If you ask Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift about building a program, he'll bandy around plenty of buzzwords: culture, fight consistency, winning, toughness.
They aren't meaningless, though.
Of anybody currently coaching boys' basketball in Arkansas, Swift knows how to sustain success better than anyone. He's done it at Hughes, then at Lonoke and now with the Hurricane, winning three state titles in his 11 seasons in Jonesboro.
"We never try to focus on results," Swift said. "You're not going to win every game, obviously, with any program or any team. ... [But] what we want to focus on is what we do daily: showing up, being good teammates and working hard with focus. And if you can do that consistently, the results will take care of themselves."
When his Hurricane return to Hot Springs' Bank OZK Arena for the Class 5A title game tonight, they'll have a shot at another crown, one that would move Jonesboro into a tie with Little Rock Parkview for the second-most in Arkansas history. That'll mean taking out a Maumelle team that is one win away from arguably joining that club of "programs." The Hornets have made three consecutive quarterfinal appearances, back-to-back trips to the semifinals and will be playing in their third final since 2015.
The only thing they haven't done under Coach Michael Shook -- or in school history, for that matter -- is bring home a championship.
"Nine years ago, that's when I took over, I had a very special group that's similar to this group ... and that was the first group to make the finals." Shook said after beating Sylvan Hills in a state semifinal Monday. "[My coaching staff and I], we sat down and said, 'We're not going to sacrifice winning and losing for a lack of character.' We've instilled that in our kids from Day 1."
This group that Shook couldn't stop praising is an experienced one. They start a pair of seniors in Joshua Denton and Darvis Rasberry along with three juniors in point guard Carl Daugherty, Riley Wade and Nico Davillier. And everyone in that group, with the exception of big man Davillier, isn't afraid to shoot from deep.
Combine that with a fast-paced offense and the recipe for Maumelle (20-5) is right out in the open. The Hornets will get out and run, looking to outscore top teams as they've done all year long -- Maumelle beat Parkview 85-80 during the regular season and held off the Bears 70-64 five days ago.
But the thing that has Swift most concerned is the Hornets' size. Denton measures in at 6-5, Rasberry comes in at 6-4 and Davillier, with his 6-4, 275-pound defensive end frame, will always be the first to the glass.
Although Jonesboro (23-3) is focused on winning the battle of the boards, it knows it's going to have to also get back and handle Maumelle's tempo.
"Defensive transition will have to be really, really good for us," Swift said. "They love scoring in the first six to seven seconds of the shot clock and they love it to be a three-ball. ... So making them run into us in transition and tagging the shooters will be really important."
The Hurricane certainly have the speed to keep up. 5-11 guards Amarion Wilson and Keyln McBridge run the Jonesboro backcourt and 6-3 senior Kavon Pointer helps the backcourt duo handle the brunt of Jonesboro's offense.
And with all that pace, it's likely a game where both teams will have to empty the tank.
"We have to play together as a team and leave it all out there on the floor," Daughterty said when asked about the biggest key the Hornets have taken from their last two games. "This is our going to be our last game of the season, so we've just got to do more of what we did [Monday]."