The SAU Basketball Tournament tipped off Monday in Magnolia. The girls field includes Parkers Chapel along with Camden Fairview and Magnolia. It's not too bad.
But, I just can't bring myself to make that 35-minute drive.
El Dorado's football team is gearing up for its state championship game on Saturday. Obviously, that's one reason I'm not really into basketball mode, yet. Another is simply, the SAU Tournament is dead.
Perhaps dead is too strong of a word, especially since it's actually alive with games being played and everything. But, the atmosphere is more electric in a funeral home. There's no crowd, no warmth, no hospitality.
In high school tournaments, you at least get the feeling the folks are happy to have you, after all, the more butts in the seats, the more dollars in the piggy bank. But, at the SAU Tournament, the hosts treat you as if you're a nuisance in their way.
At least, that was my last experience over there. I don't plan on having another experience over there again.
One tournament I would love to drive 35 minutes to get to will unfortunately be about five hours away.
El Dorado's girls are in the Greene County Tech Tournament over the holiday. The tournament begins Dec. 20 in Paragould. The top half of the bracket features Greene County Tech, DesArc, Hughes and West Memphis. But, it's the bottom half that intrigues me.
El Dorado plays Prairie Grove in the first round. With a win, the Lady Wildcats would meet the winner between Forrest City and Little Rock Christian.
That's quite a Lady Cat basketball connection there. Former El Dorado coach Brad Slatton left Union County to take the job at Prairie Grove. He's since moved on to Texas. Coach Bobby Harris, who replaced Slatton, took over the program at Forrest City. El Dorado's seniors were in junior high when Harris left.
It doesn't mean much but I found it interesting.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Lady Cats beat Fairview
El Dorado showed it can still flip the switch when it has to. The Lady Wildcats turned a close game into a blowout with a 19-2 run in the final five minutes Tuesday in a 58-44 win over a good Camden Fairview squad.
Trailing 42-39 with six minutes left to play, El Dorado outscored the Lady Cardinals 19-2 the rest of the way with 15 unanswered points to end the game.
As strong as the team finished, Coach Stephen Harshaw was more concerned with its start. The Lady Wildcats trailed 32-22 at the half and 36-24 midway in the third.
"We just have to come out as a group. It starts at the top with me and then it starts with our senior leaders to get them focused to come out with a mindset ready to absolutely take charge from the tip," said Harshaw.
"The thing is the team has to come out ready to play. We had a 27-point turnaround in 14 minutes. If we come out ready to play instead of winning by 14, we win by 40 and we really make a statement. That’s what we need to do. We don’t need to do what we did last year which is turn it on and win by 15. We need to make statements this year.”
Fairview managed just 12 points in the second half.
Seniors Whitney Frazier and Kanedria Andrews, El Dorado’s Lady Techster Twosome, combined for 34 points, 15 rebounds and eight steals. Frazier scored nine of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and added eight rebounds.
Andrews scored 15 points with seven rebounds and six steals. Sophomore Marchelle Lockhart scored 10 while Bria Snowden added eight.
Marva Graves led Fairview (1-1) with 18 points, but only four in the second half and none in the fourth quarter. Frazier took it upon herself to match up with Fairview's standout senior.
“I did take that personally. I just made up my mind in the second half, she wasn’t gonna get the ball. I had to shut her down," said Frazier. "First half was hers. The second was mine. That’s how I feel.”
Harshaw felt his seniors led the way. Frazier, Andrews, Snowden and Emily Sinclair combined to score all of the team's final 15 points.
“Emily did a good job in the second half, taking care of the ball. Bria is becoming a basketball player, not just a shooter. She made some very good plays offensively, passing the ball, taking care of it," said Harshaw, who also got big minutes from Lockhart and junior Charlotte Bradley.
“Charlotte came in and played real well, had some big rebounds. I also thought Marchelle Lockhart had a very good game, got some good post play out of her. It’s really good to have that junior and that sophomore playing the way they did. I think all of them did some good things."
Trailing 42-39 with six minutes left to play, El Dorado outscored the Lady Cardinals 19-2 the rest of the way with 15 unanswered points to end the game.
As strong as the team finished, Coach Stephen Harshaw was more concerned with its start. The Lady Wildcats trailed 32-22 at the half and 36-24 midway in the third.
"We just have to come out as a group. It starts at the top with me and then it starts with our senior leaders to get them focused to come out with a mindset ready to absolutely take charge from the tip," said Harshaw.
"The thing is the team has to come out ready to play. We had a 27-point turnaround in 14 minutes. If we come out ready to play instead of winning by 14, we win by 40 and we really make a statement. That’s what we need to do. We don’t need to do what we did last year which is turn it on and win by 15. We need to make statements this year.”
Fairview managed just 12 points in the second half.
Seniors Whitney Frazier and Kanedria Andrews, El Dorado’s Lady Techster Twosome, combined for 34 points, 15 rebounds and eight steals. Frazier scored nine of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and added eight rebounds.
Andrews scored 15 points with seven rebounds and six steals. Sophomore Marchelle Lockhart scored 10 while Bria Snowden added eight.
Marva Graves led Fairview (1-1) with 18 points, but only four in the second half and none in the fourth quarter. Frazier took it upon herself to match up with Fairview's standout senior.
“I did take that personally. I just made up my mind in the second half, she wasn’t gonna get the ball. I had to shut her down," said Frazier. "First half was hers. The second was mine. That’s how I feel.”
Harshaw felt his seniors led the way. Frazier, Andrews, Snowden and Emily Sinclair combined to score all of the team's final 15 points.
“Emily did a good job in the second half, taking care of the ball. Bria is becoming a basketball player, not just a shooter. She made some very good plays offensively, passing the ball, taking care of it," said Harshaw, who also got big minutes from Lockhart and junior Charlotte Bradley.
“Charlotte came in and played real well, had some big rebounds. I also thought Marchelle Lockhart had a very good game, got some good post play out of her. It’s really good to have that junior and that sophomore playing the way they did. I think all of them did some good things."
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Better late than never
Parkers Chapel senior Savanna Langston let out a sigh of relief Wednesday. When she signed her basketball letter-of-intent with Louisiana Tech, it ended months of agonizing over the biggest decision of her life so far.
“The recruiting process was really overwhelming," she said. "I mean, it was fun but it was also stressful and overwhelming. It’s just nice to get that out of the way so I can get on with my season and school.”
Langston originally gave a verbal committment to Arkansas-Little Rock. She decided to go ahead and take other visits before she signed and fell in love with Louisiana Tech.
Going back on her word was difficult but Langston said UALR, though disappointed, made her feel better about visiting other schools.
"They told me they didn't want me there if I didn't want to be there," she said. "That made it easier for me."
In the end, the only person's happiness that counts in this situation is Langston's. It's the next four or five years of her life that's on the line. The most important thing is that she made the right decision - not the fast decision or the nice decision.
The smile on Langston's face Wednesday sure looked as though she made the choice that's best for her. As for Louisiana Tech coach Teresa Weatherspoon, it's better to be thought of late than not at all.
“Once she thought maybe she had made a quick decision and she still wanted to make her visits, we were thankful," said Weatherspoon. "We were thankful she was still giving us an opportunity to recruit her and show her what we were all about here at Louisiana Tech and what we could do to make her a better basketball player and, more importantly, a better person. She gave us that opportunity and we showed her what our family was like here at Louisiana Tech. We’re just thankful she chose us to be a Lady Techster for life.”
“The recruiting process was really overwhelming," she said. "I mean, it was fun but it was also stressful and overwhelming. It’s just nice to get that out of the way so I can get on with my season and school.”
Langston originally gave a verbal committment to Arkansas-Little Rock. She decided to go ahead and take other visits before she signed and fell in love with Louisiana Tech.
Going back on her word was difficult but Langston said UALR, though disappointed, made her feel better about visiting other schools.
"They told me they didn't want me there if I didn't want to be there," she said. "That made it easier for me."
In the end, the only person's happiness that counts in this situation is Langston's. It's the next four or five years of her life that's on the line. The most important thing is that she made the right decision - not the fast decision or the nice decision.
The smile on Langston's face Wednesday sure looked as though she made the choice that's best for her. As for Louisiana Tech coach Teresa Weatherspoon, it's better to be thought of late than not at all.
“Once she thought maybe she had made a quick decision and she still wanted to make her visits, we were thankful," said Weatherspoon. "We were thankful she was still giving us an opportunity to recruit her and show her what we were all about here at Louisiana Tech and what we could do to make her a better basketball player and, more importantly, a better person. She gave us that opportunity and we showed her what our family was like here at Louisiana Tech. We’re just thankful she chose us to be a Lady Techster for life.”
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Who can't kick a ball?
El Dorado's 34-26 win over Pine Bluff on Thursday was one of the best games I've seen in a long time. Defensive coordinator John Panter described it as a two heavyweight fighters.
It's actually a good thing it wasn't a boxing match because after those 12 rounds, the Zebras might've won on the judges' scorecards.
Pine Bluff had more yards than the Wildcats because the Zebras were on the field for a whopping 71 offensive snaps. Thank God Pine Bluff tried to throw the ball seven times or the game would've likely had a different outcome.
El Dorado caught three of the Zebras' seven passes.
Perhaps an even bigger factor was Pine Bluff's lack of a kicking game. In addition to muffing a punt, which the Wildcats recovered, the Zebras had no kicker, so they went for two after each touchdown.
That was the difference in the game.
It's funny because we were talking in the sports staff a couple of weeks ago about how unacceptable it is for any school in this day and age to not have a kicker. We were talking specifically about Strong but it's even more unacceptable for a big school.
If I'm not mistaken, Pine Bluff even has a fledgling soccer program. How can you have soccer and not have a kicker?
The thing is, even a school the size of Strong should be able to find somebody who can kick among the student body. I say that because the talent pool includes both genders. There are girls who can and have kicked 40-yard field goals. You mean to tell me you can't find somebody who can boot an extra point?
I don't understand why a coach can't have tryouts and open it up to boys and girls. Find one or two who have decent form and let them work on it during the off-season. Work on it during the summer and have someone teach them the technique.
That can be their job. That's it. No blocking. No tackling. No knowledge of the game.
What position do you play? I kick the ball.
I don't mean to be insulting to kickers. I know it takes a lot of skill to kick a football accurately from 35 to 40 yards out. It takes a lot of work.
It would take a lot of work to find a boy or girl who could make extra points, too. But, I don't know why it couldn't be done. As Pine Bluff found out last week, that work could pay off big-time down the line.
It's actually a good thing it wasn't a boxing match because after those 12 rounds, the Zebras might've won on the judges' scorecards.
Pine Bluff had more yards than the Wildcats because the Zebras were on the field for a whopping 71 offensive snaps. Thank God Pine Bluff tried to throw the ball seven times or the game would've likely had a different outcome.
El Dorado caught three of the Zebras' seven passes.
Perhaps an even bigger factor was Pine Bluff's lack of a kicking game. In addition to muffing a punt, which the Wildcats recovered, the Zebras had no kicker, so they went for two after each touchdown.
That was the difference in the game.
It's funny because we were talking in the sports staff a couple of weeks ago about how unacceptable it is for any school in this day and age to not have a kicker. We were talking specifically about Strong but it's even more unacceptable for a big school.
If I'm not mistaken, Pine Bluff even has a fledgling soccer program. How can you have soccer and not have a kicker?
The thing is, even a school the size of Strong should be able to find somebody who can kick among the student body. I say that because the talent pool includes both genders. There are girls who can and have kicked 40-yard field goals. You mean to tell me you can't find somebody who can boot an extra point?
I don't understand why a coach can't have tryouts and open it up to boys and girls. Find one or two who have decent form and let them work on it during the off-season. Work on it during the summer and have someone teach them the technique.
That can be their job. That's it. No blocking. No tackling. No knowledge of the game.
What position do you play? I kick the ball.
I don't mean to be insulting to kickers. I know it takes a lot of skill to kick a football accurately from 35 to 40 yards out. It takes a lot of work.
It would take a lot of work to find a boy or girl who could make extra points, too. But, I don't know why it couldn't be done. As Pine Bluff found out last week, that work could pay off big-time down the line.
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