Arkansas high school girls basketball Top 25 rankings (3/15/2024)
The 2023-24 Arkansas prep basketball season came to a close at Bank OZK Arena last weekend with the crowning of 12 state champions.
Now-two-time defending 4A champion Farmington capped an incredible season in which it lost only once — to an out-of-state, nationally ranked opponent — and solidified its spot as the top team in Arkansas.
Right behind Farmington, and not by much, is Greenwood, the squad which has set the standard in Class 5A as its three-time defending state champion, while head coach Clay Reeves won his 11th ring. Little Rock Central checks in at No. 3 following an unprecedented run as a four-seed that resulted in the program's first state championship.
The 3A state champion, Bergman, finishes No. 22, while two-time defending 2A champion Mount Vernon-Enola, which has won nearly 50 consecutive games dating to last season, claimed the final spot.
Here are the final Top 25 girls basketball rankings of the 2023-24 season.
1. Farmington (37-1)
The Lady Cardinals complete the 2023-24 season as Arkansas' top overall team following an undefeated run against in-state competition and a 4A championship, each of which were accomplished by Farmington last season, as well. This year's lone blemish was to nationally ranked Duncanville, who recently won a Class 6A state championship in Texas, and the Lady Cardinals likely won't slow down next year when they bump up to 5A.
2. Greenwood (28-4)
A road loss against Mountain Home on Jan. 19 was all the motivation the Lady Bulldogs needed. Having stubbed their toe a few times prior to that, they tore through the remainder of their schedule, winning 14 consecutive contests en route to winning the program's third consecutive state championship. Head coach Clay Reeves has been to 15 state finals in his illustrious career and now won 11 titles overall, including eight with Greenwood.
3. Little Rock Central (19-12)
There was no question this group had the talent and experience to hoist a trophy at the end and they lived up to those expectations. Louisiana Tech signee Jordan Marshall led the Lady Tigers on a Cinderella-type run as the 6A-Central's four-seed that upset West No. 1 Fort Smith Northside, 6A-Central No. 2 and state tournament host North Little Rock, then top 6A-Central seed Conway in the finals, who had defeated the Lady Tigers twice during the regular season.
4. Conway (26-8)
While you certainly can not discredit the overall talent of this year's Lady Wampus Cats, you also have to give kudos to the coaching staff considering they lost two Power Five signees and had to consistently game plan as the more undersized team. Seniors-to-be Emerie Bohanon and Samyah Jordan will lead the way in 2024-25, having played in two state championships and were critical pieces in Conway winning 14 of its final 15 games.
5. North Little Rock (27-5)
The Lady Charging Wildcats know they let one get away on their home court in the 6A semifinals against league foe Little Rock Central. There was plenty to write home about, including their 16-0 start, and will be in the mix again next season, as they are annually. However, NLR will miss production from the experienced senior duo of Madison Hatley and Jocelyn Tate.
6. Cabot (28-6)
It was another successful season for the Lady Panthers, but Conway was once again the hurdle they were not able to overcome. Even so, this 2024 class has a lot to be proud of as a group who won 67 games that includes back-to-back 20-plus win seasons, along with consecutive trips to the 6A semifinals.
7. Fort Smith Northside (26-4)
They had an early exit from the postseason after being upset by eventual 6A state champion Little Rock Central in the quarterfinals, which was the first loss suffered by the Lady Bears in 2024. That came after they reeled off 14 consecutive victories from Jan. 2 through the regular season slate.
8. Springdale (23-8)
Obvious progress has been on display by the Lady Red Dogs over the past two seasons and they will bring back an experienced group in 2024-25 that will not be short on talent. There are plenty of lessons to take from February, as they dropped four of their final seven contests that month that included a humbling 6A quarterfinal loss to Conway.
9. Nashville (29-5)
They fell hard (as most every other in-state team did) to Farmington to finish out their season, but that does not take away the big picture. Along with completing a third straight undefeated run through 4A-7 play, the Scrapperettes also notched Top 25 wins over Lake Hamilton, Little Rock Christian and 5A runner-up Vilonia.
10. Vilonia (26-7)
Many teams would do anything to have the resume of the Lady Eagles, who finished back-to-back runs to the 5A state finals, but there is no question the sting is immense after coming up short in both of those contests. Save for lockdown defender Lexy Heston, everyone comes back for a group that will be hungrier than ever.
11. Fayetteville (22-9)
An impressive turnaround in Class 6A, the Lady Purple Dogs went from sub-.500 in 2022-23 to over 20 this season while finishing second only to Fort Smith Northside in the 6A-West regular season standings. However, they did not make it past the first round of the state tournament and the ones who return will have likely have that in the back of their minds all offseason.
12. Har-Ber (21-10)
They will lose a major contributor in Missouri Southern State signee Delaney Roller, but freshman sensation and 6A-West Newcomer of the Year Makenlie Campbell is one of the state's next big stars. It was somewhat of a rollercoaster season overall, but the Lady Wildcats finished strong, taking five of their final seven contests.
13. Lake Hamilton (25-8)
The most pleasantly surprising of all the postseason 5A teams, the very young Lady Wolves really came together and set the tone for the next couple of seasons by making a run to the semifinals after winning the 5A-South championship. They played now three-time state champion Greenwood as close as any squad in the entire state tournament.
14. Greene County Tech (25-8)
After just missing the postseason a year ago, the Lady Eagles turned it up and come out on top in the 5A-East regular season standings. They reeled off 17 consecutive victories in a five-week span from Jan. 9 through Feb. 13, and made sure to prep themselves for the second half of the season in non-conference games that included 4A state champion Farmington and 3A state champ Bergman, plus 6A semifinalist North Little Rock.
15. Morrilton (32-3)
Two of Morrilton's three losses came at the hands of 4A state champion Farmington. The Lady Devil Dogs hung with the Lady Cardinals until about midway through halftime of the state championship before Farmington became too much. Morrilton's 2024 senior class, headlined by Lincoln (Mo.) University signee Johnna Brockman and Jennifer Hartman, helped the Lady Devil Dogs win over 80 games in the past three seasons.
16. Searcy (23-8)
Searcy did all it could, but running into the buzzsaw that is now three-time 5A champion Greenwood in the quarterfinals sealed their fate after finishing second in the East regular season standings. Guard Chip Johnson and post London Flowers headline the Lady Lions' returnees for next year.
17. Russellville (23-7)
Credit to LaShanta Johnson for an impressive job in her first year with the Lady Cyclones as the team's third head coach in as many seasons. Along with surpassing 20 wins, they also finished second in the 5A-West standings behind only state champion Greenwood, and won 13 of their final 15 contests.
18. Mountain Home (23-9)
The Lady Bombers fought as long as they could in a 5A quarterfinal matchup against Vilonia, but even in defeat there is no question this group made a lot of progress. They'll graduate two key contributors, but will bring back Anna McCarn, Laykin Moore and Jayla Yonkers, who will have their sights set on an even deeper run.
19. Nettleton (23-8)
They handed Vilonia one of its early season losses back in early December, but the Lady Raiders were unable to pull off the No. 4 seed upset over 5A-Central top seeded Lady Eagles in the first round of the 5A state tournament. Overall, it was a successful first year under Kevin Frisbee, especially considering star senior transfer Shakira Brown went down early on with a season-ending knee injury.
20. Little Rock Christian (21-11)
The young Lady Warriors finally got clicking at the right time and were one of Class 5A's hottest teams down the stretch. They proved that winning 12 of their final 13 conference games was not a fluke, as they got past West Memphis in the first round of the state tournament after starting the season with an 8-9 record.
21. West Memphis (19-11)
A first round upset loss to Little Rock Christian is not acceptable by West Memphis standards, but the Lady Blue Devils should still be proud of what was accomplished in 2023-24. They notched a non-conference victory over 6A state champion Little Rock Central and also made it out as the No. 3 seed in a very tough 5A-East league.
22. Bergman (42-3)
A mostly dominant run through Class 3A lead to the Lady Panthers' second state championship in the past three seasons. Valley Springs stole one from Bergman in the 3A-1 District Tournament finals, but the Lady Panthers paid them back in the Regional Tournament finals and the only other in-state loss was 5A first round participant Nettleton.
23. Gravette (26-10)
February started off rough for the Lady Lions, who dropped four of their first six games to begin the month. They reeled off three consecutive wins in the 4A state tournament before dropping a heartbreaker to Morrilton. The squad will look much different next season as 12 seniors will depart the program.
24. Marion (17-10)
Their overall body of work certainly was worthy of a playoff spot, the Lady Patriots just missed out on the postseason as Nettleton edged them out for the 5A-East's No. 4 seed via the head-to-head tiebreaker. Ny'Asia Jackson will be a big loss in the backcourt, but Marion returns just about everyone else and will be prepped for redemption after sitting out of the playoffs following three consecutive semifinal runs.
25. Mount Vernon-Enola (43-0)
Truth be told, their schedule does not match up to the previous 24, but there is something to be said about consistency and the Lady Warhawks have defined that. Led by the decorated senior trio of Dessie McCarty, AJ Person and Marlee Raby, MVE finished the season on a 47-game win streak and won the program's second consecutive Class 2A state championship.
-- Kyle Sutherland | kyle@scorebooklive.com | @k_sutherlandAR
