhouse in their Colgate matchup. Hinkle was the gym used in the basketball movie “Hoosiers” and was the venue for high school boys state finals in Indiana until 1971. It was built in 1928 and was the largest basketball arena (9,000 seats) in the U.S. until 1950. It was built for Butler University who still use it to this day as their home gym.