Vote: Who should be SBLive Arkansas' team of the week? (10/23/2023)

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Arkansas High School Team of the Week for Oct. 16-22

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Arkansas High School Team of the Week. 

Read through the nominees and cast your vote. Voting will conclude Sunday, October 29, at 11:59 p.m. 

Benton Panthers volleyball

The Lady Panthers came into the week in a bit of a rough patch having lost two of the previous three matches, one of which was to Conway on Oct. 7. After sweeping Arkansas High to start the week, Benton got its redemption over the third-ranked Lady Wampus Cats in four sets to close out the regular season. 

Bryant Hornets boys cross country 

Bryant took first place in the team two mile run of the Mt. Carmel Invitational with 22 points. Six Hornets finished in the Top 10, highlighted by Ryan Schaefer in the No. 1 spot, followed by Donavan Brimhall in second place, while Daniel Ingle also cracked the Top 5 at No. 4. 

Cabot Panthers girls cross country

Cabot won the team two-mile run of the Mt. Carmel Invitational with 23 points. Four Lady Panthers finished in the Top 5 spots, led by Aspen Yorek at the top spot, followed by Savannah Fisher at third, Kylie Medlin at fourth and Leah Ferrier-Watson at fifth. 

Cross County Thunderbirds football

There were high hopes for this Thunderbirds squad coming into the season and while it was an up-and-down start, a huge 38-22 win over Des Arc gave their playoff hopes more life. Cross County has won three of the past four contests following the aforementioned start in which the Thunderbirds dropped two of their first three. 

Farmington Cardinals football

Despite being hit hard by the injury bug, the Cardinals have continued to fight. They dug extra deep on Friday to take down Shiloh Christian and put themselves in a tie for first place in the 5A-West. Farmington was down 28-10 at halftime, but the defense adjusted and pitched a second half shutout, while the offense reeled off 19 unanswered points.

Har-Ber Wildcats girls volleyball 

Just shy of two years to the day since top-ranked Fayetteville lost to an in-state opponent, the Lady Wildcats smashed the 38-match win streak. They took down the Lady Purple Dogs 3-1, edging them 25-23 in the fourth set to secure the historic victory. Har-Ber capped the week by taking down Rogers 3-1, to win their eighth consecutive match. 

Heber Springs Panthers football

Stuttgart handled Heber Springs with ease in the previous three meetings leading up to Friday, but this time around it was the Panthers' night. They won 29-28, their fifth consecutive, and secured a Top 2 4A-2 postseason seed, as well as a home playoff game for the first time since 2018, and take on Harding Academy for the conference title on Friday.

Mills Comets football 

While the past couple of weeks have mostly been less than pleasant for the Comets, you have to tip your cap to the program for overcoming all of the outside noise to emerge victorious in an intense 5A-Central game against Joe T. Robinson while being short-handed. Mills won 31-21 and they are now in a two-way tie with Robinson for second place in the conference with two games remaining. 

Mount Vernon-Enola Warhawks girls basketball 

To likely no one's surprise, the Lady Warhawks picked right back up from their 2A state title run. It started with a sweep of the Pangburn Tip-Off Classic over Riverside - a rematch of last year's overtime quarterfinal thriller - followed by a convincing win over defending 1A champion Mammoth Spring. They also took non-conference matchups over West Side (Greers Ferry) and Mulberry to finish the week 4-0. 

Norfork Panthers girls basketball 

The defending 1A runner-up had a fast start to the season, starting with a 30-point victory over Kingston in the opener and then a convincing 27-point rout over what expects to be a solid Class 2A Buffalo Island Central squad. In the victory over BIC, Keely Blanchard led the Lady Panthers with 25 points, followed by Liza Shaddy who added 20.

Subiaco Academy Trojans football

The Trojans made some drastic adjustments at halftime to break a 16-16 tie and it resulted in a 52-22 win over Genoa Central in a Top 5 club division matchup. It was Subiaco's sixth consecutive victory and clinched the program's first outright conference title since 1966. 

--Kyle Sutherland | @k_sutherlandAR