LADY GOBLINS HAD A PLAN FOR CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

HOT SPRINGS — It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the postseason for the Harrison Lady Goblins.
From the No. 1 seed to a No. 3 seed to a No. 4 seed, Harrison saw several seeds on its way into the state tournament.
The Lady Goblins had finished the regular season as the top team from the Class 4A-1. The team received a bye in the district tournament to the semifinals.
After inclement weather struck, the conference athletic directors decided that the quarterfinal games would be played and the four teams that remained would be seeded by their conference finish into the Class 4A North Region Tournament.
Harrison would be the top seed from the league as they were undefeated in the regular season and the conference race.
Then the Arkansas Activities Association pushed back the regional tournaments by a week. With the move the conference played the remainder of the tournament.
Harrison suffered its first defeat in the season in the semifinals and fell from the No. 1 seed to the No. 3 regional seed. That loss came to Farmington.
While in the regional, Harrison won its first game against the host Ozark and then dropped its semifinal game and met Farmington in the third-place contest.
Farmington came back and defeated Harrison for the second time in two weeks setting up Harrison as the No. 4 seed from the region into the state tournament.
It was ironic that the No. 3 and No. 4 teams met in the state finals.
But Harrison was ready for the championship game. First-year head coach Kristian Williams had the team prepared.
“I have been telling them that I don’t think that we have put a full game together yet,” she said. “I knew what we had to offer on offense and defense. We would play really good on defense and then kinda struggle offensively or vice versa.”
The coach got what she wanted in the finals of the state tournament as the team defeated Farmington, 68-54, for the title.
“They finally put it together,” she said. “It wasn’t a surprise either. They were the more aggressive team. They (the Lady Goblins) actually rebounded.
“They played an entire game,” continued the coach of her team. “I am not surprised. I felt like we were the better team throughout the year.”
Going into the game, Williams and her team had a plan for Farmington.
“That was our No. 1 plan, that and transition,” she said about eliminating the Lady Cardinal 3-point attack. “They are a great 3-point shooting team, well at least against us. It seems like in the three times we have played them they have shot 50 and 60 percent from the 3 against us. So, we really focused on that.”
When one offensive tool is taken away, there has to be another attacking point from the opponent,.
“Other people are going to step up and try to attack,” said the coach of the Lady Cardinal offense. “That is not their game and we knew it was coming. Alex Hill took three charges. If they don’t have the 3-pointer they will have to attack they were not use to it.”
Williams called out her defensive specialists.
“We have great defenders,” she said. “Gosh, (Clare) Barger and Mariah (Hudson) have guarded our opponents best player every game. They (Farmington) were not going to shoot a 3. These girls did what I asked. They have been the heart of our defense.”
Williams wanted Harrison to play aggressively in the contest.
“Nothing against the games that were played on Thursday and Friday, it just seemed like they were slow,” said Williams of the championship games in Class 6A, 1A, 2A and 3A. “What do we have to lose? Let’s be the aggressive team. Let’s take it to the rim and see what happens.”
That philosophy worked out for Harrison in the game.
Harrison came from a fourth seed to defeat two defending state champions (Star City and Farmington shared the Class 4A state title last season because COVID prevented the two teams to play the championship contest) during the state tournament as well as the host team Morrilton.
It was Harrison’s season and the Lady Goblins were not going to allow anyone to take it from them.
Team members inlcude: Alex Hill; Clare Barger; Claire Cecil; Sydney Shrum; Brynn Oleson; Tenelle Tate; Madison Bell; Mariah Hudson; Marianne King; Trevera Whitehorse; Maggie Salmon; Shaylee Ward; Jenna Mae Jones; and Reese Ricketts. Team coaches are Kristian Williams, head coach; Stacie Klott, assistant coach; and Kyle Brashears, assistant coach. Team manager is Shelby Oswalt.