The Blytheville Chickasaws (19-5) conquered a feat that hadn’t been done since 2001 Saturday, winning both the conference and district championships.
The Chicks defeated the Westside Warriors in the 4A-3 District Championship game, 66-60, at Pocahontas.
“Words can’t express how proud I am of this team,” Blytheville head coach McKenzie Pierce said. “They played their hearts out tonight. No one understands what type of people these kids are and how hard they work on and off the court. We always talk about representing the city of Blytheville, our team and our school the right way and they most certainly did that tonight. We will enjoy until midnight and get ready for a very good Forrest City team Wednesday in the first round of regionals.”
The Chickasaws had been on the losing end the first three times they faced the Westside Warriors, including making a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer that was waived off in the NEA Tournament in December.
However, Saturday night, the Chicks avenged those losses as they defeated the Warriors 66-60 in the 4A-3 District Tournament championship game.
The two teams went into the district tournament as regular season co-conference champions and seeded one (Westside) and two (Blytheville).
Westside jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter as they led 14-12, and then cut the lead to 29-28 at the half.
The Chicks took the lead in the third quarter as they outscored the Warriors 19-8. WHS outscored the Chicks, 23-19, in the fourth quarter but Blytheville hung on to defeat the Warriors 66-60.
Senior guard Jaquon Fowler and sophomore guard Teddy Washington led the way with 16 points apiece.
Blytheville takes the 4A-3’s top seed into the regional tournament, which begins Wednesday night at Highland High School in Hardy.
The Chicks open the tournament against a familar foe, the Forrest City Mustangs, whom Blytheville played for many years in the old 5A-East until the reclassification this year.
Coached by Dwight Lofton, the Mustangs (14-10) come into Wednesday night’s matchup as the fourth seed out of the 4A-5.
Pierce said that his team is not looking past Forrest City, noting all eight teams in the regionals have been in the Top 10 in the 4A this season.
The Blytheville-Forrest City winner secures a spot in the Class 4A State Tournament and will face the winner of McClellan and Valley View in the semi-finals.
The 4A-5 seeds are as follows: Mills University Studies, McClellan, ESTEM and Forrest City.
The 4A-3 seeds are as follows: Blytheville, Westside, Valley View and Brookland.
Mills is the top ranked 4A team in the state, coming into their Wednesday night matchup against the Brookland Bearcats with a 23-4 overall record and 16-0 in conference play.