The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs are off to a fast start in 7A/6A Central conference play, rolling to a 3-0 league record after a pair of wins last week over Fort Smith Southside and Little Rock Hall. Despite committing 17 turnovers and missing several free throws at crunch time, the Lady ‘Dogs still found a way to turn back the Southside Lady Rebels, 64-58. They followed up that road victory with a home win over the Hall Lady Warriors, 69-58.
GHS head coach Clay Reeves has not been bashful in saying that he expects both the 6A and 7A state champions to come out of the 7A/6A Central, and he believes his Lady Bulldogs should be on the short list to capture the 6A title. Despite the fact that the GHS girls have only played two home games this season, they are 12-2 on the season after the victory over Hall.
Following the Southside win Reeves said, “We’ve played one home game so far, but that’s just the way our schedule has worked out this year. Playing home games or away, it really doesn’t bother us. This was just like usual. Southside and Greenwood is a big rivalry game, and it’s also a big conference game for both of us.”
At Southside last Tuesday, the two squads traded punches early, with both teams enjoying leads of four points or more in the first period. Late in the quarter, the Lady Rebels went up 14-13, but Greenwood hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 12 seconds before the buzzer, turning a one-point deficit into a 19-14 lead.
The Lady Rebels had turnover and free throw troubles of their own, turning the ball over 24 times and missing 10 free throws, including the front-end of three one-and-one opportunities. But Southside was still in the game after cutting a 10-point halftime deficit (33-23) to just two points (40-38) after three quarters.
But Greenwood’s Haleigh Henson nailed a 3-pointer to jumpstart the visitor’s offense to open the fourth period. Henson finished with 16 points, but it was teammate Lundon Williams who led the Lady Bulldogs with 20 points. Megan Hartness added seven points, while Brittnay Branum and Sydnie Henson both scored six points.
Last Friday, the Lady Bulldogs dispatched 6A powerhouse and defending state champion Little Rock Hall by taking an early lead and holding off the talented Lady Warriors over the final three quarters. Greenwood dominated Hall on the boards in the first half, as the home team jumped out to a 10-point lead after one quarter and led from start to finish.
Greenwood had just eight field goals in 22 attempts in the first period, but they compensated for it with 11 offensive rebounds to lead 19-9 after eight minutes. “The first half we rebounded [well],” Reeves said. “The second half wasn’t quite as good. We did enough good things to stay in the game, mainly not turning it over and hitting our free throws.”
Greenwood bumped its first half lead to 34-16 after an eight-point run on a pair of baskets each from Megan Hartness and Sarah Elkins. But Hall ended the half with a 5-0 run of their own, then took advantage of several GHS turnovers to open the third quarter with another 5-0 spurt, trimming Greenwood’s lead to 34-26.
GHS sophomore Peyton Clements ended Hall’s mini-run with a bucket inside. Then after a layup for Hall, Lundon Williams hit a 15-foot jumper and buried a 3-pointer to boost Greenwood’s lead back to double digits at 41-28. That proved to be the last time the Lady Warriors would threaten, as Greenwood held on for the 69-58 win.
“Every game is tough,” said Coach Reeves. “We’ve played two really good teams that have been state champs the last couple of years. Now we know we have probably the best 7A team (Northside) in the state coming up. It doesn’t get any easier, but we don’t expect it to.”
Lundon Williams led the team with 20 points, while Haleigh Henson added 12 points. Alyssa Crase, Sarah Elkins, and Megan Hartness combined for 29 rebounds and 29 points. “They did a great job of going and getting offensive and defensive rebounds,” said Reeves. “For some of them, that was the best they’ve played. Every game we’ve played, different kids step up. Tonight, I felt good about everybody that played.”
‘We’ve played some good teams this year,” Reeves said. “We’ve had to face that pretty much all year. [But] that’s good for us. Being in this conference and playing a good non-conference [schedule] prepared us for these types of games.”
The Lady Bulldogs will take their act on the road this week, playing at Fort Smith Northside on Tuesday and at Mount St. Mary’s on Friday in Little Rock. In other related news, the Arkansas Activities Association set the location for the 6A state tournament in early March, awarding the event to Jonesboro High School. Greenwood hosted the tournament last year.