All eyes have been set on the boys basketball team this season. Students, families and the community have come together to pack the stands from top to bottom. Even other conference teams would travel to watch their competition in Wildcat Arena during their off games. After transferring from our rival school Springdale High School, everyone has anticipated this season with a new four star junior, Courtland Muldrew.
“We told him things were a little different over here and he would be seen in a different light because of who he is and what he brings,” head coach Tommy Deffebaugh said.” I tried to tell him just be Courtland and don’t do anything different, be who you are and everyone will accept you over here.”
According to Muldrew, he transferred schools for better opportunities, a better environment, and a supportive community. The Wildcats defeated his previous school at home 64 to 50 earlier in the season, and won 62-60 at Springdale. Beating his old team to win conference at his old stomping grounds was a feeling he won’t forget.
“It was such a great feeling.” Muldrew said, “It definitely was one of my favorite memories of the year, and I am really proud of how we played through the adversity.”
Although the team won conference and had the most wins in school history with a 28-3 season, they had to overcome obstacles like putting everyone together.
“We had the returning starters Jaxon Conley and Hayden Wood, but then we added in Courtland, Mar Lee, and the sophomores,” Deffebaugh said. “ We had to fit them all together and make a cohesive team, so that was probably the biggest challenge.”
For sophomore Hayden Wood, he feels like the hardest obstacle the team had to overcome was when sophomore Jabari Washington got hurt against Fayetteville.
“I don’t think people realized how big of a piece he was for our team,” Wood said. ”Thankfully we had other guys like Tavyn Bledsaw who stepped in and started to play his role and get us hot the last couple of games.”
After a winning streak of 13, the Wildcats came up short against Fayetteville at home. However even with this loss, the team’s mindset never waivered.
“Our mood as a team never shifted and it was always to stay positive,” Wood said. “ We knew we didn’t play the way we were capable of playing, and we knew we were a better team than what we showed.”
According to the team, the loss against Fayetteville only made the team stronger and hungry for more wins. When they were faced at home with Fayetteville again, they came back and beat them 85 to 63. In the same week, the Wildcats sealed the conference win by beating Springdale. Overcoming two of the best teams in the conference in the same week boosted the boys confidence going into the state tournament.
“After winning I feel like we had a great chance to do something special for the school and bring home the championship,” Muldrew said.
After defeating Jonesboro in the first round of the tournament by 10, the Wildcats were the only team in the 6a West to advance to the semifinals. During the semifinals game against Little Rock Central, the team knew they had to perform their best.
“During that game our mindset was either win or go home,” junior Jaxon Conley said.
The Wildcats lost in the semifinals cutting their trip to the state championship short. According to Wood, they believed they deserved that spot in the championship game.
“We believed we were the top team in the state and that we deserved to play in the championship game,” Wood said. “But we played a really good Central team and they just came in and outperformed us.”
From the point of view of Deffebaugh, making it to the semifinals was great but they didn’t accomplish their end goal.
“When we got back I said even though we won conference and had the best record in school history we didn’t achieve what we wanted to achieve,” Deffebaugh said. “So next year we will come back with nothing and will do it.”
With all returning starters next year, the Wildcats are prepared to make it all the way next season. After winning conference, having the best record in school history, being a part of a documentary, and advancing to the semifinals, Deffebaugh is proud of what they accomplished.
“Winning the conference is the hardest thing to do because it is over a three month period,” Deffebaugh said. “But once everyone is moved on and these guys go in different directions, we will still have a banner up that says conference champs and a record of 28-3 and I am proud of that.”