Few surprises during hoops championship weekend

The Jonesboro Hurricane won their third straight state championship and their first as a Class 6A team, winning the last two in 5A. The Hurricane had been ranked among the top three teams in the state all season and for the second straight year finishes atop of the ASM overall boys’ ranking. The title is the 16th for Jonesboro which has won five over the last seven seasons.

Class 5A champion Pine Bluff, ranked ninth before the postseason, vaults all the way up to No. 2 after beating Lake Hamilton in the title game. The title is the 14th for Pine Bluff and first since 2015.

The Springdale Bulldogs jumped from No. 8 to third after advancing to the Class 6A title game before falling to Jonesboro. It was Springdale’s third trip ever to the championship game and the Bulldogs have finished as runner-up all three times.

The Bentonville West Wolverines finished fourth in the final overall rankings after they won the 6A-West Conference regular season title. The Wolverines were upended by Springdale in the state tournament semifinals.

The Little Rock Christian Warriors pulled off the biggest upset of the weekend as they thoroughly defeated the Blytheville Chickasaws in the Class 4A title game and finished the season ranked fifth overall. Blytheville had been ranked No. 1 overall and in 4A going into the postseason. The championship is the second for LR Christian which also won in 2005.

The Chickasaws dropped from first to sixth in the final poll as they collected their second straight runner-up trophy.

The Little Rock Central Tigers, one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the state most of the season, finishes seventh in the final poll. The Tigers lost to Springdale in the state tournament quarterfinals.

Tied for seventh are the Cabot Panthers who defeated two 6A-West teams to advance to the state tournament semifinals.

The Lake Hamilton Wolves finished ninth overall. They were ranked No. 1 in 5A early in the season but fell to Pine Bluff three times, including the 5A title game.

The Farmington Cardinals, which won its first 36 games before falling to Blytheville in the 4A state tournament semifinals, finished the season ranked 10th overall.

As for the state champions that did not get ranked in the final overall poll:

• The Manila Lions won their first state championship since 1962 by edging the Bergman Panthers in overtime in the 3A state title game. The Panthers has not won a state championship since 1953.

• The Bigelow Panthers won its first ever state championship by knocking off the Marshall Bobcats in the 2A title game.

• The County Line Indians completed a perfect 45-0 season by winning the 1A title. The 45 victories is believed to be the most victories by a team in a season since the modern era of Arkansas high school basketball began in 1980.

Girls’ poll

The Conway Lady Wampus Cats finally got over the hump and got to make a trip to State Finals weekend after knocking on the door for so many years. Conway defeated rival North Little Rock to claim the Class 6A title on Friday and is the first team in the short history of the ASM Poll to go the entire season ranked No. 1 overall. The state championships is the second for the Conway girls’ program as the Lady Wampus Cats previously won in 2014.

The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs won its seventh state championship – all since 2010 – by easily defeating Vilonia in the 5A title game and finished the season ranked No 2 overall. It is the second straight title for the Lady Bulldogs who finished the season on a 26-game winning streak.

The North Little Rock Lady Charging Wildcats couldn’t pull off a repeat at state champs but took home the runner-up trophy to Conway and finished at No. 3 overall.

In fact, the top four girls teams remained the same over the last two polls taken. The Farmington Lady Cardinals round out the top four overall teams after they fought off Nashville in the 4A title game. Farmington has been to the 4A championship game four straight years but this year’s championship win was the first one the Lady Cardinals earned on the floor as they were runners-up the last two seasons and shared the title in 2020 after the covid-19 virus wiped out the eight championship games over the final two days.

The Cabot Lady Panthers finished fourth in the 6A-Central Conference race behind Conway, North Little Rock and LR Central but still had a good enough season to finish fifth overall. The Lady Panthers were one of four Central teams to make the semifinals at the 6A state tournament.

The Nashville Lady Scrappers finished as runners-up to Farmington a year after clipping the Lady Cardinals by a single point in the 4A title game. The Lady Scrappers were still one of the best in the state and finished sixth overall.

The West Memphis Lady Blue Devils and the LR Central Lady Tigers finished tied for seventh. The Lady Blue Devils were ranked second in 5A most of the season but had the misfortune of being on the same side of the bracket as Greenwood. The Lady Tigers made the semifinals in 6A where they got another chance to upset Conway, but the Lady Wampus Cats were ready for them that time.

The Salem Lady Greyhounds finally broke through and won a state championship, the first in school history, defeating Lamar for the 3A title after moving up this year from 2A. The Lady Greyhounds make their debut in the final overall poll at No. 9.

Rounding out the top 10 are the Vilonia Lady Eagles, who won the 5A-Central Conference and advanced to the championship game but ran into a very tough and talented Greenwood team.

As for the state champions that did not get ranked in the final overall poll:

• The Mount Vernon-Enola Lady Warhawks rode the back of junior post Dessie McCartney to the Class 2A state championship over Conway Christian. In the title game, McCartney scored 36 points and hauled in 18 rebounds.

• The Mammoth Spring Lady Bears collected their first-ever state title with a revenge victory over the Norfork Lady Panthers in the 1A championship. Norfork defeated Mammoth Spring last season.