Welcome to the final week of the first half of the 5A-East Conference round robin.

It has been all West Memphis in the boys standings. The Blue Devils (15-3 overall, 5-0 in the conference) have an average margin of victory of 24.2 points in the five games. Of course, much of that figure is offset by the humongous 56-point margin over Paragould last Friday night. But the team also owns a 30-point win at Nettleton and a 22-point win over Searcy.

Tonight, the Blue Devils host Greene County Tech (14-4, 2-3), a team that features a hot-shooting point guard and a team that returns most of last year's roster that pushed West Memphis to overtime last year in Paragould.

The Eagles were figured to be a power in the 5A-East this year, with senior Zane Butler, who torched the Blue Devils last year for 37 points in the OT game in Paragould, and other top players such as Cade Cancilla, Payton Laubach and Dawson Greer.

But after rushing out to a 13-1 record, head coach Jeff Guiot's club has hit the skids, which topped out with a 16-point loss at home to Marion last Friday night. Still, Tech is a dangerous club that specializes in long-range shooting.

If the Eagles are on target, they are a huge headache.

It's clear at this point, that the Blue Devils are aiming their sights at the state championship. They have perhaps the best player in the state in Chris Moore, but they also have emerging solid role players.

They have enough outside shooters to counter when the opposition doubles down on Moore under the basket. In fact, that appears to be the opposition's best option to beating the Blue Devils. Moore is quite frankly unstoppable one-on-one in the paint. Other teams would be better off hoping West Memphis suffers a bad shooting night from outside.

The Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 overall in the state by MaxPreps (No. 89 in the nation) and No. 2 by the Arkansas Sports Media Poll. Both publications have West Memphis No. 1 in Class 5A.

The girls game tonight will begin approximately 6 p.m.

The Lady Devils (15-4, 4-1) are currently in a four-way tie for first place in the conference along with Nettleton, Jonesboro and Mountain Home. The deadlock will break up some tonight, however, with Jonesboro visiting Nettleton.

See you all tonight at Lehr Arena!!