A Garland County high school basketball player was featured Friday night and Saturday morning at No. 3 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays on ESPN.
Lake Hamilton senior point guard Mondo Watkins (6-0, 160) got loose on a fast break against Star City when a defender attempted to draw a charge in the paint. Watkins jumped straight up and over the defender in an image reminiscent of Vince Carter's dunk against France in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
"It is the single best dunk that I have ever seen in a high school game," said Lake Hamilton head boys' basketball coach Scotty Pennington.
"Not just of any team that I have ever coached, but of any team that I have ever watched. It was incredible."
It was a showcase for Watkins and for a Wolves team that figures to be a prominent player in the new Class 5A.
"We see Mondo on a daily basis," Pennington said. "We know how freaky athletic he can be and have seen some things that he can do that nobody else has ever seen.
"I don't want to say that it surprised us that he did it, but he finally got the opportunity to showcase in a game situation things that he can do, as far as his jumping ability. To me, it is the best dunk I have ever seen in a high school game."
The new 5A features all Class 6A from football season, along with the 16 largest 5A teams in football. The Wolves (6-2) returned everyone except for one senior from the team that finished 25-5 last season.
Watkins made the highlight play, but classmate Lane Kersey (6-1, 150) finished the game with 29 points, including 7-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers. Kersey had 18 points in the first quarter and made four out of his first five 3-point attempts.
"Mondo had a hand in almost all of that," Pennington said.
Pennington called a Watkins a "stat sheet stuffer." He averages about 10 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals per game. His season high in scoring is 19 points.
"He kind of makes it all go," Pennington said. "He hasn't just erupted offensively yet."
Pennington said he was alerted by another coach that the play was featured on ESPN.
"I stayed up until the next SportsCenter until about 12:45 in the morning just so I could watch it live," Pennington said. "It was pretty neat. It was pretty special for us to get to see one of our kids featured like that."
As with anything on the internet these days, many viewers focused on the empty visitors' side of seating. Pennington estimated about 1,000 fans were in attendance on Friday with a full student section as the girls' team held an alumni event for past players and coaches.
Otherwise, it was a dream showcase for the Lake Hamilton School District. The "LH" and the wolf head logo have already been viewed millions of times on television and on social media.
My first night with The Sentinel-Record included the district's board meeting in which the 2013 millage campaign was approved. Superintendent Steve Anderson and other officials repeatedly said feedback from the community indicated voters would be more likely to vote for the millage increase if a basketball facility was included.
Credit the school district. They went for it. A new middle school and career education building were constructed and additions were made to the high school, junior high, elementary school and primary school over multiple rounds of partnership funding with millions of dollars from the state before Gov. Asa Hutchinson reeled in the practice.
At the center of it all was Wolf Arena for $16 million. The building includes a film room, a dance studio, a merchandise store, video production equipment, athletic training space and two community event areas on top of the standard offices, locker rooms and weight room.
The arena is still a basketball venue at its core. It was designed to seat about 2,300 people to meet Arkansas Activities Association requirements for hosting state tournaments for the larger classifications.
Lake Hamilton recently traveled to Jonesboro in an attempt to compete against a difficult opponent in a hostile environment. Pennington said he was disappointed in the attendance at the game, but he admitted weather may have been a factor as a winter front moved into the state. The Wolves' game against Jonesboro Westside scheduled for the following night was canceled.
"If you put our crowds in normal gyms, it is standing room only," Pennington said. "At our place, you can get a thousand people in there and that's less than half of the seats.
"I feel like our attendance is higher than most. Part of it is probably because it is so comfortable coming to the game. If you are going to sit, you are going to be in a seat with plenty of room, cupholders and all of the bells and whistles they put in the place."
Lake Hamilton is off until hosting the Kameron Hale Invitational at Wolf Arena the weekend after Christmas. The junior Wolves are 11-0, already winning their only scheduled matchups this season with rivals Hot Springs and Lakeside.
The junior high girls' team is 8-3. The senior high girls made the Class 6A state semifinals the past two seasons and are 5-3 this year, including three wins in Branson, Mo., to win the Battle at the Border tournament. Their 51-49 win on Friday was only the second loss of the season for Star City (9-2).
Fans can likely expect more rewards from Lake Hamilton's basketball program.
Sports on 12/16/2018