Hot Springs girls' basketball team will see plenty of familiar faces in this weekend's Class 5A state finals at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
The Lady Trojans (30-3) won Saturday's early semifinal matchup in the Class 5A state tournament in Maumelle. They were left to wait to see whether they would face 5A-South rival Watson Chapel (28-4) or the No. 1 seed from the 5A-East, Nettleton (29-3).
"Any time Watson Chapel is in the state tournament, you expect them to win," said Hot Springs head coach Josh Smith. "That is what coach (Leslie) Henderson and her team do. That is what they have done for a long time. You expect them to be in the game and have a chance at the end."
The Lady Wildcats advanced to their third consecutive 5A state title game with a 52-48 victory. Watson Chapel has won both 5A championships since Hot Springs won in 2015 under former coach Mark Upshaw.
Hot Springs knew its opponent Saturday night, but did not know when the game would be played. The Arkansas Activities Association announced the schedule Sunday afternoon for Championship Weekend. Bank of the Ozarks Arena will host 14 state finals Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
"It did not matter when it was," Smith said. "Waiting to find out was the biggest part of it. We were just ready to find out when it would be, so we could start getting the process going on setting the schedule for the week for what we need to get done."
The rematch will come just over two weeks since the Lady Trojans held off Watson Chapel, 65-56, to win a second straight 5A-South championship at Trojan Fieldhouse. The frequent foes know what to expect from one another.
"It will be tough," Smith said. "We are very familiar with each other. We have played five times in the last three years since I have been here. We have won three, they have won two and three of the games were decided by a basket. They beat us by 10 one time and we beat them by 10 one time.
"It is going to be a battle. They are going to be well-prepared and we are going to be the same. We expect it to be a dogfight."
The Class 5A final is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Lady Trojans and the Lady Wildcats are the penultimate tilt of the weekend, followed only by the 1A boys final between Guy-Perkins (35-8) and Izard County (37-3).
Smith said he expects to have a home court advantage.
"I expect our crowd to show up," Smith said. "I expect them to come out and pull for us, some families faces and, hopefully, the student section fills up. That is what we are going to talk about all week to the fans and to the students about how much of an impact they make on the game.
"When they get there and they get loud like they did this week in Maumelle, it's a sixth man. When they are out there and they get loud and it gets going, it is a huge, huge advantage for us. We are going to do everything we can to get as many people in that gym as we can."
Sports on 03/05/2018