The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs made their presence known in the 6A state tournament last week in Russellville. The two-time defending 6A state champions battled their way through a tough regular season, struggling to remain near the .500 mark, but closed out their schedule with a 55-25 home victory over the Belles of Mount St. Mary on February 26th.
It was also senior night, and the team honored four departing seniors, including Maddie Goodner, Ashley Rozell, Erin Black, and Gabby Shores. Goodner was named the basketball homecoming queen this season and was a key player during last spring's title run.
She was the lone returning player with significant experience for the Lady Bulldogs. Goodner has also signed to play college basketball with the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Against Mount St. Mary she led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with 18 points.
Greenwood jumped all over the Belles early, building a 20-5 lead after the first eight minutes, and led 37-9 at the half on their way to an easy 55-25 victory. Kyiah Julian added 13 points in the win.
Sheridan
The Lady Bulldogs played their first state tournament game last Wednesday evening at Russellville High School, facing the Sheridan Lady Yellowjackets, and got off to an inauspicious start. Just over 2½ minutes into the contest, Maddie Goodner picked up her third personal foul, two of them offensive fouls for charging.
But despite the early foul trouble, Head Coach Clay Reeves made no move to take Goodner off the floor, knowing that her experience, leadership, and court skills were absolutely essential for her teammates, and his faith in her proved to be well founded.
Not only did Goodner avoid any further fouls in the first half, but she led the team in scoring for the game with 15 points, tied with teammate Kaitlyn Summit. Goodner picked up her fourth foul in the third quarter, but was still on the floor at the final buzzer. Three other Lady Bulldogs reached four fouls, including Kaila Cartwright, who fouled out late in the game.
Kyiah Julian's three-pointer broke the scoring ice for Greenwood after Sheridan got off to a 4-0 lead. A steal and layup by Goodner and another trey by Julian accounted for most of the remaining points, and the Lady Bulldogs led 10-9 after one period.
Nice execution on the inbounds play led to a three-pointer by Summit to start the second quarter, putting Greenwood up by four, 13-9, and they went on to build a double-digit lead (20-9) at the 3:09 mark. After a Sheridan timeout, the Lady 'Jackets rallied to trim the GHS lead to 23-15 at the half.
Goodner and Sara Reeves both picked up their fourth fouls early in the third stanza, but both would finish the game, though Reeves went to the bench for an extended period.
But the game turned strongly in Greenwood's favor late in the period with a rapid series of three-pointers by Summit, Ashley Rozell, and Summitt again, building an insurmountable 38-20 lead. Goodner threw a long outlet pass to Julian for a layup to end the quarter leading 40-22.
Sheridan's defense pressed early in the fourth period, desperately trying to get back into the game. But Greenwood put the ball in Goodner's hands, and the steady senior was able to run valuable time off the clock, forcing the Lady 'Jackets to foul and eventually lose, 53-45.
After the game, Coach Reeves said, "Winning is what it's all about right now. I know we're better in some areas than we showed. We did well in some areas, but in other areas we had some letdowns. Hopefully [we] will learn from this."
Jonesboro
Apparently the Lady Bulldogs did learn, because they took top-seeded Jonesboro to the wire last Friday afternoon before falling in a heartbreaker, 34-32. Greenwood led only once in the game, 32-31, in the final seconds before the Lady Hurricane rallied to pull out the win.
"Our kids played hard," said Coach Reeves after the tough loss. "They played their guts out. We rebounded and played great defense. There wasn't anything left on the floor. They gave everything they had." It was the Lady Bulldogs' first state tournament loss in three years, since March 2, 2013.
Jonesboro, the top seed from the 6A East, got off to a good start and led 11-4 after eight minutes of play, forcing the Lady Bulldogs into making six turnovers. But Greenwood's defense tightened up and allowed just four points in the second quarter, while the GHS offense netted seven, cutting the deficit to just 15-11 at the half.
Both teams scored 12 points in the third quarter, leaving Jonesboro ahead 27-23 heading into the final stanza of play. Goodner and Cartwright both scored midway through the period, cutting the deficit to just two points at 29-27
A Julian free throw and a steal and layup by Goodner made it 31-30 with 1:40 to play, with the Lady Bulldogs still trailing. But in the frantic final seconds, junior Madi Pfeifer grabbed her 11th rebound of the game on the offensive end and put the ball in the bucket for Greenwood's one and only lead, 32-31.
Jonesboro's Khiandra Perry hit a free throw to tie the game with 19.8 seconds left, but missed her second shot. Unfortunately, the long rebound went to the Lady 'Canes, and after a timeout, Perry drove the lane for the winning bucket with just under five seconds remaining.
Maddie Goodner's long three-point try from just across the half-court line was off the mark at the buzzer, giving Jonesboro the victory. The Lady Hurricane then defeated El Dorado and will face Russellville in the state title game on Thursday night in Hot Springs.
"Our kids did a good job of being disciplined on defense and taking care of the ball on offense and getting shots," said Coach Reeves. "The [fast] pace worked to our favor. Our kids give everything they have every day. They [play] hard, and we just want every kid to play their role and up to their ability."
Goodner led the team in scoring in the game with 10 points, tying with teammate Kyiah Julian, who also had 10 points. The Lady Bulldogs finish their season with a 13-16 overall record.