What a game we got to witness last night! It was the quarter finals of the 2A West Regional Tournament, the Golden Arrows were matched up with The Yellville-Summit Panthers.Both teams had difficulties early finding their rhythm, and the Arrows took a one point lead into halftime, 17-16. In the second half though both teams started to find success, and the battle was on. These two teams put on a show with neither team yielding an inch. The crowd was electric as they watched, what was like a battle between two gladiators trading blow for blow. The game took three overtime periods to settle and in the end Lavaca fell by one point, 60-59. This ended Lavaca’s magical season.
Lavaca had gone undefeated in conference and they won the Conference Championship outright. They had much high expectations this year. They expected nothing less than a deep run into the State Tournament. This was not the end that the Arrows had planned, but if you are going to have to go out, last night was the way to go. They never quit and left everything they had on the court. Lavaca only has one senior on this team, Tyler Armistead. While he will be missed next year, Lavaca will be returning 5 starters. Lavaca has proved that they are a force to be reckoned with, and next year the 2A better watch out because the Arrows are coming!
As expected, the locker room was a quite emotional last night, but Coach Reed took time to reflect on this team saying, “I’m beyond proud of these guys. We knew tonight would be a great battle and we had to play well. There was a lot of emotion in the locker room after the game, these guys hurt for each other and wanted more. To be undefeated conference champs after replacing four starters from the previous year is a great accomplishment. There are so many guys on this team that improved so much from the last year. It was a privilege to coach them all. We lose Tyler (Armistead), who had a great career and was part of 68 wins in his three years, but more importantly he was a great teammate! Next year we return a lot of guys that have more to prove and will be playing with a chip on their shoulder! Go Arrows!”
