"What if ..."
Those two words are tiny compared to most in the English language. Put them together, though, and they can start a myriad of questions and a multitude of different scenarios that can be played out to many situations.
Many of those circumstances never become reality, but what if some of them did?
For example, what if Bentonville's girls basketball team had won its quarterfinal game in the Class 7A state tournament instead of losing to Bryant in overtime? The obvious answer is the Lady Tigers would have advanced in the tournament and played Little Rock Central in the quarterfinals.
However, this may have not been that easy, and allow me to shed some light on what could have happened.
The Bentonville-Bryant was game was played on a Saturday, and the next game against Little Rock Central was played on a Sunday because inclement weather forced a two-day delay on the state tournament. Had Bentonville won and advanced, the Lady Tigers might have been forced to play the game without one of their starters -- junior post Maren Johnston, the team's leading rebounder -- because her religious beliefs won't allow her to play Sunday games.
Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier, however, might have had something on his team's side for this situation: the Arkansas Activities Association's handbook. Article II, Section 8, Rule 13 reads: "There shall be no interscholastic athletic contests on Sunday" with a note that reads "the executive director shall have the authority to schedule championship games on Sunday if inclement weather postpones an event."
This could have provided one sticky situation because two different people can read that rule and interpret it two different ways.
One person could read that rule and say that this was a quarterfinal game and not a championship game; therefore, it shouldn't be played on Sunday. Somebody else could say that the state tournament is a championship-type event, so the game should be played.
It's a moot point now because Bentonville lost, but it gives a person -- and the AAA -- something to consider down the road, should the situation ever present itself. Halbmaier was ready to plead his team's case with AAA executive director Lance Taylor had it happened, and I'm sure any other coach would have done the same thing if the situation had such an effect on his team.
Who knows what the AAA would do if this did occur. It could have happened in any of the state tournaments this year since there were Sunday games played. Somebody could even turn to an earlier situation -- the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament in Danville, where it had to play games on Sunday in order to get finished because the Class 3A State Tourney started on Tuesday.
There are some "what if" situations that never get a chance to see what the end result might be, but there better be a clear and reasonable answer if this "what if" situation ever takes shape.
Henry Apple can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAHenry
Sports on 03/18/2015