By Chad Matchett
Special to The Leader
The Arkansas Heat 17U team capped off a successful AAU Division II season by traveling to Las Vegas for the West Coast National Championship and brought back some hardware from the tournament.
It wasn’t quite the hardware coach Karoma Smith and his players wanted, but finishing second in the nation isn’t too bad.
The Heat lost 46-43 to the North Bay Basketball Association out of California in the tournament finals.
“That’s a big accomplishment for these kids,” said Smith. “They know they can compete with the best in Arkansas, and now they all know they can compete on the national level.”
Made up of some of the best talent in central Arkansas, the Heat have won back-to-back AAU Division II state championships. They came just a break or two away from winning their first national championship.
The Heat are well represented with local talent. Aaron Smith and Brandon Brockman will both be juniors at Jacksonville High School this season. Braylon Spicer will be a senior at North Pulaski, while Trey Smith will be a senior at Sylvan Hills.
“This is my first group of graduating guys I’ve coached,” Smith said. “I just wish I could have had them when they were even younger. These few years since the oldest ones were freshmen have flown by. They’re a great group to coach.”
The Heat looked like they might be bringing another championship back to Arkansas early on in the tournament finals against NBBA. Quickness and tenacity helped the Heat burst out to a 12-point lead midway through the first half.
Perhaps thinking it would keep being that easy, the Heat lost their focus and much of their intensity as NBBA came storming back. After a barrage of three-pointers before the buzzer, the Heat were looking at a 24-23 deficit heading into halftime.
“That wasn’t the first time that happened in the tournament. We lost 12- and 15- point leads in a couple other games in bracket play,” said Smith. “I told the guys that if you want to be a champion, then you can’t lose your focus like that. You just can’t keep giving away these big leads.”
The halftime speech had the desired effect, it just wasn’t immediately apparent on the court. NBBA stayed hot from beyond the arc while building up a 12-point lead of their own.
A timeout and a defensive switch to a 1-2-2 press led to more steals for the Heat and more turnovers for NBBA. Jacksonville’s Smith and Brockman made baskets on three consecutive trips down the court to cut the deficit down to six points.
“Aaron Smith was one of our kids who really stepped it up in the second half,” Smith said. “He hit some big shots for us down the stretch.”
One of the shots was as high percentage as it gets as Smith had a thunderous two-handed dunk after a steal and pass from Brockman. That dunk helped to really change the momentum and fire up the crowd and the Heat.
With just over three minutes left in the game, the Heat switched to a somewhat unconventional strategy and began fouling to send NBBA to the free throw line. The California team had struggled all game from the line and the final minutes were no exception. The strategy helped the Heat pull within one point. The Heat had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds when Markell Lovelace of Mills was fouled attempting a long jumper just inside the arc.
Lovelace missed the front end of the one-and-one and NBBA was able to get down court for a layup that put them ahead 46-43.
The Heat still had enough time to get up court and give Lovelace a decent look at a three-pointer, but the ball flew just off the mark. The Heat fouled with .9 seconds left in the game, and while NBBA missed its free throws again, the rebound went went its way to end any hopes of a miracle for the Heat.
“I’m so proud of how much this group of young men has accomplished,” Smith said. “They’ve grown as young men and as basketball players. They’ve come a long way this year and really since I first started coaching them.”
