A major drawback from the success Farmington's girls basketball team has enjoyed this season has been the lack of opportunities to play on their home floor.
The Lady Cardinals' only home games on the schedule are seven 4A-1 Conference games, thanks to a double round-robin schedule.
The opportunity to earn some more home games has arrived, however, as Farmington was selected to host the Class 4A state basketball tournament during the Arkansas Activities Association's tournament selection meeting Thursday in North Little Rock.
Lady Cardinals Coach Brad Johnson was able to tell his team before it traveled to its game at Gentry.
"That will be used as motivation for the rest of the season," Johnson said. "We want to earn that opportunity to play a couple more times on our home floor, and we're excited about it as coaches. It's a huge commitment, but we want to utilize our school and our community to make it a great tournament.
"The fun part, however, was getting to announce it to our boys and girls. It was fun experiencing their reaction."
Farmington, whose girls are the defending 4A state champions, was chosen over Brookland in a vote by the AAA board of directors. Cardinal Arena will host the first-round games through the semifinals, which are scheduled for Feb. 27-March 2. All championship games will be held at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs the following week.
Farmington also hosted the Class 4A state tournament in 2020, and the Lady Cardinals reached the state championship game that year. Farmington, however, had to share the state title with Star City that year after the covid-19 pandemic shut everything down.
"One thing we have to make sure is to make this a phenomenal experience for everybody," Johnson said. "I thought we did a good job in 2020, and now we have one under our belt. For coaches and players, it's a tournament. But for everybody attending, it's an event. We're excited to be able to showcase our facility and our area."
The other state tournament host schools will be North Little Rock for Class 6A, Searcy for 5A, Elkins for 3A, Mansfield for 2A and Omaha for 1A. The Class 1A tournament will be held at North Arkansas College in Harrison, while the others will be on school campuses.
It will be the first time North Little Rock has hosted the state tournament since 2018 when both of its teams won state championships.
"We're extremely excited to get it," North Little Rock girls Coach Daryl Fimple said. "It's great for our kids and great for the community. This old building is a gym to play in, and we're looking forward to showcasing our community and our school.
"I think it's a huge advantage to be able to sleep in your own beds. Our community did a great job last time, from our football staff helping parking buses to the hospitality room and ticket takers. It was a really good time."
Two state tournaments will allow schools to showcase their new facilities. Searcy opened its arena this season and earned the right to host over Van Buren, while Elkins go from a 1,050-seat gym to its new 1,800-seat arena and earned the host spot over 3A-1 Conference colleague Bergman -- which would have utilized North Arkansas College if it hosted.
"That was a little bit of a shocker," Elkins Athletic Director Steven Fein said. "I know Valley Springs hosted the 3A state tournament and NorthArk and did a great job, and I know Bergman would have done a great job there. But the opportunity to host a state tournament in your own gym is something special.
"The arena is just fantastic, and we've have a lot of positive feedback from our opponents. We're excited to host, and it's going to be good for our community. We talked about bidding for state and regional next year, but then we said, 'You know, let's do state this year. The community will get behind it and make it work.' "
High school state and regional sites
BASKETBALL
State (Feb. 27-March 2)
6A North Little Rock
5A Searcy
4A Farmington
3A Elkins
2A Mansfield
1A Omaha (at North Arkansas College, Harrison)
Finals at Bank OZK Arena, Hot Springs (Class 3A/4A on March 7; Class 5A/6A on March 8; Class 1A/2A on March 9)
Regionals (Feb. 21-24)
4A-North Pea Ridge
4A-East Brookland
4A-South Nashville
3A-1 Booneville
3A-2 Manila
3A-3 Dover
3A-4 Jessieville
2A-North Riverside
2A-Central Izard County
2A-West Greenland
2A-South Acorn
1A-1 Huntsville
1A-2 Greers Ferry West Side
1A-3 Clarendon
1A-4 Emerson
BASEBALL/SOFTBALL
State (May 9-11)
6A Bentonville (Baseball), Fayetteville (Softball)
5A Harrison
4A Gravette
3A Prescott (at Majestic Park, Hot Springs)
2A Palestine-Wheatley
1A Greers Ferry West Side (split with Heber Springs)
Regional
4A-North Morrilton
4A-East Joe T. Robinson
4A-South Nashville
3A-1 Valley Springs
3A-2 Rivercrest
3A-3 Pangburn
3A-4 Genoa Central
2A-West Lavaca
2A-Central South Side Bee Branch
2A-North Buffalo Island Central
2A-South Parkers Chapel
1A-1 Omaha
1A-2 Marked Tree
1A-3 Wonderview
1A-4 Hampton
SOCCER
State (May 9-11)
6A Little Rock Southwest
5A Hot Springs Lakeside
4A Joe T. Robinson
3A Bergman
Weekend of Champions (May 16-18)
All classes at Conway
TRACK AND FIELD
State (April 29-May 4)
6A Fort Smith Southside
5A Russellville
4A Pocahontas
3A Jessieville
2A No bid
1A No bid
Meet of Champs (May 8) — Lake Hamilton
Heptathlon/Decathlon (May 15/16) — Harding University, Searcy
VOLLEYBALL
State
6A Springdale Har-Ber
5A Van Buren
4A Huntsville
3A Paris
2A Hackett
Finals (all classes) — Bank OZK Arena, Hot Springs