Wildcats, Razorbacks to meet for title

By Tony Burns

Sports Editor

EL DORADO - As soon as El Dorado walked off the court following its 6A West Tournament semifinal win over Lake Hamilton on Tuesday, Coach Gary Simmons learned who the opponent would be in tonight’s championship game. When he heard, “Texarkana,” Simmons nodded and smiled.

Tonight’s game at Wildcat Arena is for a championship. It’s for a No. 1 seed in next week’s 6A State Tournament. It’s also unfinished business.

El Dorado’s girls take on Russellville in the third place game, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Wildcats will take on the Razorbacks immediately after.

El Dorado (25-4) split its two games with Texarkana, winning 104-97 in overtime here and falling 64-61 on the road. Entering the conference tournament, there was no other team the Wildcats wanted to see in the finals other than the Razorbacks.

“It really was,” said Simmons. “They may come in here and take care of business but I think them coming here should give us an advantage. We’re hungry to get after them, coming off that loss. We’ve got a bad taste in our mouth and we need to try to get it out before the state tournament.”

In both of the meetings, El Dorado senior center Daniel Gafford found himself in foul trouble. That was especially the case in Texarkana.

“Daniel fouled out with about six-and-a-half minutes to go in the game,” said Simmons. “He probably only played 11 or 12 minutes of the 32. That in itself hurt us. But, it wasn’t just that. We had some (mental lapses) during the game. We didn’t get some stops we needed to get. We were trying to get a run going offensively without playing defense.”

Texarkana features a pair of quick scoring guards, who can wreak havoc from the perimeter. When Gafford leaves the floor or gets into foul trouble, they turn into slashers and attack the basket.

Defending the guards will be a key for El Dorado.

“Yes and finding their shooters,” answered Simmons. “They’ve had success … I watched the game between them and Benton and they went 10 out of 15 from the 3-point line and still got into the lane off penetration. Benton switched out and went to a 1-3-1 some. They played a 2-3 some. It was still the same result except their shooters were still sitting out there waiting for the ball.

“We’re going to come out like we normally do. We’re going to shade the dribble penetration on help side and try to flatten our man out a little bit and see if we can get after them that way.”

Another key could be rebounding as a team and not relying on the big man to control the boards.

“We had them 23-13 at the end of the first quarter and six of their points were from offensive rebounds from the same kid,” noted Simmons. “So, we’ve got to find somebody and put a body on them and all go to the boards.”

The coach said Gafford was sick on Friday but gave no indication that he didn’t expect him to play today.

In addition to the El Dorado-Texarkana rivalry, the biggest prize on the line tonight could be the No. 1 seed, which would probably put the winner opposite Jonesboro in the state tournament bracket.

The Wildcats earned tonight’s home court advantage by winning the conference. Simmons hopes the home fans will show up for the final games of the season at Wildcat Arena.

“If you can’t come out and support these kids and support the girls by now, then, I don’t understand,” he said. “I expect a good crowd. I really do. When we’ve needed a big crowd, like last year against Parkview, we’ve always gotten it. I don’t think (tonight) will be a letdown.”

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