Tereke Eckwood saved the best for last and is playing his best basketball of the season at the right time.
"I think he is," Springdale High boys basketball coach Brad Stamps said. "Not only is he controlling the tempo and doing what he can do from the point guard position, but he's doing more. He's playing defense, and he's scoring. He's doing a lot of things that have a direct impact on the ballgame."
That Figures
299 — points scored in 14 conference games for Bentonville’s Malik Monk, who won the boys scoring title
216 — points scored in 14 conference games for Siloam Springs’ Baily Cameron, who won the girls scoring title
7A/6A-WEST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL LEADERS
CONFERENCE GAMES ONLY
BOYS
TEAM OFFENSE^G^PTS^AVG
Springdale High^14^873^62.4
Bentonville^14^827^59.1
Fayetteville^14^751^53.6
Springdale Har-Ber^14^738^52.7
Rogers Heritage^14^723^51.6
Van Buren^14^701^50.1
Siloam Springs^14^694^49.6
Rogers High^14^682^48.7
TEAM DEFENSE^G^PTS^AVG
Van Buren^14^621^44.4
Bentonville^14^714^51.0
Fayetteville^14^717^51.2
Springdale High^14^721^51.5
Rogers Heritage^14^761^54.4
Springdale Har-Ber^14^773^55.2
Siloam Springs^14^795^56.8
Rogers High^14^887^63.4
LEADING SCORERS
BOYS^G^PTS^AVG
Malik Monk, Bentonville^14^299^21.4
Dylan Gray, Siloam Springs^14^235^16.8
Payton Willis, Fayetteville^14^218^15.6
Mitchell Smith, Van Buren^14^205^14.6
Crist Olsen, Rogers Heritage^14^205^14.6
Hunter Hill, Rogers High^14^202^14.4
Chris Owens, Springdale High^14^198^14.1
Zach Street, Rogers High^14^197^14.1
Connor Hirsch, Rogers Heritage^14^185^13.2
Luke Renner, Fayetteville^14^182^13.0
Jason Harms, Van Buren^14^177^12.6
Ryan Pearson, Van Buren^14^158^11.3
D.J. Evans, Springdale High^14^155^11.1
Avery Benson, Siloam Springs^14^154^11.0
Tereke Eckwood, Springdale High^14^153^10.9
Wyatt Kinnamon, Rogers Heritage^14^152^10.9
Reece Goddard, Siloam Springs^14^147^10.5
Mason Cline, Springdale Har-Ber^14^141^10.1
Josiah Wymer, Springdale High^14^132^9.4
Jake Caudle, Bentonville^14^122^8.7
Tyrik Dixon, Bentonville^14^116^8.3
J.P. Brandon, Springdale Har-Ber^14^115^8.2
Rickey Jones, Springdale Har-Ber^14^113^8.1
Mason Adams, Fayetteville^14^107^7.6
C.J. O’Grady, Fayetteville^14^107^7.6
Brandon Buccheri, Springdale Har-Ber^14^94^6.7
Edgar Martinez, Rogers High^14^94^6.7
Landon Jones, Springdale Har-Ber^14^87^6.2
Bradley Eversole, Van Buren^14^78^5.6
Brendan Cook, Springdale High^14^77^5.5
Tyler Robinson, Bentonville^14^74^5.3
Quashaun Kursh, Van Buren^14^72^5.1
Austin Fox, Springdale Har-Ber^14^70^5.0
Ben Smith, Bentonville^14^70^5.0
Treshawn Gause, Springdale High^14^70^5.0
Andrew Davis, Springdale Har-Ber^14^68^4.9
Brandon Johnson, Siloam Springs^14^65^4.6
GIRLS
TEAM OFFENSE^G^PTS^AVG
Siloam Springs^14^787^56.2
Springdale Har-Ber^14^735^52.5
Bentonville^14^733^52.4
Fayetteville^14^698^49.9
Springdale High^14^691^49.4
Rogers High^14^610^43.6
Rogers Heritage^14^521^37.2
Van Buren^14^495^35.4
TEAM DEFENSE^G^PTS^AVG
Fayetteville^14^540^38.6
Springdale High^14^636^45.4
Rogers High^14^648^46.3
Van Buren^14^667^47.6
Springdale Har-Ber^14^671^47.9
Rogers Heritage^14^683^48.8
Bentonville^14^691^49.4
Siloam Springs^14^734^52.4
LEADING SCORERS
GIRLS^G^PTS^AVG
Baily Cameron, Siloam Springs^14^216^15.4
Kierra Lang, Springdale High^11^150^13.6
Jordan Martin, Bentonville^14^173^12.4
Paige Redmond, Springdale Har-Ber^14^170^12.1
Dashundra Morgan, Fayetteville^9^108^12.0
Morgan Miller, Siloam Springs^14^166^11.9
JaVonda Daniels, Springdale High^14^158^11.3
Bailey Schalk, Springdale Har-Ber^14^157^11.2
Peyton Taylor, Bentonville^14^157^11.2
Libby Ganoung, Rogers High^14^156^11.1
Emilie Jobst, Rogers Heritage^14^155^11.1
Bailee Owens, Siloam Springs^14^142^10.1
Mayse Pippin, Siloam Springs^14^139^9.9
Sydney Crockett, Fayetteville^14^137^9.8
Maria Santillana, Van Buren^14^132^9.4
Brooke Sagely, Rogers High^14^119^8.5
Callie King, Rogers High^14^118^8.4
Kindal Coleman, Bentonville^14^117^8.4
Sara Giesen, Rogers Heritage^14^111^7.9
Lani Snowden, Van Buren^14^107^7.6
Chasidee Owens, Springdale High^14^105^7.5
Desiree Mack, Springdale High^14^103^7.4
Danae Goodwin, Van Buren^14^100^7.1
Ryann Goodsell, Springdale High^14^99^7.1
Gina Britton, Rogers Heritage^14^97^6.9
Marleeya Montgomery, Springdale Har-Ber^14^91^6.5
Jacie Higgins, Springdale Har-Ber^14^87^6.2
Lauren Schuldt, Fayetteville^14^86^6.1
Carlye Bohannan, Springdale Har-Ber^14^85^6.1
Emily Sieller, Rogers Heritage^14^82^5.9
Deanna Adkins, Bentonville^14^81^5.8
Lauren Hargus, Bentonville^14^73^5.2
Lauren Krissman, Fayetteville^14^72^5.1
Samantha Weber, Springdale Har-Ber^14^69^4.9
Cassandra Trexler, Rogers High^14^69^4.9
Madison Brittain, Bentonville^14^66^4.7
Kaylee Sheppard, Van Buren^14^61^4.4
State Tournaments Delayed
The start of several Arkansas state basketball tournaments were delayed after the state was blanketed in snow and ice over the weekend.
The Arkansas Activities Association announced Monday the Class 6A, 5A, 3A, 2A and 1A state tournaments will not start until Wednesday. The tournaments for Class 7A and 4A are unaffected since they were not scheduled to start until Wednesday.
The delay also means the semifinals of those tournaments that were delayed will not be played until Sunday, the AAA said in a statement released Monday.
“The decision was based on a safety issue,” said Lance Taylor, AAA executive director, in the release. “We wanted to make sure that everyone could travel to our state locations without hazardous driving conditions. The weather conditions are not favorable to travel on Tuesday, and warmer temperatures are expected for the rest of the week.”
The state finals are scheduled for March 13-15 in Hot Springs and are expected to be played as scheduled.
After averaging 9.3 points in Springdale's first 12 conference games, Eckwood scored 41 points in two wins last week and helped lead Springdale to the top of the conference. He is this week's 7A/6A-West Conference Boys Player of the Week.
"We're obviously thrilled at this time of the year that he's raised his game," Stamps said. "He's always done some good things for us, but he's raised his level of play over the last couple of weeks for sure."
Springdale entered a grueling week of facing then-undefeated, league-leader Bentonville and contender Van Buren with the possibility of being the third seed. Instead, the Bulldogs grabbed the top seed by knocking off Bentonville 68-53 on the road and beating Van Buren 56-48 at home. Coupled with Fayetteville's 54-50 win against Bentonville, Springdale earned a share of the conference title and, more importantly, the top seed in the Class 7A State Tournament at Conway's Buzz Bolding Arena.
"Our belief is that when we share it and trust a pass that we're really hard to defend because we have some pieces that can do some things whether it's off the bounce or perimeter shooting," Stamps said. "It seems like when the ball is moving and not sticking in somebody's hands that we're pretty effective."
Stamps helped cut down the nets Friday, marking the Bulldogs' first conference championship since the school split and first since 2000.
"It was an unbelievable feeling," Stamps said. "When we took over the program five years ago, the program wasn't in bad shape, but we felt like we could get some kids to buy into what we wanted to do. We've been fortunate and blessed to have some good basketball players. The community has supported us. Our students and our fans stuck around on Friday night to watch us cut down the nets. That meant the world to share it with people who have been waiting for that feeling for quite some time. It was pretty special."
ROGERS TRIO
The trio of Callie King, Libby Ganoung and Brooke Sagely scored in double-digits in two Rogers High wins last year to lift the Lady Mountaineers into the state tournament.
King, Ganoung and Sagely scored 36 points in a 48-30 win over Heritage on Feb. 25 and then combined to score 44 points in 54-52 win against Har-Ber on Friday. All three share this week's 7A/6A-West Girls Player of the Week honors.
Both wins were on the road and earned Rogers the fifth seed in the state tournament.
As a reward, though, the Lady Mountaineers get to play host to Conway, the fourth-place seed from the rugged 7A-Central, in the first round of the Class 7A State Tournament.
Conway earned season splits against Fort Smith Northside and Southside and Greenwood and swept Little Rock Hall. The quartet of sophomore Alexis Tolefree and juniors Asia Williard, Jordan Danberry and Christin Rogers all averaged double-digits in conference play. They combined for 48.4 points per league outing on the way to a 22-5 overall mark and 11-3 in the 7A/6A-Central.
The Lady Wampus Cats swept through the final half of the conference round-robin since a 59-55 loss to Greenwood in January.
"We had a little bit of controversy when we played Greenwood; we had a team issue," Conway coach Ashley Nance said. "Since that loss, we haven't lost a game. Sometimes when you have a controversy like that, it either hurts you and you're done, or it makes you better and we got better. That changed our whole year."
HELLO
Next season, the conference will be comprised solely of Class 7A schools.
Fort Smith Northside and Southside rejoin the conference after a two-year absence, which makes the conference tougher in just about every sport.
The really good part of that, though, is that means the end to the points rating system, or power rankings, depending on the terminology.
Of the eight teams in the conference, six will earn postseason berths in the playoff-type sports of football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball and baseball based on head-to-head meetings, using the old tie-breaking system. The maximum points in football is 13 points, basketball 10, soccer 3 and baseball and softball 5.
Northside Lady Bears basketball coach Rickey Smith went kicking and screaming from the 7A-West before but ended up liking the overall competitiveness of the 7A/6A-Central. At one point this year, according to FearlessFriday.com, the top four girls teams in the state were from the conference with Northside, Greenwood, Conway and Hall ranked in order.
"When we were in the West, I didn't want to leave it because of the familiarity," Smith said. "I like this conference. It's so tough it makes you better. This is a great girls basketball conference. There's six of the top seven or eight teams in the state. For girls' basketball, you're not going to get any tougher than this conference."
GOODBYE
Siloam Springs and Van Buren depart the conference and head to the 7A/6A-Central. They will be joined by Class 6A schools Alma, Russellville and Greenwood and 7A schools Conway, Bryant, Little Rock Catholic and Mount Saint Mary's.
"I love the West," Van Buren coach Randy Loyd said. "I've been a West guy for 20 years except for those four years in the Central. The travel has been perfect for us. I think the new conference will be good. We get Alma and Greenwood back so we get some rivalries back. The only thing we missed in the West was the rival games. With Alma and Greenwood and Siloam Springs being close, we'll have some of those rivalry games and great crowds even though we've had some great crowds this year."
Loyd, a 1978 Southside graduate, even played in the West.
"I've grown up in this part of the state and with this conference we've been in," Loyd said. "It's kind of a downer, but we may be back in it in a couple of years. You never know with realignments and Bentonville splitting. I'll miss the West, but I am looking forward to the new conference with Alma and Greenwood coming in."
While the mileage to Bryant and Little Rock is further than what Van Buren has been used to, it still is much better than the last time the Pointers were in the 7A/6A-Central when Little Rock Hall and Parkview were in it. Van Buren's closest drive at that time was Russellville.
"It's much better than the last time we were in the Central as far as travel and having some teams that are close," Loyd said. "We still have to go to Little Rock Catholic and Bryant. With Greenwood, Alma and Siloam Springs right here close, it won't be as bad. We'll really enjoy this conference."
As athletic director at Van Buren, Loyd also realizes increased travel means decreased crowds. While in the 7A/6A-Central one season, a visiting team had two fans for a football game at Van Buren's Blakemore Stadium.
"I remember that," Loyd said. "One of the Little Rock schools that came in and had two fans total on that side of the bleachers. That won't happen with the new conference. With local teams getting in that conference, the crowds will be much better. It's exciting in that way to know the crowds will be up. I am going to miss the West for sure."
For Siloam Springs, the mileage increases dramatically from the West, but it also places the Panthers into a conference with other Class 6A schools.
Of the top four conferences in the state, the 7A/6A-Central and 7A/6A-East will be split with four 6A schools and four 7A schools in each. That means postseason berths will be determined by games against other schools of the same classification. That means Van Buren's playoff berth in football will be determined by three games against Conway, Bryant and Little Rock Catholic. In basketball, it means 28 or so regular-season games. The postseason berths will come down to six games, the home and away games against those same three teams.
That's the trade-off getting rid of the convoluted points rating system.
"We are getting away from the power ratings, which people didn't like, but now we're getting back to playing three teams that's going to determine if you go to the state tournament or not," Loyd said. "We'll have to play well against Little Rock Catholic, Conway and Bryant and hope to qualify for state tournaments in all sports. I guess the other games are just warmup games just to get you ready for those games. That's why we want to get it back to the top 32."
Van Buren will propose in April to the Arkansas Activities Association to place the largest 32 schools back into one classification.
"We're going to make a proposal in April to put it back to 32 and see what the vote is," Loyd said. "We're going to continue to push for that. I think it will get through our district. It just depends on what the top 6A schools want to do and see if they will vote for it. I do know that there are some 6A schools that would vote for it if it were brought out today. I think that's the only thing that will get it back to normal and not have people switching conferences every two years."
Sports on 03/04/2014