A pair of one-point wins and a solid opening game at a regional tournament saw two Jefferson County basketball teams qualify for state tournaments this season.
The White Hall girls and Watson Chapel boys will play in their respective state tournaments this week, with both teams playing their first-round games Wednesday.
The Lady Bulldogs will be the No. 4-seed from the 5A-South Conference in the Class 5A state tournament in Farmington and will face 5A-Central champion Vilonia at 1 p.m. The Wildcats will be the No. 4-seed from 4A Region 4 in the 4A state tournament and will open against Mills in Morrilton at 2:30 p.m.
Sheridan will also be represented with both its boys and girls teams qualifying for the trip to Farmington. The No. 3-seed Lady Jackets will play No. 2-seed Little Rock Christian at 4 p.m. Wednesday, while the No. 2-seed Yellowjackets will meet up with No. 3-seed Greenbrier at 8:30.
White Hall qualified for the 5A state tournament for the first time since 2014 after finishing the regular season with a 54-53 road win at El Dorado. That win saw the Lady Bulldogs finish tied for the fourth and final playoff position in the 5A-South with El Dorado, but the Lady Bulldogs controlled the tiebreaker thanks to previously defeating the Lady Wildcats 41-40 at home in their conference opener.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
White Hall won four of its final six regular season games and will play in its first state tournament game since falling 68-57 to Jacksonville in 2014’s opening round.
Watson Chapel finished second in Conference 4A-8, then defeated Arkadelphia 58-36 in the opening round of the 4A Region 4 tournament, securing the Wildcats’ their first trip to state since winning a conference title in 2023.
Conference champion Star City, which handed Watson Chapel two of its three conference losses this season, will be Southeast Arkansas’ other representative in Morrilton after defeating Camden Fairview 68-41 and host Nashville 78-75 in the 4A Region 4 tournament before dropping the regional championship game to Magnolia, 81-42. The Bulldogs will open against Fountain Lake at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Sheridan boys are also making their first trip to state since 2023 after a second-place finish in the 5A-South. The Yellowjackets went 13-3 in conference play, with two of their losses coming to reigning state champion Benton. Sheridan went 11-1 at home this season.
The Lady Jackets finished third with an 11-5 record. Four of their losses came to champion Lake Hamilton and runner up Hot Springs Lakeside. They went 1-1 against El Dorado but won both matchups with rival White Hall.
Southeast Arkansas will be well-represented in the Class 3A state tournaments. Conference 3A-8 swept 3A-7 in regional play, sending four boys and four girls teams from the area to the tournament in Osceola.
On the boys side, DeWitt won the 3A Region 4 tournament and took on Rivercrest late Tuesday night in the opening round of the state tournament. No. 4-seed Drew Central will clash with host Osceola at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. McGehee claimed the No. 2-seed and will face Bergman at 5:30, and No. 3-seed Lake Village Lakeside will meet Newport at 8:30.
For the girls, regional champion McGehee faced Melbourne late Tuesday night. No. 4-seed DeWitt will face Mountain View at 1 p.m. Wednesday. No. 2-seed Drew Central will play Manila at 4 p.m., and No. 3-seed Dumas will face Bergman at 7.
Lastly, the Woodlawn and Dermott boys will represent Southeast Arkansas in the smaller divisions. No. 4-seed Woodlawn faced East Poinsett County late Tuesday in the Class 2A tournament in Poyen, while No. 2-seed Dermott will meet Blevins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Class 1A tournament hosted by Lafayette County.
In all classifications, teams must win three games this week to reach next week’s state championship games, to be played March 13-15 at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs.
