Arkansas’ Finest, a 13-and-under (seveth grade) basketball team has qualified for the AAU National Tournament by finishing as the runner-up at the 2009 AAU Old School Super Regional in Conway, hosted by Ron Crawford’s Arkansas Wings.
The team, coached by James Scoggins of Bryant, includes his son Mitch as well as Caleb Strain and Hunter Holder of Bryant; Samonte Wallace, Garret King and Blake Bowlin from Benton; Hayden Burchfield from Benton Harmony Grove, Trenten Deloach of Little Rock Episcopal, Chris Robertson of North Little Rock Ridge Road and Larry Stephens from Little Rock Christian.[more]
“The (Regional) had 50-60 teams from several different states participating,” Coach Scoggins reported. “We were reluctant to participate at first but, after receiving a personal invitation, I entered our boys.”
The team lost its opener but they regrouped.
“We started a run of four games in a 24-hour period against several nationally-known programs,” Scoggins said.They picked up wins over the HOOAH Wildcats, Memphis Storm and Arkansas Bulls to reach the championship game against the host Wings.
“After riding a roller-coaster of emotion in order to earn a birth in the final against a Wings team that had received a bye in bracket play to the semifinal game, the boys battled hard throughout the championship,” Scoggins mentioned. “We took a lead late in the first half but went into halftime down 4.
“They continued to play hard in the second half, cutting the lead to a single basket with five minutes to go,” he added. “But they physically hit the wall at that point.”
Some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch by the Wings helped them preserve the win.
