Rosters, check.
Brackets, check.
Concession stands and hospitality rooms, double check.
While some of you agonize over whether Arkansas will make the NCAA Tournament, many more will enhance their basketball experience by attending high school games this week. Regional and conference tournaments are scattered throughout the state, and an exciting 7A-West Conference race concludes on Friday.
Supporting high school athletics is especially important now following the horrible news from Parkland, Fla., where 17 students were murdered by a gunman carrying a military-style weapon. In Northwest Arkansas, a student at Fayetteville and another one at Berryville were arrested in connection with making online threats to shoot classmates, and workers at a factory in Springdale disarmed a man threatening to shoot people with a gun similar to the one used in the Florida massacre.
At this point, all I know to do is grieve for those families affected by violence, ask lawmakers for changes to keep children safe, and support the ones who are doing things right.
"I think it's very important for parents and people in the community to come out and support these kids and these tournaments," said former Van Buren boys coach Randy Loyd as he watched his son, Trent, coach the Pea Ridge boys at the 4A-1 District Tournament at Lincoln. "It's very important, especially with the way things are in the world these days."
Have you watched the defending state champion Fayetteville girls play this season? Arkansas women's coach Mike Neighbors has. So has Texas A&M coach Gary Blair.
I watched Sasha Goforth score 16 points in the first quarter and finish with 28 in a recent win at Rogers. She's just a sophomore and a prime recruiting target. The Fayetteville boys are also in position to claim a conference championship after beating Springdale Har-Ber 78-59 on the Wildcats' home court. Keep an eye on Collin Cooper, who scored 30 points in the win at Har-Ber.
Arkansas men's coach Mike Anderson has already lassoed Fort Smith Northside guard Isaiah Joe, but the standout guard has some unfinished business in trying to lead the Grizzlies to another state championship. You can see him against rival Fort Smith Southside on Friday before teams in Class 7A head to North Little Rock for state tournament play.
Regional tournaments begin this week at Berryville (Class 4A), Two Rivers (Class 3A), Magazine (Class 2A) and Alpena (Class 1A). The 5A-West Conference Tournament will take place in Farmington, where spending a couple of hours inside beautiful Cardinal Arena is worth the price of admission. The Harrison boys and Farmington girls will keep you entertained as they try to advance to the Class 5A State Tournament at Maumelle and the Overall Finals in Hot Springs.
The Berryville girls will have the homecourt advantage after being eliminated in the semifinals of the Class 4A State Tournament the last two seasons. They'll have to get past a strong field that includes Ozark, Pottsville and Gravette. The Charleston boys and girls both clinched No. 1 seeds for the 3A-Region I Tournament after winning district championships at Greenland last week.
Alpena is the site for a possible matchup between two teams that have already surpassed 30 wins -- the Deer Antlers and the Omaha Eagles. Omaha won the first meeting 58-56 and the rematch will likely be just as exciting.
Besides basketball, there is also the swimming and diving championships this week at the Bentonville Community Center.
So let's support these basketball players, swimmers, divers, cheerleaders, band members and dancers who are making a positive contribution with their involvement in high school athletics.
It'll cost a little and help a lot.
Sports on 02/18/2018