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State Tournament So Far

Started by horsepower1324, March 08, 2014, 08:29:38 am

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horsepower1324

March 08, 2014, 08:29:38 am Last Edit: March 08, 2014, 08:40:15 am by horsepower1324
There are some interesting story lines developing in the 4A State Tournament.

BOYS

So far, no top Regional seed has made it out of its first game. Brookland looks to put an end to that today against a good Lincoln squad.

Lonoke, the three seed coming out of their District Tournament has played well, and I can't help but think being at home helps that cause as they took down defending state champion, Pottsville, and South Regional Champion CAC. Maybe CAC had an off night, but from my vantage point, they were athletically outclassed by a well-coached team, and they couldn't recover after the 18-2 run in the second quarter.

Nashville, the 3-seed from the South Regional, with a record of 18-15 (according to MaxPreps) takes down Maumelle, who I have been told multiple times is the most athletic team around.

This sets up the top of the bracket as Lonoke and Nashville, two teams who thought they would be in this position in football.

The bottom of the bracket still has some work to do. As mentioned, Brookland plays Lincoln in the first boys' game of the day at 2:30. The Bearcats have suffocated teams so far in the post season, averaging giving up less than 40 points per game. They have a multi-headed attack, and execute well on the offensive end. If they shoot like they did in the Regional, then Lincoln will have to come out of their zone to play them. Lincoln has some length, but they don't blow you away with athleticism. #33 and #4 are really good players, and they have some guys who go hard and do the little things well. It will be an interesting match-up.

Last year's state runner-up Dollarway takes on Monticello in the nightcap. Two long, athletic teams that thrive on turnovers. It will be an interesting matchup to see if Dollarway plays through their posts like they did against Prairie Grove, or do they settle on being a jumpshooting team. Monticello is going to test their patience and ball movement. These are easily two teams who could have played in Hot Springs.

GIRLS

There have been very little upsets, though Star City losing to host school Lonoke does qualify.

In the top of the bracket is the matchup we thought we'd see. With Farmington taking on Malvern. Malvern is capable of running any team I have seen 4A down, out of the building, but when they get their head somewhere else, they can let a team back into the game. Berryville was not an overly gifted team, but played hard, and were in the game early in the fourth quarter. If the big girl is in foul trouble, then the rest of the girls can get in foul trouble, because they'll try to block shots, or get steals. #3, #4, #23, #21 are very good, and you can't run all night with them. Farmington I know little about, I'll let someone else fill in the blanks, though from seeing the team, they look fairly long.

Again, the bottom plays out today. Valley View will look to make sure all the top seeds from the Regionals make it through to the Semis, though Ozark will be a tough test. The Lady Hillbillies are always tough, and will have the size to negate Valley View's length. One thing Ozark must do is contain Ashleigh Guthrie. The 6' wing, who will play in the post and handle the ball, is the engine that makes Valley View go. They do have some nice pieces around her, but if you can take her out of her game, and she does tend to get in foul trouble, then you have a good chance.

Brookland survived Prairie Grove yesterday in overtime, which may not bode well for the Lady Bearcats as I'm not sure anyone wants to see CAC on short turnaround. Brookland, while long, is nowhere close to CAC in terms of height. It will be interesting to see if the Lady Bearcats go at the Lady Mustangs interior, where Jones awaits, or attack to the midrange. I saw CAC the last two years, but not this one. Again, I'll let someone else fill in the details, though I know they are big inside with Jones, and the guard out front who is 5-11.

NEA Razorback olfan

Thanks for the recap Horsepower, great job!!
I agree with it all, Brookland boys and girls will have their hands full today!!
The Lady Bearcats  face a giant size challenge in heavily favored CAC !!
The Mustangs are very well coached and Miller . Butler and of course Jones will be extremely tough!!

If our girls are on, they can make a game out of it!!

Good luck to all the teams!!

THE D.O.C

CAC vs Brookland game will be one with interesting matchups. The main one is can Brookland  contain Jones in the middle. With CAC having Miller, Jones, Elkins and Butler, will they be able to handle the constant pressure full court defense.

sportsfanatic

Nashville's record is 17 - 12.  Don't know how Maxpreps comes up with their info!

Nip/Tusk

Maxpreps uses only the results turned in. Too bad many coaches/media don't keep up with it enough to keep records and rosters accurate on the site.

horsepower1324

Semifinals

With the Semis set, here are some things to watch for.

Does Lonoke ride the home court advantage to Hot Springs?

The Jackrabbits have played extremely well in the Gina Cox Center, and will likely be the team with the most substantial crowd on Seminfinal Monday. Will they ride that momentum? Nashville is athletic and it very well could come down to rebounding.

Does Brookland-Monticello make it out of the 30s?

These two teams played very early in the season, as Monticello made the long trip to Northeast Arkansas, and handed the Bearcats a 35-31 loss. Brookland is playing better than they have all season, but Monticello's huge size advantage is going to be tough to overcome. As they say in the UFC, "styles make fights" and these are two well coached teams with contrasting styles. I expect another close game.

Can Malvern avoid foul trouble?

If not Farmington may shoot enough free throws to take a trip to Hot Springs. If the big girl for the Lady Leopards stays on the floor, I think she's the difference. When she's out there, Malvern can be aggressive in their zone. When she's not, those missed steals turn into much easier baskets, or they have to sag off, giving more room to shooters.

Will anyone stop CAC's Jones and Miller?

The 6-1 Jones and 5-11 Miller caused so many problems for Brookland that they can't be gone into detail here, but Valley View may have the size to at least pose a better matchup.

However, if Jones roams the paint free, then I have a tough time seeing CAC losing, she can clean the glass across the lane, and needs a little more touch, but still scores over just about anyone.

THE D.O.C

Quote from: horsepower1324 on March 10, 2014, 05:57:36 am
Semifinals

With the Semis set, here are some things to watch for.

Does Lonoke ride the home court advantage to Hot Springs?

The Jackrabbits have played extremely well in the Gina Cox Center, and will likely be the team with the most substantial crowd on Seminfinal Monday. Will they ride that momentum? Nashville is athletic and it very well could come down to rebounding.

Does Brookland-Monticello make it out of the 30s?

These two teams played very early in the season, as Monticello made the long trip to Northeast Arkansas, and handed the Bearcats a 35-31 loss. Brookland is playing better than they have all season, but Monticello's huge size advantage is going to be tough to overcome. As they say in the UFC, "styles make fights" and these are two well coached teams with contrasting styles. I expect another close game.

Can Malvern avoid foul trouble?

If not Farmington may shoot enough free throws to take a trip to Hot Springs. If the big girl for the Lady Leopards stays on the floor, I think she's the difference. When she's out there, Malvern can be aggressive in their zone. When she's not, those missed steals turn into much easier baskets, or they have to sag off, giving more room to shooters.

Will anyone stop CAC's Jones and Miller?

The 6-1 Jones and 5-11 Miller caused so many problems for Brookland that they can't be gone into detail here, but Valley View may have the size to at least pose a better matchup.

However, if Jones roams the paint free, then I have a tough time seeing CAC losing, she can clean the glass across the lane, and needs a little more touch, but still scores over just about anyone.
I wouldn't bank on saying big girl is key for Malvern, she haven't been starting long and they have several lineup combinations that can cause lineup mismatches on defense and offense. They understand how to control foul trouble and they don't foul out of games. Malvern has played 30 games this season and only 1 player has fouled out this season.



horsepower1324

Quote from: THE D.O.C on March 10, 2014, 08:21:19 am
Quote from: horsepower1324 on March 10, 2014, 05:57:36 am
Semifinals

With the Semis set, here are some things to watch for.

Does Lonoke ride the home court advantage to Hot Springs?

The Jackrabbits have played extremely well in the Gina Cox Center, and will likely be the team with the most substantial crowd on Seminfinal Monday. Will they ride that momentum? Nashville is athletic and it very well could come down to rebounding.

Does Brookland-Monticello make it out of the 30s?

These two teams played very early in the season, as Monticello made the long trip to Northeast Arkansas, and handed the Bearcats a 35-31 loss. Brookland is playing better than they have all season, but Monticello's huge size advantage is going to be tough to overcome. As they say in the UFC, "styles make fights" and these are two well coached teams with contrasting styles. I expect another close game.

Can Malvern avoid foul trouble?

If not Farmington may shoot enough free throws to take a trip to Hot Springs. If the big girl for the Lady Leopards stays on the floor, I think she's the difference. When she's out there, Malvern can be aggressive in their zone. When she's not, those missed steals turn into much easier baskets, or they have to sag off, giving more room to shooters.

Will anyone stop CAC's Jones and Miller?

The 6-1 Jones and 5-11 Miller caused so many problems for Brookland that they can't be gone into detail here, but Valley View may have the size to at least pose a better matchup.

However, if Jones roams the paint free, then I have a tough time seeing CAC losing, she can clean the glass across the lane, and needs a little more touch, but still scores over just about anyone.
I wouldn't bank on saying big girl is key for Malvern, she haven't been starting long and they have several lineup combinations that can cause lineup mismatches on defense and offense. They understand how to control foul trouble and they don't foul out of games. Malvern has played 30 games this season and only 1 player has fouled out this season.



I'll admittedly say I have a small sample size. However, that's how Berryville hung around was to get multiple girls in foul trouble. It wasn't until the big girl went out that they made headway into the lead. She's an eraser that allows the wings to be more aggressive in the passing lanes, knowing that she can stop baskets at the rim. Notice I didn't even say fouling out, I said foul trouble. Foul trouble leads to players being less aggressive, or having to sit. I am not disputing that Malvern is a good team. I am not disputing that they can play with fouls. The game I saw they were in foul trouble and were much less effective because of it.

Hooiser

I wouldn't want to play Brookland right now.  This team seems to be on a mission right now and are playing like it. Last week in the Regional tournament, they got better each game they played.  The Bearcats beat a very good Dollarway team by 23 points.  On Saturday, they held a very good Lincoln team to 7 points in the 2nd half.  If they are hitting there shots, they will be hard to beat.  If they get a lead on you late in the game, forget about it!

doober3

Quote from: Hooiser on March 10, 2014, 11:45:52 am
I wouldn't want to play Brookland right now.  This team seems to be on a mission right now and are playing like it. Last week in the Regional tournament, they got better each game they played.  The Bearcats beat a very good Dollarway team by 23 points.  On Saturday, they held a very good Lincoln team to 7 points in the 2nd half.  If they are hitting there shots, they will be hard to beat.  If they get a lead on you late in the game, forget about it!

Agreed.

I watched the game against Lincoln and what I saw was an excellent defensive team.  Great man-to-man and really did well to stay out of foul trouble.  But what I thought was even more impressive was the offense.  Very very patient.  Pass, pass, pass...no risky shots.  They take as long as it takes to get a good shot.  They might put you to sleep when they are on offense but that is their game plan.  Very well coached and very well disciplined team.

horsepower1324

Quote from: doober3 on March 10, 2014, 11:56:01 am
Quote from: Hooiser on March 10, 2014, 11:45:52 am
I wouldn't want to play Brookland right now.  This team seems to be on a mission right now and are playing like it. Last week in the Regional tournament, they got better each game they played.  The Bearcats beat a very good Dollarway team by 23 points.  On Saturday, they held a very good Lincoln team to 7 points in the 2nd half.  If they are hitting there shots, they will be hard to beat.  If they get a lead on you late in the game, forget about it!

Agreed.

I watched the game against Lincoln and what I saw was an excellent defensive team.  Great man-to-man and really did well to stay out of foul trouble.  But what I thought was even more impressive was the offense.  Very very patient.  Pass, pass, pass...no risky shots.  They take as long as it takes to get a good shot.  They might put you to sleep when they are on offense but that is their game plan.  Very well coached and very well disciplined team.

Facing a good Westside match-up zone, there were no points on the first quarter by either team.

Didn't give up a double digit quarter in Regionals. Monticello is a little different, they are big, and Brookland isn't.

horsepower1324

Quote from: horsepower1324 on March 10, 2014, 05:57:36 am
Semifinals

With the Semis set, here are some things to watch for.

Does Lonoke ride the home court advantage to Hot Springs?

The Jackrabbits have played extremely well in the Gina Cox Center, and will likely be the team with the most substantial crowd on Seminfinal Monday. Will they ride that momentum? Nashville is athletic and it very well could come down to rebounding.

yes they did. They are playing well at the right time and it didn't hurt to sleep in their own beds.

Does Brookland-Monticello make it out of the 30s?

These two teams played very early in the season, as Monticello made the long trip to Northeast Arkansas, and handed the Bearcats a 35-31 loss. Brookland is playing better than they have all season, but Monticello's huge size advantage is going to be tough to overcome. As they say in the UFC, "styles make fights" and these are two well coached teams with contrasting styles. I expect another close game.

nope. Even with extra time, the lengthy 1-3-1 of Monticello and the grinding man-to-man of Brookland did their jobs.

Can Malvern avoid foul trouble?

If not Farmington may shoot enough free throws to take a trip to Hot Springs. If the big girl for the Lady Leopards stays on the floor, I think she's the difference. When she's out there, Malvern can be aggressive in their zone. When she's not, those missed steals turn into much easier baskets, or they have to sag off, giving more room to shooters.

of course they can. Big time win by a team that knows how to win this time of year.

Will anyone stop CAC's Jones and Miller?

The 6-1 Jones and 5-11 Miller caused so many problems for Brookland that they can't be gone into detail here, but Valley View may have the size to at least pose a better matchup.

However, if Jones roams the paint free, then I have a tough time seeing CAC losing, she can clean the glass across the lane, and needs a little more touch, but still scores over just about anyone.

Valley View couldn't but I think Malvern will.

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