News-Times Staff
With the start of the new year comes the resumption of conference play for Union County schools.
Tonight, El Dorado, Junction City and Smackover all return to the hardwood looking to make a dent in the league standings.
El Dorado's squads will play at Hot Springs Lakeside tonight before playing host to Lake Hamilton on Friday in Class 5A-6A District 6 play.
The Wildcats won their first three games in league play before falling to Hot Springs, which started a four-game losing streak.
El Dorado snapped their skid against Joe T. Robinson at the Coca-Cola Classic last week.
Playing close games has become something of a norm for the Lady Wildcats, who lost five consecutive games by a total of 11 points as part of an eight-game skid that was snapped with a 61-52 win over Searcy in the finale of the Beebe Holiday Classic.
A good start in January would be very beneficial to El Dorado, who will embark on a three-game road trip beginning at the end of the month.
This week is a big one for both Junction City's boys and girls, who host Fordyce tonight and McGehee on Friday in games that will be critical towards seeding for the district tournament next month.
The Dragons are coming off a run to the finals of the Hampton Holiday Classic, while the Lady Dragons lost a four-point game to Harmony Grove in the semifinals before falling in overtime to Smackover in the third-place game.
For the Bucks and the Lady Bucks, tonight's home games against Monticello and Friday's home contests against Crossett are rematches from November when Class 3A-4A District 12 play began.
The Bucks earned a split on the road, losing at Monticello 67-55 while winning at Crossett 52-44.
The Lady Bucks also earned a split, losing at Monticello 62-33 before knocking off Crossett 56-24.
As far as Parkers Chapel and Strong are concerned, the first week of 2018 will be a light one.
Strong will be idle tonight before returning to Class 1A-2A District 16 play on Friday when they host Dermott.
Parkers Chapel will be idle until next Tuesday when they play at Nevada in Class 1A-2A District 15 play.
West Side Christian is also idle until Friday when they play at Garrett Memorial Christian.
Fans wanting to catch a glimpse of the future will get the chance with the Union County Junior High Tournament, which Strong is hosting starting on Wednesday with four games.
The girls bracket features Smackover taking on Bearden in the first game of the day at 4 p.m., while Junction City and Hermitage will collide at 6:20 p.m.
The boys bracket has Strong taking on Hermitage at 5:10 p.m. with Parkers Chapel and Junction City concluding the first day of play at 7:30 p.m.