Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott gets bid for AAA regionals

"Little Bud", as the new Prescott Sports Arena is called, will be getting plenty of use early on.

For the first time in around 30 years Prescott will play host to a regional basketball tournament, and the new facility is the primary reason.

Ron Wright, superintendent of the Prescott School District, said five schools from south Arkansas submitted bids for the regional tournament and had to make presentations before the Arkansas Activities Association.

Students in the Prescott High School EAST Lab program put a digital photo display together to be presented to the AAA.

The end result was Prescott receiving 18 ones out of a possible 20. Wright said the scores were based on a sliding scale from 5-1 where the lower the number the better the odds for getting the tourney.

"They wanted to come to our new gym," Wright said of the decision.

The other schools involved were: Mena, Drew Central, Fordyce and Fountain Lake.

"It was like election night watching the results come in," Wright said. The results were posted on a board much like election results were in the old days at county courthouses.

He said Prescott has a team that can compete in the regional tournament this year, and having the event here will give the Wolves home court advantage.

Currently the Wolves are 14-3, but are undefeated in 7AAA conference play. Two of the three losses were in tournament finals by one point. The other loss was to the Nevada Blue Jays early in the season.

Should the Wolves win in the first round of the regional tourney, the team will get an automatic bid to the state tilt. However, the further the team goes in the regional tournament, the better the odds in state.

Wright said the last time a regional tournament was held in Prescott was sometime in the 1970s.

The Partnership will be working with local businesses and restaurants to provide food for the hospitality room during the regional tournament.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office said, the Partnership and Athletic Booster Club will handle the hospitality room.

They will talk with local restaurants about providing food for the hospitality room, and will meet with local businesses to raise money to help offset these costs.

The regional tournament is scheduled for Feb. 18-23, which is also the time Prescott had set aside for a winter break.

Chadwell said this will work out well as the Partnership and Booster Club can draw help from young people who are out of school to work the tournament.

Along with Prescott getting the bid for the regional tournament, it is also Prescott's turn to host the district tournament.

The district tourney will be held Feb. 11-16, which means "Little Bud" will be well used in its inaugural season.

Wright said he hopes to be able to get a state tournament here next year.