Last Saturday the Fayetteville Boy's Basketball team punched their ticket to Little Rock when they defeated arch rival Bentonville in the state semi-finals.
"After we beat Bentonville it didn't hit me until later on that we were actually going back to the championship," said Senior Manuale Watkins. "We have another opportunity to win and we are all really excited around here."
Last year the team made it to the championship game, but ended up losing to Little Rock Hall. This year they are looking to go back and redeem that loss. The team believes they have what it takes to make the final step and bring home a state title.
"I think we can draw back from last year's experience of being in the finals," said Head Coach Kyle Adams. "They know what it's like to play in a big arena, its a little different and these guys can draw on that experience from last year."
For the seniors on the team winning the state title would be icing on the cake to a great high school career.
"It would be the best," said Senior Cameron Paschke. "Losing last year was the worst thing ever. Going out with a bang would be awesome."
"It would mean the world to me," said Senior Tyler McCullough. "It would be a dream come true."
"It's all we want," said Watkins. "We don't care about anything else but winning that state championship. We don't care how we do it we just want to do it."
The boys will square off against North Little Rock Saturday at 4:00pm.