The Greenwood Bulldogs have won just three games so far this season, posting an overall mark of 3-10, but have played much better since the roster expanded with the arrival of the football players, some of which are expected to make big contributions on the hard court.
After getting their first win of the season over Little Rock Christian in tournament play on December 10th, the GHS boys got a huge lift when they rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to beat the Rogers Mountaineers eight days later at Greenwood's H.B. Stewart Arena.
After taking a brief break for Christmas, the Bulldogs traveled to Russellville for three games in tournament play, losing to Little Rock Hall and Clarksville, and defeating the Wynne Yellowjackets. But they opened the 7A/6A Central conference schedule with losses at Bryant last Friday and at home to Siloam Springs this past Tuesday night.
Conference play
The GHS boys led Bryant 11-9 after the first period, but the Hornets roared back to take a 43-24 advantage by halftime before cruising to a 76-58 victory last Friday in the conference opener for both teams. Bryant led 64-44 after three periods.
The home team took 25 more shots than the visitors, hitting 25 of 69 field goal attempts for 36%. By contrast, Greenwood took just 44 shots, making 18 (41%). The Bulldogs also hit 20 of 38 free throws (53%) while Bryant made 19 of 27 charity shots (70%).
Besides their early lead, a 20-point third quarter was the high point for the Bulldogs. Junior guard Alec Armstrong took the lead offensively and started attacking the Bryant defense, scoring 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half.
Dustin Lunsford added 14 points and Luke Hales had 10. Blaise Loman scored seven points and hauled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior guard Devin Gilbert was also ejected from the game on a controversial flagrant foul call, which cost him the following game against Siloam Springs as well, leaving the team with limited depth at the guard position.
Against the Panthers, one of the three 6A teams in the conference besides Greenwood, the Bulldogs fell behind early, trailing 19-9 after one period. The Panthers closed the quarter with a 12-4 scoring run, and things didn't improve much for the home team in the second stanza, with the visitors leading 31-16 at the half.
But the momentum changed in the third quarter, with Greenwood mounting a steady comeback, outscoring the Panthers 21-10 with the help of three long-distance bombs, two of those treys in quick succession by sophomore guard Zane Harmon.
Trailing 41-37 after three quarters, the Bulldogs appeared to be in good position to make a late charge, but the Panthers regrouped with a 6-0 run to start the final period, rebuilding a double-digit lead, 47-37.
After a Dustin Lunsford three-pointer the Bulldogs pulled to within six points at 50-44 inside of two minutes remaining, but that was as close as they got the rest of the way. Siloam Springs finished the game with some free throws for the 58-48 win.
After Tuesday's loss, Head Coach Greg Nichols was somewhat at a loss to explain his team's lackadaisical play in the early going. "I really can't answer you," he said when asked about the first half. "We came out with zero intensity and acted completely opposite of the way we've been playing the last two or three games."
Asked about his team's second half adjustments, Nichols said, "We were getting the ball inside, and our guards decided to finally be aggressive and took the ball to the basket to dish off or shoot the ball. We hit some threes there in the third quarter, and that helped too."
Nichols agreed that the loss to Siloam Springs was a blow to this team's chances for the post-season, since only 6A wins and losses count toward making the playoffs. "It hurts," he acknowledged. "We had a goal to try and win all of our 6A games at home. [Now] we're going to have to steal one on the road."
At Russellville
The Bulldogs opened tournament play on Monday, December 28th, suffering a big loss to perennial basketball giant Little Rock Hall, 60-19. The format called for two 16-minute halves and a 35-second shot clock. The Bulldogs scored just 10 points in the first half and nine points after the break. The War Eagles led 33-10 at the intermission.
Game two for Greenwood was the following day against the Yellowjackets, a 62-54 victory. The Bulldogs had three players score in double figures, including by Dustin Lunsford (18), Luke Hales (16), and Zane Harmon (14).
Greenwood's final contest at Russellville was a 59-55 loss to the Clarksville Panthers in the fifth-place game. Clarksville opened the game with a 5-0 run that included a dunk, but the Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 run.
Then a barrage of three-pointers by the Panthers put them up 30-16, before the Bulldogs closed the half with another 6-0 run to trim their halftime deficit to 30-22. Greenwood cut the Clarksville lead to 35-33 early in the second half and eventually tied the score at 40-all on a pair of free throws by senior Blaise Lomon.
But the Panthers went on a 6-0 run to take charge once again, and a pair of late three-pointers and some solid free throw shooting put the game away. Another Clarksville dunk in the final minute punctuated the Panthers' victory.
Greenwood's Dustin Lunsford had a huge game with a strong second half performance, scoring 30 points to lead the Bulldogs. Lomon added 10 points.
Coach Nichols talked about the three tournament games. "Against Little Rock Fair – they are a very good, well-rounded team – they were more focused than we were coming off the [holiday] break. We looked real inconsistent in how we did things. We just didn't play well.
"But we had practice the next morning, then got on the bus [for Russellville] and played Wynne, and we played a lot better," he said. "In the third game against Clarksville we didn't have one of our starters (Alec Armstrong). He had to attend a funeral, and we got beat by four points, but we played pretty well."
Asked to assess where his team stood on the verge of conference play, Nichols wasn't shy. "We're still behind," he admitted, "simply because we get our footballers so late, which is understandable. But we're trying to catch up. Right now I feel like our biggest weakness is giving up too many offensive rebounds, and we're not executing on offense the way I know we can. If you look at the wins we have, you will see that we shot a lot of free throws. For us to win, we have to be aggressive on the offensive end."
Pre-holiday games
The day before defeating Rogers, the 'Dogs played at Fort Smith Southside on December 17th, losing 69-51. The Rebels are also members of the 7A/6 Central, but this was a non-conference game. It was also the first action for the GHS footballers, just 12 days after their 28-21 loss to Pine Bluff in the 6A state title game.
The Rebs dominated the first two quarters, using seven three-pointers to build a significant lead at the half, 38-18. Greenwood managed only 10 points through the first eight minutes and just eight points in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs played much better coming out of the locker room in the third quarter, winning the period 20-12 and slicing into the Southside lead. But the Rebels regrouped to take the fourth period by a comfortable margin of 19-13 to post the 18-point victory. Blaise Lomon led the Bulldogs with 20 points.
Before a sparse home crowd just before school was dismissed for the holidays, the GHS boys hosted the Class 7A Mountaineers from Rogers. The two teams appeared to be evenly matched as the score bounced back-and-forth throughout the first half.
A 10-foot jumper by Greenwood junior Luke Hales just before the buzzer trimmed a four-point Rogers' lead to 15-13 after one period. The Bulldogs then missed some free throw opportunities in the second quarter and the game was tied at 28-all with 11.5 seconds remaining.
The Dogs had possession of the ball, but turned it over on a lane violation with just three seconds left. Rogers inbounded the rock and crossed the half court mark before launching a desperation three-pointer from about 30 feet that found the basket, putting the visitors up 31-28 at the half.
That momentum carried over into the second half as well, when the Mountaineers hit a pair of treys on back-to-back possessions, taking a 37-29. They led 48-39 going into the final period, and the visitors seemed to have the game under control when Greenwood lost forward Luke Hales to his fifth foul with 3:57 left. Guard Rusty Jackson also later fouled out. But Rogers went stone cold from the foul line down the stretch, missing eight of nine shots, leaving the door wide open for a GHS rally.
And the Bulldogs took advantage of the opportunity, hitting 13 of 15 charity shots in the fourth quarter alone, led by Blaise Lomon's nine made free throws in 11 tries. With the game tied at 55-all, the Bulldogs sent guard Zane Harmon to the line, and the sophomore nailed both shots for a 57-55 GHS lead. After a Rogers' turnover, the Dogs' added to their lead when Lomon scored his final two points from the line for the 59-55 victory.
Besides Lomon's 20, the Bulldogs also got 15 points from fellow senior forward Dustin Lunsford, eight points from Hales, and seven points from Harmon. Greenwood's last nine points came at the line and the Bulldogs sank 24 of 34 free throws in the game.
Coach Nichols agreed that it was a big win for his team. "Oh, yes," he said. "We needed that. We've been getting close in a lot of games, and couldn't finish. But tonight we came from 10 [points] behind and were able to finish.
"Today was the fifth practice for our footballers and they're picking things up quick," added the coach. "It helps with our depth tremendously, and having Luke [Hales] and Blaise [Lomon] in there helps with our height, so we're able to alternate Dustin [Lunsford] and Chase [Sanders] for those two. It's just helped all around.
"We're just trying to get everything to click together so [the players] know everybody's moves," he continued. "That may take a little while, but we'll get there if people will be patient with us." The Bulldogs play at Conway on Friday and will travel to Alma next Tuesday.