In what will be their biggest game of the year to date, Junction City’s opponent in the regional tournament has the same attribute.
Tonight, Junction City squares off against Magnet Cove at the 2A South Regional Tournament with a berth in the state tournament on the line.
Game time is set for 7 p.m. from Caddo Hills.
The Dragons (16-3) are the 8-2A’s No. 2 seed after topping Hampton in the semifinals before falling to Fordyce in the championship game of the district tournament.
The Panthers (18-8) are the 7-2A’s No. 3 seed having toppled Mountain Pine in the quarterfinals before being ousted by Caddo Hills in the semifinals of the district tournament.
For Junction City coach Kendall Hutcheson, overcoming the Panthers’ size will be vital.
“Magnet Cove is very big,” Hutcheson said. “They’ve got 6-7 inside. They’ve got a 6-6 kid. Their guards are all 6-2, 6-3. Everybody is over 6-foot. They shoot the ball pretty quickly from the outside, but they also can pound it inside. Their length is definitely going to be a challenge.”
Hutcheson added that dictating tempo will also be a key for both teams.
“I think the speed is definitely going to be a part of it,” Hutcheson said. “I think it could be a clash of whose style kind of takes over. Is it going to be a fast-paced kind of game where it’s going to be up and down or is it going to be a slower, pound it kind of game? I don’t think they’ll try to play fast with us, but they may. I think the key to this game is going to be rebounding. If we can’t keep them out of the paint and off the boards, it’s going to be a rough game.”
With the Panthers’ size, the Dragons must limit second-chance opportunities.
“They’ve done that in a lot of games where they’ll miss it, and they’ll get a second shot, a third shot, a fourth shot,” Hutcheson said. “That’s what we can’t give up. If you play good defense on the initial possession, you’ve got to get a stop, got to get the rebound. If you can do that and keep them off the offensive glass, it will the change the tempo of the game and where the game is going.”
The Dragons seemed to be hitting on all cylinders when last month’s winter storm halted play across Arkansas.
Although Junction City was able to finish with the two seed for the regional, Hutcheson didn’t think his team had the same spark they had before the break, but with their season at stake, he said the Dragons are ready to move forward.
“I thought we had one of our best practices of the year yesterday (Monday),” Hutcheson said. “We had a little talk, and we talked about what we needed to do and about the urgency of the situation and where we are right now. The kids responded really well. The practice was extremely high energy. Their attitude was excellent. I thought we looked better than we have in awhile.
“Before the break, I thought we were playing our best basketball of the year. When we came back, we just seemed a little bit flat. Defensively, we weren’t as crisp as we were before, and everybody went through the same thing, we just didn’t recover as quickly as we needed to. I think with them understanding the urgency of it and the fact you’re now at the point in the season where you lose, you go home, I thought they responded really well in practice.”