Springdale Har-Ber claimed the school’s first conference title in a decade last Friday with its win at Rogers Heritage.
Har-Ber (21-7) is one of just three 7A programs with 20-plus wins, joining North Little Rock and Fort Smith Northside. The talk all conference season has surrounded the 7A-West and if it can stack up with the 7A-Central’s muscle. That question will be answered this week in Van Buren at the Class 7A state basketball tournament.
“I think people are kind of short-changing the West because there are a bunch of teams that are young. But they have athletes, or guys that can shoot,” Har-Ber boys basketball coach Scott Bowlin said. “(Har-Ber) cannot get rattled by the physicality. One thing my guys have done all season is shoot the darn basketball.”
Bentonville High (17-10) and Har-Ber earned firstround byes and will play at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and at 8:30 p.m. Friday, respectively. The Tigers face the winner of the game between Bentonville West — making its first trip to the state tournament — and Little Rock Central. Har-Ber plays either Cabot or Heritage.
The odds-on favorites entering the week hail from the Central — North Little Rock (23-5) and Northside (20-7). The Charging Wildcats, 13-1 in league play, won the conference by two games in large part because of a 4-0 overtime record and the play of guards Deion Dobbins and Jarvis Ricks.
The Grizzlies own one of the state’s top scoring duos in 5-foot-7 senior guard Tevin Brewer and 2018 Arkansas commit Isaiah Joe. Brewer and Joe average better than 18 points per game while Joe is also a near-45 percent 3-point shooter. The two led Northside to an 11-3 finish in league play and a 2-seed.
“I feel very comfortable going to battle with Isaiah and Tevin,” Northside boys coach Eric Burnett said. “When we get into a tough game I know those two will go make a play for me. That’s one thing I don’t have to worry about.”
Defending state champion Cabot (19-6) is perhaps flying under the radar despite having many of its pieces back from last year’s title run. Coach Austin Trembley and host Van Buren are in a similar situation as the Panthers last season. Fayetteville and 6-seed Bryant are also teams coaches are wary of.
The girls side of the tournament, in many’s estimation, is a four-team race — North Little Rock, Little Rock Central, Fayetteville and Van Buren — to Hot Springs. Conway and Northside have traditionally been in the mix as well.
Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer’s Lady Purple’Dogs come rolling into Van Buren with a 27-2 record and a 7A-West title after an undefeated run through conference. Sasha Goforth will be a name to keep an eye on. Only a freshman, Goforth is already among the top players in the league. In all, Fayetteville has five players on its roster committed to college programs.
“We’ve played really well and I love my kids’ heart,” Rimmer said. “Our kids have really dug down and made a lot of plays to find a way to win.”
North Little Rock (26-2) represents the Central’s 1-seed and, Thursday at 5:30 p.m., will face the Springdale High-Cabot winner. Coach Daryl Fimple’s team is led by a pair of 6-1 forwards — junior Yo’Myris Morris and senior Olivia Sadler.
Little Rock Central (23-3) will floor high-Division I talent, beginning with Mississippi State and Auburn commits Bre’Amber Scott (19.3 ppg) and Abigayle Jackson (10.2 ppg). Junior Erryn Barnum’s 11.3 points gives Central a trio of offensive weapons.
Jamilyn Kinney heads a small-but-tough Lady Pointers club playing on its homefloor. Kinney, a Belmont commit, ranks in the top five in the 7A-West in scoring and also has multiple games with double figure assists. Van Buren (21-5) owned the 7A-West’s top scoring defense.
Class 7A State Basketball Tournament
at Clair Bates Arena, Van Buren
BOYS
Today
Game 1 W4 Fayetteville (13-13) vs. C5 Conway (14-13), 2:30 p.m. Game 2 C3 LR Central (19-9) vs. W6 Bentonville West (12-15), 5:30 p.m. Game 3 C4 Cabot (19-6) vs. W5 Rogers Heritage (15-12), 8:30 p.m.
Thursday
Game 4 W3 Van Buren (15-12) vs. C6 Bryant (17-10), 2:30 p.m. Game 5 C1 North Little Rock (23-5) vs. Game 1 winner, 5:30 p.m. Game 6 W2 Bentonville High (16-10) vs. Game 2 winner, 8:30 p.m.
Friday
Game 7 W1 Springdale Har-Ber (21-7) vs. Game 3 winner, 5:30 p.m. Game 8 C2 Fort Smith Northside (20-7) vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
Game 9 Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 1:30 p.m. Game 10 Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 7:30 p.m.
Championship
at Bank of the Ozarks Arena, Hot Springs
Game 11 Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, date and time TBA
GIRLS Today
Game 1 W4 Springdale High (13-14) vs. C5 Cabot (16-11), 1 p.m. Game 2 C3 Fort Smith Northside (17-10) vs. W6 Bentonville High (13-14), 4 p.m.
Game 3 C4 Conway (22-8) vs. W5 Springdale Har-Ber (14-10), 7 p.m.
Thursday
Game 4 W3 Rogers High (17-10) vs. C6 Mount St. Mary (10-17), 1 p.m. Game 5 C1 North Little Rock (26-2) vs. Game 1 winner, 4 p.m. Game 6 W2 Van Buren (21-5) vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m.
Friday
Game 7 W1 Fayetteville (27-2) vs. Game 3 winner, 4 p.m. Game 8 C2 LR Central (23-3) vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Game 9 Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, noon Game 10 Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 6 p.m.
Championship
at Bank of the Ozarks Arena, Hot Springs
Game 11 Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, date and time TBA