In the semi-final round of the Jr High District Tournament, the #2 seeded Waldron Jr Bulldogs faced-off with the #3 seeded West Fork Tigers in an all-out in yo face back and forth hardwood battle. The Bulldogs managed to pull ahead with a 31-17 win upgrading the Jr Dogs to a total season record of 23-4. Lidge Stinson rolled in 16 points with six of those coming from two over the top three-pointers along with five rebounds and five steals.
Trenton Hunt brought in 11 points, four rebounds, and four steals. Petey Justice and Trevor Hunt earned two points each. Kason Davis netted three rebounds. And Chris Lopez scored two rebounds and one steal. “A championship has been our goal all year and these dudes are one step closer to that goal,” stated coach, Josh Atchley. “I’m proud of the drive to add value from every player, parent, and supporter this year. Make plans to catch the game in Lincoln on Saturday!”
The Jr Bulldogs will take on the #5 seeded Elkins Elks in the championship round of Districts on Saturday, February 15 in Lincoln at 6:15 p.m.
After 16 years of being the top dog for the Greenwood Bulldogs, Head Coach Rick Jones has announced that he is leaving high school football. Coach Jones led the Greenwood Bulldogs to unprecedented success since taking over the program in 2004. He has amassed an incredible 186-26 record in his time in Greenwood, including leading the team to 14 state semifinals births and 8 state championships in his 16 seasons at the helm.
Jones also garnered numerous individual coaching awards and honors during his time as a high school coach, both in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The most recent recognition was the 2018 Power of Influence Award given by the AFCA and AFCF.
Greenwood Athletic Director Dr. Dustin Smith stated that “Rick has long been the standard in the state among football coaches. I can never put into words the impact he has made in so many lives, including my own. Rick has been an incredible ambassador for the Greenwood Bulldogs and it will be impossible to totally measure his successes. He has been a friend, a mentor, a coach, and a voice of reason to so many. He will certainly be missed in Greenwood, but I am excited to follow this next chapter of his life.”
Mr. John Ciesla, Superintendent of Greenwood Schools added, “On behalf of the Greenwood School District, we are incredibly proud of the contributions that Rick and Mona have made to our football program, our school, and our community. We are excited for Coach Jones and his family and know he will make an immediate impact in his new position.
In the semi-final round of the Jr High Districts, the #3 seeded Hackett Jr High Lady Hornets sped ahead of the #2 seeded Lavaca Lady Golden Arrows to take the 25-20 victory. This win upgrades Hackett to a 17-5 season record. “We were down 20-9 in the 4th and with pure determination, we came back,” expressed coach Broc Adams. “The girls played as hard as we have all year! I told them when we got to the 4th to just go out, work hard together, and leave it all on the floor! They never gave up and I am very proud of how well they stuck together. Proud would be an understatement!”
Alex Bunch led the Lady Hornets with 16 points followed by Teonna Best with six, Kyleigh Hill with two which came from two free-throws with only 16 seconds left in the game, and Lilly Slavens with one. “True proof that when you stick together and never quite, good things will happen!” Next, the Lady Hornets will be facing the Hector Lady Wildcats in the championship round of District on Saturday, February, 15 at 2 p.m.
As Elvis Presley used to sing, it was heart break hotel Thursday night for the Paris Jr. Eagles. After a gallant effort in the junior high district tournament, the Eagles fell to Perryville 47-43 in overtime of the tournament championship game. Paris, the tournament’s number four seed, and after having upset the tournament’s top seeded Fountain Lake Cobras on Monday night, was bidding to win the tournament over the home-standing and second seed Perryville Mustangs.
Paris led for most of the game. After jumping out to a 11-1 lead in the first quarter, the Eagles saw their lead evaporate to a 12-12 tie at the end of the first quarter. The game went back in forth with the Eagles hitting clutch shots against the pressure of the Perryville defense.
As the game progressed in the second half, the Eagles maintained a small lead, but were never able to put away the inspired Mustangs who were playing in front of a near-capacity home crowd. With 3:52 remaining in regulation time, the Eagles had a five point lead and were looking to close out the tournament championship. But then, the turnover bug struck, and Perryville battled back to tie the game and send it into overtime.
The Eagles started the overtime period strong, and with 1:57 remaining in overtime, Paris had a two point lead. At the 1:22 mark, Sam Muldrow hits a crucial shot, and the Paris bench erupted with the Eagles leading 43-39.
But Perryville moved down the court quickly and hit a three point shot at 1:22 remaining in overtime to pull the Mustangs within one point, 43-42.
With 32 seconds remaining in the game, Perryville took the lead, 44-43. And then, a few moments in the overtime that were not clear, as a technical foul was assessed against Paris, sending Perryville to the line with 17 seconds remaining in the overtime period. As the Perryville shooter prepared to go to the line, the Paris coaching staff argued with the officials over the foul and the assessed technical.
Perryville missed the first free throw and then hit the next two, and the result was a two point Perryville lead, 45-43 with 17 seconds remaining in overtime.
In the next possession, Paris’s Sam Muldrow was fouled, sending him to the line with 15 seconds remaining in the game. Muldrow missed the first free throw, and then hit the second. The Perryville lead was one point with 9.2 seconds remaining. Perryville then added a pair of free throws to extend the lead to three with 9.2 seconds remaining. Paris hurried down court, only to turn the ball over. The Eagles were able to get a last possession with 2.6 seconds remaining. Jesse Wells drove down the court and launched a three point attempt that just missed, bouncing off the back of the rim. The game was over, and Perryville had won the junior high district basketball tournament championship.
Basketball can be a cruel game at times. Players who have great games can find themselves isolated at a crucial moment in the game. Sam Muldrow found himself in that position has he had the opportunity to make two free throws to tie the game. Muldrow missed the first free throw. I make this point to say that Sam Muldrow played a great game, and basketball, like any other team sport, is not won or lost by one player. Sam played a great game, and the team missed multiple opportunities to win the game, despite the great effort of Sam and the entire team. All of the Eagles have much to be proud of. They upset the number one seed in the tournament, and few people thought they would be in the final with a shot to win. The entire community can be proud of everyone on this team and their performance on Thursday night. The represented themselves, their school, and their community with pride. Although it was a dejected team that accepted the tournament runner-up trophy, they can all hold their heads high for what they have accomplished in junior high school. And for the freshmen on this team, it is on to the senior high roster as they suit up for their first senior high school game tonight in Paris. Ironically, that first game will also be against Perryville.
Sam Muldrow led all Paris scorers with 14 points and added 10 rebounds, Jesse Wells had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Konnor Edwards had 10 points. Paris coach Mike Foster said after the game, “Our boys played a great game but just fell a little short. I am so proud to coach these type of hard-working young men. The team finished the season at 18-6 and district tournament runner-ups.”
So, the freshman Eagles move on to tonight’s senior high game with Perryville at Paris Gymnasium. Paris will play senior high girls and boys games that are make-up games in the schedule from an earlier cancellation by Perryville due to the closure of their school due to the flu epidemic. Tonight is the last regular season senior high game before the start of next week’s senior high district tournament that will be held at Lamar High School.
As of the publication time of this story, we know that the Paris senior boys will open the district tournament on Monday night in Lamar at 8:30 p.m. Their opponent will not be known until the completion of tonight’s games around the conference. The Paris Lady Eagles will finish as the tournament’s four seed tonight if they can defeat the Perryville Lady Mustangs. As a four seed, the Lady Eagles would play on Tuesday at 4 p.m. against the tournament winner of the Fountain Lake versus Atkins game.
If Paris cannot win tonight, they too will play on Monday at Lamar in the first round of the district tournament. The Lady Eagles would then play at 4 p.m. So, for the Lady Eagles, tonight’s game in Paris is crucial to finish as a four seed, and get an extra day of rest before playing in the tournament. With the upcoming Presidents’ Day holiday and school closure on Monday, the Lady Eagles would have a good rest day opportunity before facing the prospect of playing multiple games next week in the district tournament.
Any way you look at it, tonight is critical for both senior high teams. It could also be the first opportunity to see the teams with the expanded freshman rosters that will now be available to both coaches. Paris needs a big home crowd tonight to support the Eagles and Lady Eagles and to cheer them both to victory. Paris will be looking to gain momentum tonight that will hopefully carryover to next week’s district tournament.
And like always, Resident Press will be there to bring you all of the action on the way to the state tournament. Stay with Resident Press for complete Paris basketball coverage!
By definition, “Close” is a short distance away or apart in space or time. After the 3A Jr Girls’ District semifinals game on Thursday, February 13, Webster’s Dictionary may wind up changing that definition to “Mansfield vs Elkins” as the Jr Lady Tigers edged out the Lady Elks 29-23. But who cares about “close”. We all know that close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Mansfield Jr Lady Tigers are now Championship bound.
Skylynn Harris
These two teams split their regular-season games with Mansfield dominating the Lady Elks at home 45-29 and Elkins returning the favor by flooring the Lady Tigers 33-25 later in the season in Elkins. This time, the two squads squared off on a neutral court in Lincoln for a chance to move on to the District championship game. From the tip-off of the game, the stands scooted up on the edges of their seats for this highly anticipated and sure to be high scoring match-up. Both teams gave the fans exactly what they expected as the game was truly a nail biter. The high scoring part on the other hand…….
Natalie Allison
The Lady Tigers couldn’t seem to get their high octane offense in gear against the Lady Elks. At the same time, Mansfield refused to give Elkins a chance to put points up. At the end of the first quarter, the score stood at a teeny tiny 7-5 Mansfield lead. Knowing their offense wasn’t clicking, the Lady Tigers doubled down on their defensive efforts. Mansfield held Elkins to five points in the second quarter, but the Lady Elks, unfortunately, stepped up their defense too by holding Mansfield to merely three points sending the teams into halftime tied 10-10.
Harlie Fuller and Kynslee Ward
The Lady Tigers stepped back out on the court full of confidence with their chins up and chests out. You could see the focus and determination in their eyes. They would NOT lose this game. Mansfield’s dominant defense continued to stuff the Lady Elks in the second half with one highlight being a huge blocked shot by Skylynn Harris. With the quarter coming to an end, an Elkins player went up for an easy short shot to extend the Elks to a 15-14 third-quarter lead. Quickly noticing this, Harris flew up and spiked the ball with a perfect volleyball form sending the basketball into the stands. The oxygen in the gym was very thin as fans were trying to catch their breath going into the fourth quarter down 15-14 to Elkins.
Coach Bryan and the Jr Lady Tigers
Something had to either pick up or give in at some point. For the Lady Tigers, it was their offense that picked up, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter. It was the Lady Elks that gave in as Mansfield’s defense pressured Elkins so much you could can a full bushel of green beans. The count down towards the end was ticking. With 1:36 in the game, the Tigers were up 25-21. With 1:02 left Elkins was back in it only down 25-23. The Lady Tigers forced Elkins to start fouling to stop the clock which in the end was just what they wanted. Sinking their shots the Lady Tigers defeated a tough Elkins team 29-23 to punch their ticket to the Championship game.
Alyson Edwards
Harlie Fuller and Alyson Edwards tied in points with eight each followed by Natalie Allison with seven, Harris with four, and Kynslee Ward with two. The Jr District Championship will be held in Lincoln on Saturday, February 15. The #1 seeded Lady Tigers will go head-to-head against the #2 seeded Cedarville Lady Pirates at 5 p.m.
Both Waldron Sr High Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs took a road loss recently when they faced Elkins. The Lady Bulldogs “Epic Eight” played rough an tough against the Lady Elks but fell short 37-22. With the conclusion of this battle, the Lady Bulldogs sit 10-16 in total season play and 4-9 in conference. The Bulldogs made a late run in their face-off with the Elks but missed the mark 54-49. The boys are now 22-5 on the year and 11-2 in conference.
Waldron will next play Greenland at home on Friday, February 14 to wrap up conference season. Games will start at 6 p.m. with the Lady Bulldogs taking on the (1-12) Lady Pirates and the Bulldogs taking on the (5-8) Pirates. This will also be senior night for five Bulldogs, one Lady Bulldog, and six cheerleaders. Senior Night activities will begin at 5:30 p.m. with coaches asking fans to come and “Pack the WAC” for the seniors.
The Mansfield Sr High Lady Tigers recently took a conference fall to the undefeated Charleston Lady Tigers 57-28. “The Lady Tigers have been working on beating their zone and did so with ease. Charleston had to burn a timeout to switch to man in order to keep us off the scoreboard,” explained coach, Joshua Bryan. “We struggled against their man-to-man defense which is something we have been working on this season and will be a main focus of ours the rest of the season along with this summer.”
Danielle Lillie
Makayla Strutton (who has been out on concussion precautions) was back in the game Tuesday night and led the team with seven points. Danielle Lillie and Sadie Roberts brought in six points each, Chloe Creekmore made three, and with two points apiece were Mikayla Harrison, Amber Elmore, and Brooke Wright. The Lady Tigers also ended the game with 20 total rebounds and nine steals. Mansfield now sits 6-16 in total season play and 2-11 in conference.
Mikayla Harrison
For their last regular conference game of the season, the Lady Tigers will travel to Cedarville on Friday, February 14 to take on the (5-8) Lady Pirates at 6 p.m.
Although the Hackett Sr High Lady Hornets have lost three games in a row, the girls are really starting to come together at the right time. Recently the Lady Hornets hosted the Mountainburg Lady Dragons to a hard-fought hoops fest. It was a slow struggle by both teams in the first half of the game with Hackett leaving the first quarter down 14-2. The Lady Hornets did battle back to take the lead in the fourth quarter but unfortunately, time ran out and Hackett took a fall 56-48.
Kayla Richardson led the team with 12 points followed by Madi Taylor with 11, Rain Vaughn with eight, Faith Thomas with seven, and Kandace Byrd and Autum Neal five apiece. Coach Broc Adams filled us in with his thoughts on the game. “I thought we played as hard and as well as we have all year. Hopefully it will give us the confidence we need going into tonight’s last regular-season game and into the district tournament next week!”
The Hackett Lady Hornets are sitting 5-16 in total season play and 1-10 in conference. On Friday, February 14, the Lady Hornets will host the (3-8) Westside Lady Rebels in their last conference game of the season starting at 6 p.m.
Employees at the Mansfield Juvenile Treatment Center had not gotten the official word before the news broke statewide. Youth Opportunity Investments announced, and the Department of Youth Services confirmed, that they will no longer provide services after June 30, 2020.
Since July of 2019, YOI has managed the four facilities across Arkansas. The takeover had a rocky start after a competitive bidder, Rite of Passage, filed a lawsuit against state officials. ROP was initially awarded the $15 million contract, but was disqualified after YOI protested the award.
The Department of Human Services Chief Communications and Community Engagement Officer, Amy Webb, stated that “DHS appreciates that YOI gave the state a four-month notice because that will help us ensure an orderly transition to a new vendor for both employees of the centers and youth and their families. Since learning of YOI’s decision, we have begun discussing options for the transition. DHS expects to have more details about our path forward to a new vendor next week. YOI and DHS continue to work together, and YOI will continue to run the centers and pay staff as they have done since taking over July 1, 2019.”
The company signaled fiscal concerns early on when they cut teacher salaries in August. Security concerns and the severance of long-time employees proved problematic for the facility.
“We understand that having centers that are not at capacity has a financial impact on YOI,” Webb added. “However, DHS has prioritized having youth treated in their communities when it is safe to do so because it is the right thing to do.”
Webb also stated that DHS will continue to work with stakeholders and community partners to make improvements to the juvenile justice system in Arkansas. That work includes “…finding ways to safely reduce lengths of stay and work with judges to ensure only youth who need residential treatment go to these centers. That work has been a significant factor in the decline in the number of youths at our residential treatment centers,” concluded Webb.
We will have more on the response from YOI following the announcement made on Wednesday afternoon, February 12.
LITTLE ROCK — Although most Arkansans hold “The Natural State” motto near and dear to their hearts, a continued decline in hunting and angling has Commissioners and staff at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission concerned that the funding for natural resource management is in jeopardy.
A recent article in the Washington Post highlighted the downward trend in hunting and fishing throughout the nation and the possible repercussions to our nation’s wildlife and natural resources. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hunting participation peaked in the 1980s at about 17 million licensed hunters nationwide. Since then, it has seen a steady decrease to 11.5 million individuals who hunted last year.
The trend is mirrored by hunting and fishing license sales in The Natural State. In the last five years, Arkansas fishing license sales declined from 381,308 for residents and 138,508 for nonresidents to 312,758 and 119,747, respectively. Hunting licenses saw a similar downward trend on the resident side, declining from 258,356 licensed resident hunters in Fiscal Year 2014 to 220,193 resident hunters in FY2019. Nonresident licensed hunters showed a small increase from 20,587 nonresident big-game hunters in FY2014 to 21,855 in FY2019 and from 40,784 to 47,622 nonresident small-game hunters in the same time frame.
The decline has much more far-reaching effects than dollars lost through license sales. The current North American model of wildlife management depends upon hunters and anglers to provide the backbone for conservation of game and nongame species alike. In addition to license fees, hunters and anglers purchase certain hunting and fishing equipment which is taxed at the manufacturer level. These taxes are then pooled together and distributed to state fish and wildlife agencies to carry out needed conservation work. Not only does a decrease in hunting and fishing mean decreased license funds, it means less tax funds because of decreased spending on hunting and fishing equipment. Additionally, the formula used by the USFWS to distribute those tax funds is based partially on the number of licensed hunters and anglers participating in each state.
“The loss of hunters and anglers has a double impact on conservation funding,” said Chris Colclasure, Deputy Director of Outreach for the AGFC. “And that funding is critical for all wildlife.”
The decrease in revenue comes at a time when the AGFC is facing monumental challenges. The greentree reservoirs that create wintering habitat for millions of migrating ducks are in severe stress from decades of floods. Shifting trends in rain and flooding up and down the White, Black, Arkansas and Mississippi rivers also is causing areas to be submerged throughout spring and summer, further damaging the trees along these bottomland hardwood stands. Many dams and water-control structures regulating AGFC-owned fishing areas also are reaching the end of their initial life expectancy and need renovations or replacement.
“We have many infrastructure needs, but we are also faced with trying to find a solution to this decline,” Colclasure said. “That means investing in programs such as the Arkansas National Archery in the Schools Program, Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program, mentored hunting and fishing opportunities, nature and education centers, and other means to connect youth and adults to outdoor activities. We are also working closely with our public, private and NGO partners to get more people outside and understand how conservation is funded. We are calling on our past and current hunters, anglers and nature supporters to bring the next generation along.”
Looking forward, Colclasure hopes to see the investment in the outdoors begin to pay off through reinvigorated numbers of hunters and anglers, but as with many investments, recruiting new participants takes time, funding and constant effort.
“In the meantime, we need to think more strategically about the best way to achieve the tasks in front of us today,” Colclasure said.
