Photo Credit: J.T. Wampler, NWA Democrat-Gazette
The 7A schools do not have district or regional tournaments…they go directly to the state tournament. The top 5 teams in our conference automatically get in along with teams from east and central Arkansas. This year, the tournament was held at Harber high school in Springdale, which was nice and close.
The Bulldogs finished second in the conference and got an automatic bye in the state tournament. Due to snow, the tournament was postponed twice and we didn’t start play until Sunday afternoon. It was a good weekend of high school basketball and I went everyday to watch games.
We played Heritage on Sunday and while it wasn’t our best game, we beat them 58-50 to advance to the semi-finals. All the semi-finals games were on Monday and my dad and I spent all day there watching 4 games. It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of talent play.
Fayetteville played North Little Rock at 5pm on Monday…NLR is the 2-time defending state champion and home to two D-1 players, one in basketball (Florida) and one in football (Ohio State). They were big and physical and unconscious on offense. We played our hearts out. The game was close the entire time with both teams trading the lead back and forth.
Their great player KeVaughn Allen hit 7 3’s and finished with 33 points and our great player, Payton
Photo Credit: J.T. Wampler, NWA Democrat-Gazette
Willis hit 5 3’s and finished with 23 points. We had great play inside with our big guys and Spencer did a great job controlling the tempo and managing the offense. He finished with only 2 points but he had 4 assists and 5 rebounds.
We were up 5 points with 1:44 to go and it was starting to feel like we might upset the great giant. NLR was not to be deterred. We did not finish plays down the stretch and they made free throws at the end. With only seconds left they were up by 1 point.
The first time I heard the adage, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” I remember thinking…what does that mean? The more I played basketball, the more I learned what it meant. In a matter of seconds you can go from the greatest high to the lowest low but you hold out hope until the final buzzer buzzes.
We had a great look at a last second shot. Payton dribbled through traffic and was triple teamed so he threw it to Spencer on the wing who put up a good looking shot. It went in the goal…took one trip around the rim and rolled out. Devastating. 65-66.
I sat there stunned. I could only imagine what my son and his teammates felt in that moment and my heart went out to them
It was a great season. We finished 23-6, won the Conway and Mt. Home tournament, second place in a very tough conference and went to the state semi-finals. I am immensely proud of this team and what they accomplished. We had a great group of seniors and the future is very bright because we return 5 juniors with starting experience.
My son will probably never forget this game for the rest of his life but I know that this game will not define his life. I asked him later that night if he’d just like to quit and go play piano…(this is something I ask him every year or so)…and he said “I can’t quit because it is so much fun.”
There will be other missed last second shots and there will be made last second shots as well. He will grow from this experience and return stronger and more determined. I could not be more proud of him.
North Little Rock went on to play Bentonville in the finals today and won by 7 points. Our Lady Bulldogs beat Conway today to win the State Championship! Talk about a team that peaked at the right time, the ladies have been playing great ball as of late and carried it with them to the finals. So proud.
Next up, we will head to Disney World for Spring Break then hit the roads traveling with the Arkansas Hawks. First tournament will be the Real Deal in the Rock tournament in Little Rock, April 3-5.
Sports Momma 