Never has basketball been as much-needed an escape from present-day reality than this week at Watson Chapel High School, one might guess.
"We just try to use basketball as a situation to get out of certain things," Wildcats Coach Marcus Adams said. "That's your getaway box. That's your safe haven."
Shortly after an on-campus shooting took place at the next-door junior high campus Monday morning, Adams and his coaching staff sent the players home and called off practice. He said the players haven't talked much about the incident, which had left Daylon Burnett, 15, hospitalized in Little Rock.
Burnett died Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours before Watson Chapel's boys and girls basketball teams begin play in the 4A-South Region tournament at Star City High School. Watson Chapel girls Coach and Athletic Director Leslie Henderson confirmed Wednesday evening that the games will go on, with the girls team taking on Arkadelphia at 10 a.m. and the boys team playing Hope at 1 p.m.
Another 15-year-old, Thomas Quarles, is held in the juvenile detention center on a first-degree battery charge with bail set at $1 million. The charge is likely to be upgraded after Burnett's death.
The Lady Wildcats did converse about "what they were going through" following Monday's shooting, but said Tuesday that they are looking forward to using basketball as a different outlet.
"I really think at this point, it's great to look forward to basketball," said Henderson. "I think basketball is the positive. That's what I'm hoping for. Right now, we're in the regional. Let's stay focused and use this as a positive outlet."
The shooting was a heartbreaking distraction -- after the pandemic, weather and water system problems -- for two basketball teams vying for a spot in next week's 4A state tournaments in Morrilton. Both the Wildcats (11-8) and Lady Wildcats (12-11) need a victory in today's games to extend their seasons by at least three more games -- the region semifinals, first- or third-place game and first round of state.
The Lady Wildcats will tip off in their first game since losing to Star City in the District 4A-8 championship game last Friday. In preparation for Arkadelphia (10-13), Henderson said the focus has been placed on her own team.
"The next game is about us," she said. "We never cover the next person, just things we need to iron out. You work on what you feel you need to correct."
Henderson said scouting Arkadelphia, the third-place team in 4A-7, was hard because the Lady Badgers were a sixth seed going into districts and were missing key players due to covid-19 issues during the regular season.
The winner will take on 4A-7 champion Mena, a 55-30 winner over Crossett, at 10 a.m. Friday.
The Wildcats also finished second in the 4A-8 boys tournament to unbeaten Magnolia, and Adams has stressed the importance of being more physical than they were in Friday's title game.
"We had a brutal one today," Adams said Tuesday evening after practice. "We had to."
He said a lack of physicality and inexperience were factors in the 72-48 loss to the No. 1-ranked 4A team.
Hope (9-3) is blessed with quick, physical guards, Adams said, and the Wildcats will have to match their speed and intensity.
"If we don't match that, it'll be a long game for us," Adams said.