The Blytheville Chickasaws return home Tuesday night to take on the Paragould Rams in a key 5A-East battle. At 3-5 in the conference, the Chicks are currently in fifth place. They are one game behind Nettleton (4-4), with Paragould (6-2), Forrest City (7-1) and Valley View (7-1) rounding out the top.
The Chicks lost to Paragould, 56-40, back on Jan. 13 and can't afford many more losses in the crowded conference if they want to make the postseason. Blytheville hasn't advanced to the 5A state tournament since 2011. That year, the Chicks went 18-6 overall and 12-2 in the conference to capture the 5A-East title before losing to Huntsville in the opening round of the 5A state playoffs.
While the state tournament is just a few weeks away, first year head coach Jason James has his team focused solely on Tuesday night.
"We're just trying to be the best team we can be tomorrow," James said in an interview Monday night. "If we play well, we can be successful and everything else will fall into place."
The Chicks have had their ups and downs over the first half of the conference season. They've had three of their five losses come down to the final minute of the game with one going to overtime. James said the solution is simple if they want to improve the second time through the conference.
"We just need to play better," he said. "It's not one specific thing. We just need to continue to improve everyday and be the best team we can be."
After Tuesday, the Chicks hit the road to take on Wynne Friday night. Blytheville beat the Yellowjackets by 20 points in January. They will stay on the road next Tuesday on a trip to Nettleton where they will try to avenge a two-point loss to the 4-4 Raiders at Chickasaw Gym nearly three weeks ago. They'll need to beat the Raiders by more than two to own the tiebreaker if the teams ended up tied at the end of the season. The next three games will go along way to determining Blytheville's playoff hopes.
In other basketball news around the area, the Gosnell Pirates host Trumann Tuesday night in their final 3-4A contest before the district tournament next week at Cave City. The Pirates are in sixth place in a deep 3-4A conference this season. At 5-8 on the year, the Pirates tied for fifth place with Cave City, followed by Highland, Brookland, Westside and, undefeated at 13-0, Pocahontas. Depending on what happens Tuesday night, Gosnell could land anywhere from fifth place to seventh. As it stands, the Pirates may have to win two games in the 3-4A district tournament next week if they want to advance to 4A East Regional Tournament at Trumann in two weeks.
The Armorel Tigers have the night off. They'll play Tuckermann Friday night in the final home game of the season. The Tigers are 17-12 overall and 5-3 in the 1A-3 East, good enough for a tie for second with Hughes and behind Bay, who ran the table in the conference at 8-0. This year's district tournament is hosted by Ridgefield Christian.
By virtue of their second-place finish, the Tigers automatically advance to the 1A Region 2 tournament hosted by Hillcrest in two weeks.
afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com