Sunday, February 10, 2013

4A Post-Season Qualification Refresher for Badger Fans




With the exception of a few years last decade, Arkadelphia’s athletic teams have traditionally competed in what is now considered class 5A in the former 5A Southwest Conference with teams such as Hot Springs, Magnolia, Hope, Lakeside as well as others.

During the most recent reclassification, Arkadelphia was placed in the 4A-7 district (or conference) with current league foes Arkansas Baptist, Ashdown, Bauxite, Central Arkansas Christian, Malvern, Nashville, and Pulaski Robinson.

Along with the change in classification to 4A comes a change in the way basketball, baseball and softball will qualify for their respective State Tournaments.
Badger fans may remember the 5A State-Runner up team from a few years ago or the 14-0 Badger boys’ basketball team from two seasons ago that earned a state tourney bid by finishing in the top four of the 5A Southwest. The Badger baseball team also made the State Tourney the same way the last two years.


For teams in 5A, it’s a race to finish in the top 4 at the end of the regular season and then advance to State Tourney play.

In class 4A and below, due to the fact that there are more teams and districts in each classification, two districts are matched up to form a region and the top four from each region advance to the state tournament. Districts may choose their state qualifiers by using a District Tournament or by using regular season standings.

Although, post-season basketball is at the forefront of the collective minds of fans right now, this will be the same scenario for baseball and softball when April rolls around.

For Arkadelphia and the rest of the teams in 4A-7, in order to qualify for the State Tournament in these sports, they must be the “final four” of two tournaments – the 4A-7 District Tournament (for basketball, that takes place this week in Bauxite) and the 4A South Regional Tournament (basketball’s will be Feb. 20-23 at OBU – hosted by Arkadelphia High School).

This week’s District Tournament is composed of all 8 teams in the league with the seeds determined by the finish in the regular season double round-robin schedule. Monday, the 5th, 6th and 7th-seeded teams play with winners advancing the face the 3rd and 4th-place finishers on Tuesday. The semifinals will take place Thursday with the 1st and 2nd-seeded teams playing their first game. The teams who make the semifinals of the District Tournament advance to the Regional, but Saturday’s championship games and consolation games will determine seeding to the Regional.

The complete bracket is as follows:

BOYS
Monday, February 11:
Game 1 - (5) Malvern vs. (8) Robinson, 5:20 p.m.
Game 2 - (6) Ashdown vs. (7) Nashville, 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 12:
Game 3 - (4) Bauxite vs. Winner Game 1, 5:20 p.m.
Game 4 - (3) Arkansas Baptist vs. Winner Game 2, 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 14:
Game 5 - (1) CAC vs. Winner Game 3, 5:20 p.m.
Game 6 - (2) Arkadelphia vs. Winner Game 4, 8:00 p.m.
*by earning the 1st and 2nd seeds in the regular season conference schedule, Arkadelphia and CAC automatically advance to 4A South Regional Tournament
Saturday, February 16:
CONSOLATION: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 5:20 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:40 p.m.

GIRLS
Monday, February 11:
Game 1 - (5) Arkansas Baptist vs. (8) Arkadelphia, 4:00 p.m.
Game 2 - (6) Nashville vs. (7) Robinson, 6:40 p.m.
Tuesday, February 12:
Game 3 - (4) Ashdown vs. Winner Game 1, 4:00 p.m.
Game 4 - (3) Bauxite vs. Winner Game 2, 6:40 p.m.
Thursday, February 14:
Game 5 - (1) Malvern vs. Winner Game 3, 4:00 p.m.
Game 6 - (2) CAC vs. Winner Game 4, 6:40 p.m.
Saturday, February 16
CONSOLATION: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 4:00 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 6:40 p.m.

The Regional Tournament will feature the top four of the 4A-7 District Tournament matched up against the top four finishers from the other District in the Region, the 4A-8. Schools that compose the 4A-8 include Crossett, Dewitt, Dumas, Hamburg, Lake Village, Monticello, Star City and Warren.

As is the case in the District Tournament, the top four finishers in the Regional Tournament will advance to the 4A State Tournament which will be Feb. 26 – March 2 at Cave City High School in Northeast Arkansas.

The 4A South Regional tournament will be hosted by AHS at Ouachita Baptist University’s Bill Vining Arena. Athletic Director Chris Babb is in the process of gathering volunteers and sponsors for the tournament to help provide a good experience for those visitors who will be spending their time in Arkadelphia over the four-day tournament.

If you or your business is interested in volunteering or sponsoring the tournament in areas such as program ads, public address announcements, hospitality room needs, etc., contact Babb at 870-246-7373 ext. 606 or chris.babb@arkadelphiaschools.org.

In the meantime, keep up with post-season basketball results via social media on Facebook by liking the “Badger Athletics” page, or on Twitter by following “APSD_Athletics”. Siftings Herald Sports Editor James Leigh also utilizes Twitter as well as the daily paper. You can follow Siftings Sports on Twitter by following “@DSHSports”.