IN SHORT: Four local teams move on to weekend play, the rest come home.
By JASON KING
Leader sports writer
A large number of local Leader coverage teams made early exits from their respective bracket in the state playoffs this week.
In all, a total of 13 local boys and girls teams took to the court in various parts of the state, with four teams still in the hunt as of yesterday afternoon.
The Lonoke girls, East region No. 1 seed, will play today at noon against Star City, South No. 3 seed, in the 4A semifinals at Bald Knob. The Cabot Lady Panthers faced Rogers last night after receiving a bye as the No. 2 seed from the Central Conference.
Rogers entered the tournament as the West No. 3 seed, and beat Central No. 6 seed Russellville 49-27 in the opening round on Thursday.
Jacksonville entered the 6A tournament in Jonesboro as the East No. 4 seed. A win over
South No. 5 seed El Dorado on Wednesday put them in a matchup with South No. 1 seed Little Rock Hall last night.
Riverview is still in the Harrison-hosted 3A state tournament after beating Region 1 No. 4 seed Lamar in the opening round on Tuesday 63-47.
The West No. 2 seed Raiders took on Region 3 No. 2 seed Valley Springs, who annihilated Region 4 No. 3 seed Genoa Central 53-17 on Wednesday.
As for the exits, Sylvan Hills fell to Lake Hamilton in the opening round of the 6A tournament 71-58, ending the Bears’ rebuilding season with a final record of 7-22. Both Searcy teams advanced to the quarterfinal round before making their exits on Thursday.
The Lions, East No. 3 seed fell to Parkview 66-50 to end their season with a 19-11 record. The Lady Lions almost pulled off a huge comeback against lake Hamilton in the second round, but ended their season with a 21-5 record as the result of a 58-51 loss to the Lady Wolves Thursday night. The Lonoke Jackrabbits, East region No. 3 seed, advanced with a win over Dollarway 47-38 in the first round, but lost Thursday to Huntsville 42-29.
North Pulaski joined the Beebe girls at the 5A state playoffs in Paragould on the Greene County Tech campus.
The Falcons, No. 3 seed from the East Conference, fell to Southwest No. 2 seed Arkadelphia 62-56. The Lady Badgers also fell in the opening round with a 76-43 loss to Little Rock Fair. The Lady Badgers were the No. 3 seed from the East; Fair was the Southwest No. 2 seed.
Be sure to catch the Wednesday sports edition of The Leader for full results on Lonoke, Cabot, Jacksonville and Riverview over the weekend.
