SPORTS HBHS hosts state tourney 12
02.03.15
page 5
The Wildcats plan to make the best of the home court advantage
realize. well. “You have to find places “Being in front of our home for buses to park, make time crowd is a big advantage. for shoot arounds, organize The support from the fans is concessions and apparel sales, important; it helps motivate the and manage security,” said team,” said Head Basketball Coach Wood. Coach Scott Holding a Bowlin. 7A West Standings: tournament H a v i n g Boys: on at a team’s a student 1. Bentonville home court can section can be have an effect an advantage 2. Har-Ber SARAH STRICKLAND > REPORTER on the team; as well as a 3. Heritage the home team disadvantage. has home court “The student The 7A West Basketball Girls: advantage. section gets us State Tournament is being will 1. Fayettville “You take hyped and ready be hosted in Wildcat Arena on it personal on to play, but it March 5-7. 2. Northside your court; you also applies “Every year the location 3. Har-Ber more pressure of the 7A Tournament flips want to protect your court. It’s because we between Northwest Arkansas -http://www.arpreps.com worse to lose want to play our and Central Arkansas. Last best in front of year the tournament was in on your own court,” said our fans,” said Central Arkansas, so this year senior Mason McNee. McNee. the only teams who could put Not only is playing on a Even though home in bids were familiar court tournaments give an advantage teams in an advantage, to the home team, some players Northwest but the support prefer away tournaments. Arkansas,” from fans boosts “I am glad state is at home, said Coach the morale of but I prefer away tournaments. Wood. the home team. I know I am supposed to say I Har-Ber “At home, like home tournaments better, was the you have your but away tournaments expose only team in fans pushing you to more people and more Northwest for you and that experiences,” said Knight. Arkansas makes all the Har-Ber hasn’t officially that put in difference in qualified for the state a bid, so the world,” said tournament yet, but as long as naturally we senior Kerry the winning streak continues, -senior Kerry Knight won the bid Knight. there should be no problem and the right Since the tournament is at making the tournament and to host the tournament. home, the student section will placing as a high seed. However, hosting a be much larger than it would “I can’t wait to play on our tournament is more than be at an away tournament. court at state. I wouldn’t want placing a bid and providing The size of the student it any other way during my a court for teams to play on; section will have an affect on senior year,” said McNee. there is more involved behind the team’s performance as the scenes than most people
“At home you
have your fans pushing for you and that makes all the difference in the world.”
Above: Senior Kerri Knight shoots a basket during a game against Southside. Right: Sophomore Jacie Higgins handles ball with skill against Southside.
Graps vie for Irish club JOANNA KECK > REPORTER
With a tradition of winning and success as they compete against schools all over Arkansas, nothing changes for the wrestling team as they continue their streak all the way from Kansas. The wrestling team claimed the East Kansas Dual Championship when they traveled Jan 16-17. They went 5-0, sweeping Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley North, Blue Valley West, and Wyandotte, and winning the championship match by just one point against Lawrence “Freestate. Although their current record and the results of the tournament reveal the dominant appearance the wrestling team had in Kansas, the high school coach that hosted the tournament
thought the boys would perform otherwise. “The coach at the school we went to in Kansas basically told us that we should not come because the competition would be too hard for us and then we went up there and beat them,” said junior Kimble Jennings. The closest match the team had all tournament was in the finals against Lawrence Freestate. Senior Eli Espe won the final the match with a close score of 30-29. “The pressure I was feeling was definitely huge. It was basically I have to win, to win the tournament. To me, I love pressure because it makes me feel a type of way that nothing else really can. It makes me wrestle focused,” says Espe. The wrestling team will
Senior Night February 5 at 5:30 in the Rotunda
compete in more exciting duels when cross-town rival Springdale High travels to Wildcat Arena to partake in an even more exciting tradition. “It’s a tradition every year we wrestle Springdale, and it’s also our senior night. We wrestle for the shillelagh trophy and basically we have a tradition of beating the crap out of Springdale every year,”
says Jennings. In 2007, the shillelagh trophy tradition was started by the Springdale wrestling team, but ironically has been located in Har-Ber’s trophy cabinet crowd,” says Espe every year since, and still is to this day. “Springdale has never beaten us. The year before Coach West came we only won by one point, but since he has been here it has never been close,” says Jennings. With speculation that the wrestling mats might even be moved into the rotunda for the match, the night should be filled with high enthusiasm and intensity. “I feel like its going to be a fun, exciting night! But also very emotional for me since it will be my last time wrestling in front of a Har-Ber
Fishing team overcomes adversity JOANNA KECK > REPORTER
Sophomore Noah Boyett and senior Hunter Hanby hold their winning catches weighing in at 18 pounds.
Just as Noah Boyett loses hope as he ties up to a nearby tree and envisions a possibility of defeat, the trolling motor of his not-so-reliable boat starts back up again just in time for him to fill his fish limit within only a few minutes left in the tournament. On Jan. 25 the fishing team took first place in the high school fishing tournament at Swepco Lake in Gentry, Arkansas. Their winning weight was over 18 pounds, meaning that they beat the second place team by over 10 pounds. The first place team consisted of, sophomore Noah Boyett and senior Hunter Hanby. The second place team was seniors Dakota Smith and Jared Brown. “After school started I needed a high school partner so my brother told me he knew a kid that fished a lot named Noah. So, I texted him and we went fishing the next day and we fished well together. We practice every chance we get. We practiced one day a week before our tournament and got lucky to find a wad of [fish]. It doesn’t always work that way. I’ve practiced for 3 or 4 days before a tournament and not find any fish,” Hanby said. Fishing usually takes about about 7 or
8 hours out of the day to complete a full tournament. “A tournament will usually start at safe daylight, which is about 7:00 this time of year, and ends around 2 or 3 o’clock,” said Boyett. Fishing is as much of a strategy sport as any other sport. “We won the tournament throwing Carolina rigs and deep diving crankbaits around schooling bass feeding on bait fish all day, but we caught them better earlier in the morning when the wind wasn’t so bad. In all we probably caught about 30 fish before we had some boat issues,” Boyett said. Although the duo was seemingly in sync, the day didn't go as smoothly as planned. Boyett and Hanby began experiencing numerous issues with their boat when their trolling motor shut off. “The wind was awful blowing about 30 mph and our trolling motor quit working for about an hour was some of the challenges we faced,” Hanby said. “I like to fish for fun,” Boyett said, “but I also like the competitive atmosphere that tournament fishing provides as well as the paycheck at the end of the day.”