Basketball postseason is upon us

It's down to the final two in Stephens on Saturday when the top-seeded Lady Roadrunners take on Parkers Chapel in the girls championship game of the 2A 7-East District Tournament.

Stephens was very impressive in its win over Norphlet on Thursday. I've been skeptical of the Lady Roadrunners. Okay, now I'm convinced. They really can shoot the 3-ball pretty good. It's not luck when they knock down four in a row, including one off the glass.

They've been doing it all year. Who's that lucky?

Parkers Chapel beat Strong in the other semifinal in a weird game. PC went on a 16-0 run only to see Strong go on a 25-4 run. Basically, whoever was on a roll in the fourth quarter was going to win. If they had played five quarters, it might've been a different outcome.

The Lady Trojans showed some grit. I still say this is the makings of a solid postseason club with the outside shooting and inside presence. Ball handling is the issue and, although the Lady Bulldogs aren't the best pressing team out there, PC did a better job taking care of the ball on Thursday.

The regional will be interesting. Norphlet is in trouble if Mineral Springs stays true to form and comes in as the top seed. But, this league's other three girls entries have a legitimate shot at state.

At the same time, none of them will have a cakewalk to get there.

I guess I paid my cell phone bill just in time as it was blowing up on Thursday. Lee Scroggins called to say his Cutter Morning Star team qualified for its regional. Scroggins moved up three ninth graders, including his daughter Emilee. The new blood made a big difference to his senior high, which had a losing record during the regular season.

Scroggins was also excited because of an upset in his tournament, which could give him a three seed instead of a four. Maybe luck will be on his side and he can get Cutter to state.

I got off the phone with Scroggins to talk to Jamie Ball, whose Genoa Central team advanced to the championship game of its district tournament. Genoa will play Fouke on Saturday in Horatio.

Ball was bubbling with excitement and was busy asking me questions about Smackover's conference, which will match up with hers at Centerpoint in the regional.

The Lady Bucks, by the way, are in the championship game of the 3A 8 District Tournament. Hopefully, both Smackover and Genoa can win Saturday because I'd rather not see them match up in the regional.

Oh, Brad Slatton's team at Fort Elliot Consolidated in Texas has also advanced to the postseason. Also, Ronald Rogers is back at the helm at Camden Fairview and senior guard Jasmine Canser was released by the doctor to get back on the court this week.

If you count El Dorado, five of the six girls teams in Union County are headed to the postseason. Looks like most of the current and former area coaches are enjoying a happy basketball season. Hope it continues for another couple of weeks.