As the high school basketball season comes to an end this week for Arkansas and most schools in Missouri, a pair of area boys’ teams will be in action Friday. Dora begins its two-day run in Springfield, and Izard County returns to Hot Springs for the second consecutive year.
Dora will play its first game in the Show-Me Showdown as they compete in the semifinals of the Class 1 State Tournament. The Falcons’ opening opponent will be St. Elizabeth.
Dora is 29-1 on the season after doubling up Risco 74-37 Saturday in the quarterfinals, Their only loss of the year came to Izard County in the Marvin Newton Classic at Viola in December. The District 3 champions have spent most of the season as the top-ranked team in all of Class 1, and Falcons’ head coach Rick Luna says the key to the team’s success has been their determination.
Listen:
St. Elizabeth came into the tournament as the District 7 champions. The Hornets are 23-5 on the year after beating Lakeland 91-70 on Saturday, and Luna says contending with their size will be a challenge for Dora.
Listen:
Tip-off at the Juanita K. Hammons Student Center is scheduled for 2:40.
Izard County is looking for its first state title in 11 years. The Cougars will be paired with Nevada in the Class 1A state championship game.
Izard County is currently 41-4 on the season after beating up on County Line 75-46 in the semifinals on their home floor. The Cougars came into the tournament as the champions of Region 2.
This is the second year in a row Izard County has made it to Hot Springs after losing last year’s title game to Guy-Perkins. Cougars’ head coach Kyle McCandlis, who helped lead the program to the state championship in 2008 as a player, says the experience factor will be on their side for this game.
Listen:
This Nevada team came into the tournament as the Region 4 champions. The Blue Jays won the other semifinal game over Hillcrest 56-38 on Saturday to improve to 33-4 on the year. McCandlis says Nevada’s quickness will be tough to contend with, and similar to Izard County, they also have a lot of younger players.
Listen:
Gametime at Bank OZK Arena is set for 7:45. Friday’s game can be seen on AETN.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI