Friday will be the second day of state championship action for Arkansas high school basketball, and another game pairing two area girls’ teams will be featured. The Class 2A title game will get the action started and feature 2A-2 conference foes Salem and Melbourne.
The Lady Greyhounds are 22-7 on a season, which included a runner-up finish in the 2A-2 conference regular season, the 2A-2 District Tournament and the Class 2A Central Regional Tournament. They defeated Rector, Acorn and Bigelow in the first three rounds to punch their ticket to Hot Springs.
Melbourne is looking to capture the state championship for the third consecutive year. The Lady Bearkatz are 31-1 on the year and ended up as the conference, district and regional champs. Melbourne’s first three games in the Class 2A State Tournament required the mercy rule, as the Lady Bearkatz breezed past Riverside, Mansfield and Fordyce.
Despite the success the Lady Bearkatz have had, head coach Eric Teague says the season has been stressful in dealing with the high expectations and coronavirus.
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This will be the fifth meeting this season between Salem and Melbourne. The Lady Bearkatz have beaten the Lady Greyhounds in all four previous games, but the first three have been fairly close. In the final of the 2A-2 District Tournament, Melbourne ended the game on a 10-0 run to get past Salem with a five-point win. Teague says the Lady Greyhounds are a talented, hard-working team that will be a challenge for his Lady Bearkatz.
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Tip-off at Bank OZK Arena is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday’s game will be televised live on Arkansas PBS.
In Missouri, West Plains’ girls are looking to end the Show Me Showdown with the Class 5 state championship. The Lady Zizzers will meet Whitfield from St. Louis in the title game on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield. Tip-off at JQH Arena is set for 4 p.m.
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