Fourteen students from Izard County Schools have been nominated for the Arkansas Ambassadors Honor Band. In the summer of 2017, this honor band will travel to seven European countries in 16 days to represent our state with outstanding musical performances. Students were nominated by their band director based on several different criteria including maturity, high behavioral standards, and outstanding musicianship.

After attending a rigorous training camp in West Memphis, AR, these students will travel to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Lichtenstein, Austria, and Germany to share the excellence of Arkansas high school music. The students will have many sightseeing opportunities, special guided tours through several significant European landmarks, and will also be able to perform in some of the most historic musical venues in Europe.​

Congratulations to the following Izard County students who were nominated: Kennedy Wallis, Callie Cole, Autumn Thick, Hayden Ekenes, Allannah Gregory, Tabitha Gregory, Madelyn Bohmfalk, Leea Tuck, Michael Uecker, Cole Wallis, Briar Sollock, Andy Norton, Zachary Nohr, and Benji Norton.

Andrew Walker of Izard County scored 29 points to lead the West to a 135-133 victory in the boys game of the Fourth Annual North Arkansas All Star Basketball Classic held on April 16th at Izard County High School in Brockwell.   Walker scored 16 points in the second half to help erase a five point halftime West deficit (78-73) to garner MVP honors.  Ayden Henry of Thayer added 26 points for the West squad and Hunter Tatum of Southside chipped in 17 points. Bryce Nicholson of Marshall contributed 15 points and Gerard Dietrich 10 points for the West.  The East was led by Tim Campbell of Guy Perkins with 30 points and Wyatt Summers of Bakersfield added 17 points.  Tyler Pritchett of Bay contributed 14 points and Bryan Parnell of Calico Rock, Jeremy Brown of Salem, and Matt Wilkins of Sloan-Hendrix chipped in 10 points each for the East.    The West team was coached by Isaac Middlebrooks of Cedar Ridge and the East was coached by Brad Brannen of Bay.
 
In the girls game, the West triumphed 93-84 behind an All Star Game record 24 points from MVP Gracen Ratliff of Batesville.  Emily Gardner of Melbourne and Bailey Pruitt of Jasper added 18 points each and Haley Cole of Batesville contributed 16 points for the West squad.  The East was led by 19 points each from Elizabeth Henderson of Cedar Ridge and Kelsey Fry from Calico Rock.  Katie Hamby of Calico Rock added 14 points and Karlie Senko of Bradford chipped in 13 points for the East.  The East team was coached by Braden Watson of Bay and the West team was coached by Eric Teague of Melbourne.
 
The players who participated were chosen from the graduating seniors from schools from across north Arkansas.  Sponsors of the event included KSAR, Monty McCurley Insurance, and BSN Sports. Mary Johnson of Melbourne won the girls individual three point shootout and Bryce Nicholson of Marshall won the boys’ three point shootout.  Matt Wilkins of Sloan-Hendrix to win the slam dunk contest.    
 
Box Score:  Girls – East (84) Henderson 19, Fry 19, Hamby 14, Senko 13, Ferguson 9, Meredith 6, Hood 3, Gosha 1, Grambling 0, Brooks 0, Killian West (93) Ratliff 24, Gardner 18, Pruitt 18, Cole 16, Johnson 5, Godfrey 4, Grant 4, White 2, Coatney 1
 
Boys –West ((135) Walker 29, Henry 26, Tatum 17, Nicholson 15, Dietrich 10, Mosley 9, Harrison 6, Goodson 6, James 6, Brogdon 5, Woods 2, Vance 2, Jones 2 East (133) Campbell 30, Summers 17, Pritchett 14, Parnell 10, Brown 10, Wilkins 10, Mead 8, D. Treece 8, Chaney 8, Crain 8, Vowell 6, Politte 2, M. Treece 2, Tate 0, Kopacz 0

​Izard County High School will host the Fourth Annual North Arkansas All Star Basketball Classic on April 16 at the Cougar Den in Brockwell to showcase the outstanding graduating high school senior basketball players in the North Arkansas area.  The all star high school boys and girls games will be broadcast on KSAR 92.3 FM by the “Ole Coach” Gary Cooper and James Bragg.  The players selected are the best high school graduating seniors from schools in north Arkansas.  Sponsors of the event include KSAR, the Monty McCurley Insurance Agency, and Bryan Reaves and BSN Sports. There will also be the finals of the dunk contest, the three point shooting contest, and the skills competition between games by the players.  The preliminary contests will be held before the games.  The girl’s game will begin at 6 p.m. and the boy’s game will be at 8 p.m.  KSAR will broadcast the event and player interviews will begin at 4:30 p.m. Admission is $5 per person.  
 
Event Coordinator Tim Massey said, “We have finalized the rosters for the Fourth Annual North Arkansas All Star Basketball Classic and it will definitely be the best one in our history.  Twenty-one All State players and fifteen All State Tournament players have committed to play in the NABC, including many who have or will commit to playing next year at the next level.”  
 
Also, four of the area’s best coaches have been selected to coach in the games including Isaac Middlebrooks of Cedar Ridge and Brad Brannen of Bay for the boy’s game and Braden Watson of Bay and Eric Teague of Melbourne for the girl’s game. Middlebrooks and Brannen have coached three state champion teams in the past four years and both have been selected to coach in this year’s Arkansas State High School All Star Game in June. Watson and Teague both guided teams into the state tournament this year. Massey said, “We are excited to have coaches of this caliber for this event.  This is going to be a must-see event for all basketball fans of this area.  This is a stellar group of graduating seniors in both boys and girls and both games will be highly competitive. We will play five quarters to make sure all players get an ample amount of playing time.  The slam dunk contest, the three point contest, and the skills contest will be very entertaining as well. We have great players and great coaches and we want to give area seniors the opportunity to perform before fans of their home area one last time before they move on to college. High school basketball is very special for the fans of north Arkansas and we are pleased at how this event has grown since its inception four years ago. We are very excited that KSAR 92.3 will once again broadcast the event and this will only enhance the significance of the games for the players and fans.”     
 
The following All State players have committed to the Classic:  Boys - Wichita State signee and 3A MVP Austin Reaves from the Class 3A State Champion Cedar Ridge Timberwolves, Tyler Pritchett and Jonathan Crain from the Class 1A State Champion Bay Yellowjackets, Andrew Walker from Izard County, Jacob Patterson from Cave City, Bryan Parnell from Calico Rock, Spencer Politte from Flippin, Bryce Nicholson of Marshall, and Dalton Hogue from Valley Springs. Girls - Arkansas State signee and 3A MVP Payton Tennison and Emmalee Taylor of the Class 3A State Champion Valley Springs Lady Tigers, Lyon College signee Elizabeth Henderson of Cedar Ridge, Central Baptist College signee Emily Gardner and Mary Johnson from Melbourne, Katie Ferguson from Bay, Karlie Senko of Bradford, Kelsey Fry from Calico Rock, Gracen Ratliff from Batesville, Bailey Pruitt from Jasper, and Abby Meredith from Marmaduke. Reaves has had shoulder surgery and won’t be able to play, but he will be in attendance at the game and will sign autographs. Other notable area players selected include Clay Mosley and Coby Jones of Izard County,  Tim Campbell of Guy Perkins, Katie Hamby, Brett James, and Timi Killian from Calico Rock, Jay Chaney from Melbourne, Blake Goodson and Taylor Grant from Highland, University of the Ozarks signee Hailey Godfrey and Jeremy Brown from Salem, Braden Mead, Hunter Tatum, Zac Brogdon, and Kaitlyn Grambling from Southside, Keegan Harrison and Cheyenne Brooks from Cedar Ridge, Cole Gower and Andrew Ware of Mountain View, Landry Kopacz, Jakob Tate, and Megan Coatney from Flippin, Matt Wilkins, Carter Vance, and Brittany Gosha from Sloan-Hendrix, Drew Saunders and Tristen Richardson from Valley Springs, Hayden Woods from Cave City, Emily White from Pocahontas, Haley Cole, Tyler Vowell, and Brianna Hood from Marmaduke, Dalton Treece and Mason Treece of Greers Ferry Westside, Chase Riley and Gerard Dietrich from West Plains, Mo., Ayden Henry of Thayer, Mo., and Wyatt Summers of Bakersfield, Mo.  Fifteen players attending the Classic also were named to the All State Tournament Team: Campbell, Pritchett, Crain, James, Walker, Fry, Reaves, Harrison, Nicholson, Hogue, Tennison, Taylor, Henderson, Senko, and Gardner.