El Dorado will not lose a game at Wildcat Arena this season.
The Wildcats showcased why they excel at home Friday in an 80-67 win over Little Rock Hall.
Coach Gary Simmons' team employs a style in which having immense energy is vital. When in the midst of their fans, the Wildcats feed off the fervor. El Dorado's vast talent level, when accompanied with great energy, is too much for most teams visiting Wildcat Arena to handle.
In El Dorado's most recent home triumph, Dee Stewart was sparked by the partisan crowd. The 5-10 shooting guard made five shots from beyond the three-point arc in the first quarter of the 6A South affair. His 15 points helped El Dorado (19-3, 7-1) build a 23-10 lead over Hall heading into the second period. And the Wildcats never looked back. Stewart finished the game with 24 points.
"I was feeling good and having fun," he said. "Coach had told me before the game that I had the green light. After I made the first shot, I was just very relaxed and having fun."
SEEKING A STRONG FINISH
The Strong Bulldogs are an experienced squad. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, they're now competing with a sense of urgency.
This week Strong – which is 16-6 overall and 8-2 in the 7-2A East – hosted Junction City and Hermitage, claiming victories in both games. Against the Hermits, Strong erased a seven-point halftime deficit on its way to an 82-59 victory.
At any given moment, the Bulldogs will display their bad habit of being lackadaisical. However, Strong hopes to conquer that trend in what is the most critical point of the season.
"We had a good week. We'll now come back Monday and work hard for four days, prepare for Rison to close the regular season out," Coach Anthony Avery said. "I hope we can win that game and have a share of first place going into the district tournament."
BEWARE OF SMACKOVER
The Smackover Buckaroos will be the top seed at the 8-3A Tournament.
Smackover made easy work of Harmony Grove Friday claiming a 21-point road victory. The Buckaroos (16-5, 7-1) led Harmony Grove by as many as 26 points in the third. For most of the fourth period, coach David Preston had his reserve players in the game. Smackover can earn an outright league title with a home win over Fordyce Tuesday.
Quietly, the Buckaroos have evolved into a team which could surge deep into the postseason. The Bucks have great cohesion, plenty of experience, an abundance of talent, and are uber-athletic. Smackover is not a team I'd want to face with my season on the line. It will be interesting to see how the Buckaroos' season unfolds.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT
The regular season is almost complete.
And this year, there will not be a postseason tourney held in Union County.
El Dorado's quest for a state title officially begins in Russellville, where the 6A State Tournament will take place.
For Smackover, its district tourney is being held in McGehee. The Region 4 event will be at Centerpoint High School, which is located in Pike County. The 3A State Tournament is in Jessieville.
On the 2A level, Rison is hosting the 7-2A East District Tournament. Lafayette County is the locale of the 2A South Regional. The state tourney is being held in Marmaduke.
Unless a person has a surplus of time and resources, seeing their favorite South Arkansas team perform during the postseason will be difficult. So it would behoove most Union County hoops fans to get a good look at their squad within the next week or two.
(Kev Moyé is a sports writer for the News-Times. Follow him on Twitter @Moye06. He can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected])