Vilonia@Morrilton

[Vteagle]

I am not sure there is an easy game in the West this season and this one will be no exception!  Vilonia girls won a big one last night, the Vtown boys pulled ahead at the end!  How does this shake out Friday night?

[Hogskin]

The west is really down this year not 1 state championship contender in the mix. All teams are very average so each game is a toss up. Come tournament time the west might not win a game.

[Go Postal]

The west is really down this year not 1 state championship contender in the mix. All teams are very average so each game is a toss up. Come tournament time the west might not win a game.

The West is down.  This is a statement that I have heard in different 5A sports over the years.  But depending on the sport, I have not really seen it.  Slightly less than perfection, but not down.  The West has always done good.  Anyway, back to boys basketball.  I went back 3 years to see some West stats in playoffs.

1.  "The west is really down this year not 1 state championship contender in the mix.", Yes, this is always a possibility.  See the last 3 years stats below...
2.  "All teams are very average so each game is a toss up.", Maybe but no, I don't think so.  The West has always been a knock down drag out to see what teams go to the playoffs, not just in basketball, but any sport..  I haven't seen any different this year.  See the last 3 years stats below after conference play...
3.  "Come tournament time the west might not win a game.", Yes, this is always a possibility. especially since teams moved up or down in all conferences this cycle.  We will see then, but I still like the last 3 years West stats below...
2014
1st rounds
W1 Clarksville (W)
W2 Morrilton (W)
W3 Harrison (W)
W4 Alma (L) by 3pts under Forrest City (W)
Quarterfinals
W1 Clarksville (L)
W2 Morrilton (L) under Jacksonville (W)
W3 Harrison (W)
Semifinals
W3 Harrison (L) under Jacksonville (W)
Finals
Forrest City (W) over Jacksonville (L)

2013
1st rounds
W1 Clarksville (W)
W2 Harrison (W)
W3 Alma (W)
W4 Huntsville (L)
Quarterfinals
W1 Clarksville (W)
W2 Harrison (W)
W3 Alma (W)
Semifinals
W1 Clarksville (L) under Jacksonville (W)
W3 Alma (W) over W2 Harrison (L)
Finals
W3 Alma (L) under Jacksonville (W)


2012
1st rounds
W1 Alma (W)
W2 Greenwood (W)
W3 Morrilton (W)
W4 Harrison (L)
Quarterfinals
W1 Alma (L) in double OT
W2 Greenwood (W)
W3 Morrilton (L) by 3pts to Sylvan Hills
Semifinals
W2 Greenwood (L) to Sylvan Hills
Finals
Sylvan Hills

Summary:  Can the West prove once again that they are still a contender?  It is possible.  There are a lot of great 5A teams out there for this cycle.  Still early in the season for speculation, yet.  Good Luck to all 5A teams this season!

This very old Mtn Home Bomber (class of '75)/Harrison Goblins hometown fan is off my soapbox now...

[sevenof400]

A quick look at the standings shows why this game is important to both teams.  Vilonia needs this one to beat a team ahead of them in the standings.  An Eagle win would vault the boys to 3rd place in the conference with games against two teams below Vilonia in the standings remaining to close out the first half of conference play.  In retrospect, Vilonia's schedule started with the two conference leaders so that 0-2 start looks a but more understandable as time goes by. 

Morrilton and Vilonia have the same two opponents in rounds six and seven (and 13 and 14) so the team (of Vilonia or Morrilton) ahead of the other prior to these rounds might have a bit of an advantage. 

For the girls, this will be a dangerous game - after the emotional high of a rivalry win, the Lady Eagles face a situation that has tripped up many a team in the past (the let down game after a rival).  Any win in this game for Vilonia will be good considering that. 

[Go Postal]

Here is a copy/paste from the Harrison/Morrilton game...

The Harrison Goblins dropped their first 5A-West game of the season as they fell, 69-65, to Morrilton.
The loss moves the Goblins conference record to 3-1.
The game was tied at 17 after the first quarter and Morrilton would outscore the Goblins, 20-19, in the second quarter to hold a 37-36 lead at the half.
A rough third quarter for Harrison proved to be the difference in the game.
Harrison trailed, 37-36, to start the third quarter, but Morrilton quickly built a lead.
The first seven points of the quarter went to Morrilton, two of those coming on a technical foul against Harrison.
Tanner Curry got Harrison on the board with a pair of charity tosses to pull Harrison within 44-38 with more than 5 minutes to go in the period.
After a Morrilton basket, Trevor Atwell scored with a drop-step on the right block as the deficit was again cut to six points.
Morrilton would seem to have an answer for each Goblin basket as the Devil Dogs sank a 3 to answer the Atwell score.
Brock Humphrey then hit a pull-up jumper for the Goblins, but again, Morrilton responded with another trey followed by a deuce to move their advantage to 54-42 with 3 minutes to go in the guarter.
Morrilton would lead, 58-46, at the end of the third.
Silas Huskey got hot in the fourth quarter and scored the first six points of the frame to pull Harrison within six points at 58-52.
Later in the fourth, Curry buried a 3 from the left corner and Huskey stole the inbounds pass and scored as the Goblins had cut the Morrilton lead to 61-59 with 3 minutes left in the game.
After Morrilton pushed its lead back to six, Harrison answered with baskets from Huskey and Curry to once again pull within two points, this time with 1:19 on the clock.
An offensive putback from Atwell with 7 seconds to play would give Harrison one last shot at a comeback as the Goblins trailed, 68-65.
A free throw from Morrilton would seal the game as Harrison's desperation shot came up empty at the buzzer.
Huskey and Curry each finished with 19 points for the Goblins. Atwell added nine, Brock Humphrey and Dakota Gilley seven apiece and Hunter Humphrey four.
"I thought we competed hard," Harrison head coach David Stahler said. "They came and shot the ball well to start the third quarter. Everything that could go wrong did. They just made some plays and got up on us a little bit."
Stahler commented that the difference between the third and fourth quarters for the Goblins was playing with urgency, saying, "We didn't play with an urgency in the first three quarters."
The Goblins will now look to rebound as they travel to Greenbrier on Friday in an important game.
"It's big," the coach stated. "The key in our conference is you can't let one (loss) snowball into two or three. We're going to have to go play well at Greenbrier. They have a good team, so we're going to have to go play well to get a win anyway. But, a good road win would make things a lot better."

Morrilton did a real great job of subbing their players in and out.  Some of their secondary players were good enough to be starters.
A problem that Harrison had was 3 starters on the bench with foul trouble during a lot of the game.  But our secondary didn't do too bad.  I really thought this game might go to overtime.  Good win to the Devil Dogs.