The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs won a pair of nail-biters last week, but they did so without the sideline supervision of Head Coach Clay Reeves. The GHS girls improved to 8-1 overall and will play at Fort Smith Northside on Thursday against the unbeaten Lady Bears.
Unfortunately for Reeves and his players, the seven-time state champion head coach will be out of commission for the remainder of the season due to a serious health issue requiring a medical procedure scheduled for February.
Greenwood Athletic Director Dustin Smith offered the following statement to the media. “Coach Reeves informed the team that he is taking a medical leave of absence due to health concerns, and we’re obviously supportive of that,” said Dr. Smith.
“At this point he will not return for the season,” he continued. “Our thoughts and prayers are for his well-being. Our concern is for him to get well. He’s been huge for Lady Bulldogs’ basketball for a long time, [and] we wish him nothing but the best and a speedy recovery.”
Regarding a temporary replacement for Reeves, Smith said, “It’s never an ideal situation.” Matt Bryant, the varsity boys assistant coach with prior head coaching experience, filled in for Reeves the last two games, both victories, assisted by girls junior high Head Coach Ronnie Williams and Lady Bulldogs assistant Ryan Lensing, in his first season on the job.
“It’s a fluid situation right now,” said Smith. “It’s a matter of getting through these next two weeks. We asked Coach Bryant and Coach Williams to [help us] and then we’ll assess and evaluate what that means moving forward. Our expectation [for the team] is to still compete for a state title.”
The GHS girls reached the 6A state finals last season, losing in the title game to Jonesboro in March, but expectations remain very high with all but one starter returning from that squad.
Watson Chapel
Last Friday the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Watson Chapel near Pine Bluff for a non-conference game, winning 59-55 in overtime. Greenwood led throughout the first three quarters, but a strong run by the Lady Wildcats in the fourth quarter forced the extra period.
The GHS girls led 16-12 after one period and 28-24 at the break. They increased their advantage to 42-33 after three quarters, but Watson Chapel owned the final eight minutes of regulation play, outscoring Greenwood 20-11 to knot the score at 53-all.
The two teams combined for only eight total points in overtime, but the Lady Bulldogs accounted for six of those points to pull out the 59-55 road win.
Sophomore guard Ally Sockey led the team in scoring with 14 points, followed by junior guard Angela Price with 12 points. Sophomore guard Kinley Fisher and junior guard Jaelin Glass had nine points each.
Farmington
Last Tuesday, December 11th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted the Lady Cardinals and narrowly avoided another overtime or even their second loss of the season, winning 55-52. Earlier that day the team learned that Coach Reeves would not be returning to the bench this season.
But if they were affected by the news the GHS girls didn’t show it in their play, jumping out to an 11-0 lead before the Farmington head coach called for a timeout at the 5:24 mark of the opening period.
Kyiah Julian accounted for almost half of Greenwood’s points with a three-pointer and a conventional basket. The senior guard and team leader continues to play with a heavy brace on her right leg to support her surgically repaired knee after a late-season injury last February that kept her out of the state playoffs.
The Lady Cardinals finally scored at the 4:40 mark, but a three-pointer by Kinley Fisher made it 14-2 in favor of the home team. Sophomore Shea Goodwin also canned a trey and Jaelin Glass scored late in the period for Greenwood, which led 22-10 after eight minutes.
Starting in the second quarter, Farmington began clawing its way back into the game, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 12-9 to trail 31-22 at the intermission on the strength of a buzzer-beater from beyond the three-point line.
In the second period the Lady Bulldogs lost Kyiah Julian to an apparent leg injury, but she did return in the second half. They also lost Jaelin Glass to her fourth foul with 5:10 left before the break. She did not return until the final two minutes of the game, but her impact was profound.
Both teams traded baskets over the first 4:30 of the third quarter, with Greenwood leading 37-28 at the 3:30 mark. A nice fast break pass from Kinley Fisher to Ally Sockey resulted in a late layup for a 43-32 GHS advantage after three periods.
But a series of Greenwood turnovers led to an 8-0 run by Farmington to open the fourth quarter, cutting the GHS lead to 43-40 at the 6:25 mark.
After Kyiah Julian grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 2:10 left to play, the Lady Bulldogs were up 50-44. But back-to-back three-pointers by the Lady Cardinals tied the score at 50-all just a minute later. Thirty seconds after that the visitors had their first lead of the game at 52-50.
Jaelin Glass then hit a free throw (:28.6) to cut the deficit to one point (52-51). After a Farmington miss at the free throw line, Glass then scored inside and followed with another free throw to put Greenwood on top again, 54-52, with 13.8 seconds left.
The Lady Cards missed again at the charity stripe with just under five seconds remaining, and Greenwood’s Shea Goodwin hit one of two free throws to make the final score 55-52. Farmington missed a desperation heave at the buzzer as time expired.
Fisher led Greenwood with 13 points, followed by Julian with 11 and Goodwin with 10, the only GHS players in double figures. Ally Sockey added nine points and Glass had six points.
After the game, Coach Bryant talked with the media about the win and the circumstances surrounding the uncertain coaching carousel for the Lady Bulldogs.
“He just told the girls today,” said Bryant of Coach Reeves. “I’m just helping out. They talked to me and Coach Williams and Coach Lensing. We just want to help.”
As for the game itself, Bryant agreed the Lady Cardinals were a good team. “We had them [by double digits] several times and just could not put them away. But you learn about true character when adversity hits, and [our girls] had a hard day and a hard game, and they stood together.
“They could have given up at the end. But I thought they showed their character. They’re going to have to lean on each other and step up and be leaders.
“I thought at times different girls really did step up,” said the coach. “We started out hot. I thought the girls played amazing together to begin with and threw some [great] passes, really seeing the floor, hitting the open person, and knocking down shots. [But] we got a little stagnate in the second quarter.”
Tournament
A few days before the announcement about Coach Reeves, the Greenwood girls traveled to Fayetteville for tournament play against Hot Springs and North Little Rock, both GHS wins. A third day of tournament play was cancelled due to inclement weather.
The Lady Bulldogs faced Hot Springs on December 6th and won 45-40 after leading 29-20 at the half. The Lady Trojans outscored Greenwood 20-16 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.
No Lady Bulldog scored in double digits. Offensively, the team was led by Jaelin Glass with nine points. Kyiah Julian had seven points, Ally Sockey six points, and Shea Goodwin five points.
Against Class 6A North Little Rock the Lady Bulldogs found themselves battling another team with a big post player, like Bentonville, Greenwood’s only loss this season.
The first half was a slugfest, with both teams matching basket for basket. Greenwood led 10-8 after one period and 28-25 at the intermission.
But a strong second half put the game away, especially in the third quarter when the Lady Bulldogs surged ahead 44-33, outscoring North Little Rock 16-8 in the period. Both teams scored 18 points in the final stanza for the 62-51 GHS win.
Three Greenwood players reached double digits in scoring, led by Ally Sockey with 13 points. Kinley Fisher and Angela Price both had 10 points, and Haven Clements contributed eight points.
In the absence of Coach Reeves, assistant coach Ryan Lensing talked about the two tournament wins. “[Hot Springs] had a really good post player that caused us come trouble on the offensive boards, but our girls buckled down and kept her from doing too much damage. Their guards were real quick [too].
“What we love about this team is that it doesn’t matter whose night it is, somebody is going to step up and play [well]. We’re very talented at the guard spot and our post play is getting there.”
As for North Little Rock, Lensing said, “We played well in the first half. [NLR] had a very good post player, about 6’5”, but we tried to limit her touches and our girls executed the game plan to perfection. They handled it very well.”
Asked about his experience so far as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Lensing said, “It’s been awesome. I’ve loved every minute of it. Coach Reeves gave me a chance and what better person to learn from than the best coach in [Arkansas] girls basketball.
“He’s taught me a lot. This has been a dream. It’s been an amazing experience to be able to come back [home] and coach. I’m grateful to have the opportunity,” said Lensing.
Upcoming
The Lady Bulldogs will play at Fort Smith Northside on Thursday in what should be one of the premiere games in the state this week in girls basketball. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
The girls will then take a break from live competition until after Christmas when they are scheduled to take part in a tournament at Supula, Oklahoma, starting on the 27th.
Conference play in the 5A West begins on January 4th at home against Little Rock Christian.