The regular season has concluded for the GHS basketball Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs. Over the last 10 days of the campaign the two teams traveled to Mountain Home on February 17th, hosted Alma four days later, and finished up at Greenbrier this past Friday night. The Lady Bulldogs went 3-0 to extend their winning streak to 22 consecutive games while the GHS boys went 0-3 during the same stretch. Many of the Bulldogs will now move on to other spring sports while the GHS girls prepare to defend the state title they earned last season. The playoffs begin on Wednesday.
Lady Bulldogs
The GHS ladies are seeking their seventh state title under Head Coach Clay Reeves and their second in a row as the reigning champs of 5A. They are currently ranked #3 overall in the state and #1 in Class 5A and are the favorites to win it all again. They went unbeaten (14-0) in conference play and were only challenged in one contest, a come-from-behind two-point win at Siloam Springs. Their only two losses were early in the season to Class 6A teams, Conway and Bentonville.
Greenwood’s last three conference games were pretty much like the previous 11 – all blowouts except for the contest at Siloam Springs. Throughout the league schedule the Lady Bulldogs routinely won by 30 to 40 points, invoking the mercy rule in nearly every game. Their ferocious defensive style was too much for league opponents to handle, not to mention their deadly offensive combo of senior Mady Cartwright and junior Anna Trusty.
At Mountain Home on the 17th they won by 32 points, 72-40, led by Cartwright’s team-high 26 points, all in limited minutes. But it was Trusty who hit the game’s first bucket, driving the lane and kissing the ball off the glass. Junior Brooklyn Woolsey followed with a three-pointer for a 5-0 GHS lead that blossomed to 23-10 after one period.
The visiting Lady Bulldogs led 41-19 at the half, then doubled up the Lady Bombers at the 3:33 mark of the third quarter, ahead 52-26. They then outscored Mountain Home 12-2 to end the third stanza up 64-28. With the starters for both teams largely on the bench, the fourth period played itself out quickly under the mercy rule, leading to the 72-40 final.
Besides Cartwright’s 26 points, the University of Tulsa signee added three rebounds, two assists, and five steals. Anna Trusty finished with 12 points, two boards, and two assists, while Brooklyn Woolsey added nine points with three rebounds. Junior Carley Sexton netted seven points with two boards and five steals. Sophomore Izzy Smith came off the bench and scored seven points along with two assists and three rebounds. Freshman Kylah Pearcy scored six points and senior Andriana Rusin added five points with six rebounds.
Back home four days later, the GHS girls throttled the Lady Airedales of Alma, 92-36. It was Greenwood’s final home game this season, and the last home appearance for seniors Mady Cartwright, Adriana Rusin, Ella Williams, Madelyn Wilkinson, and Ashlyn Butler. They were honored in a ceremony before tip-off. Senior team managers Madison Goodwin and Maribeth Young were also recognized.
Greenwood jumped out to a 9-0 lead early, but faltered in the middle of the opening period, allowing the Alma girls to tie the score at 9-all with a trio of three-pointers. Anna Trusty then led a GHS rally with seven of her game-high 26 points over the final minutes, giving the Lady Bulldogs an 18-14 advantage leading into the second quarter.
But the GHS girls blew the game open with 26 and 36 points scored in the second and third periods, respectively. They used a scoring run of 17-0 in the second stanza and two more runs of 17-0 and 13-0 in the third to put the game away. Greenwood led 46-23 at the half and 82-27 after 24 minutes, coasting to the 92-36 victory.
Besides her 26 points, Anna Trusty also had nine rebounds, while Mady Cartwright scored 22 points. That duo has been unstoppable this season, with both players averaging near 20 points per game in scoring. For her career, the senior Cartwright is now over 1,500 points with Trusty not far behind with over 1,200 points, with another year to go for the junior.
At Greenbrier last Friday, the Lady Bulldogs completed an unbeaten conference record (14-0) with one of their largest margins of victory on the season, taming the Lady Panthers by 50 points, 73-23. They also finished the regular season with an impressive 27-2 mark heading into the state playoffs on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
They will play the #4 seed from the 5A East, the Lady Raiders of Nettleton (21-6). A victory on Wednesday would advance the Lady Bulldogs to a Friday matchup with either Little Rock Parkview (21-7) or El Dorado (17-11) at 7 p.m. Should the GHS girls return to the state finals this season, that game will be played on Thursday, March 9th, at 6 p.m. in Hot Springs.
As usual, the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead over Greenbrier, cellar dwellers in the 5A West with only five wins on the season. The Greenwood ladies led 26-8 after one period, then scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to lead 36-8 before the hometown ladies finally reached double figures in scoring. Greenwood’s Carly Sexton converted a steal into a layup in the final seconds of the period for a 48-13 halftime lead.
The Lady Bulldogs were in command, 65-19, after three periods with most of their starters out of the game, and won the fourth quarter by a margin of 8-4. Anna Trusty led her teammates in scoring with 18 points while making nine steals. Mady Cartwright added 17 points with four rebounds and two assists. Brooklyn Woolsey had 12 points, all on three-pointers. Likewise, Izzy Smith got most of her 11 points from beyond the arc, also grabbing three rebounds.
Bulldogs
The GHS boys continued to struggle against conference foes as their regular season came to a close against Mountain Home, Alma, and Greenbrier. Head Coach Donnie Husband’s team has battled numerous injuries while facing improved opposition across the 5A West. They’ve been competitive in most games, but haven’t been able to put together a winning stretch of basketball, suffering some gut-wrenching, hard luck losses along the way.
At Mountain Home, the GHS boys trailed 8-2 early, but got a three-pointer from Dawson Holt and an inside bucket from fellow senior Aiden Kennon, making the score 8-7. But the Bombers, still hoping to earn a playoff spot, pulled ahead 20-12 at the end of the opening period. They went on to build a 33-19 double-digit advantage at the half.
The home team led 42-26 near the halfway mark of the third quarter and was still ahead by 13 points when the buzzer sounded ending the period, 49-36. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs were never able to put together a credible scoring run in the final eight minutes and fell to the Bombers, 66-48.
Aiden Kennon continued his strong season with 21 points and seven rebounds to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. Dawson Holt added 12 points and two boards while junior Braden Bollman added seven points. Junior L. J. Robins scored six points with a pair of assists in the contest.
At home against Alma last Tuesday, the Bulldogs suffered one of those tough luck losses, similar to the game they lost at Alma only a couple weeks earlier. In both contests the Airedales rallied from a second-half double-digit deficit to win late, stealing away two potential victories from the Bulldogs, who failed to win on their home floor this season. It was also senior night and Aiden Kennon, Dawson Holt, and Hunter Houston were honored before the game.
This time the Alma boys won in overtime, 59-55, after trailing by 12 points with 3:15 remaining in the third quarter. The Bulldogs started well, scoring the first seven points of the contest, but led by just two points at the end of the period, 11-9. In what turned out to be a very low scoring first half, Greenwood increased its tenuous lead slightly in the second quarter and went to the locker room up, 21-17.
Starting the second half, the Bulldogs once again opened strong and built their lead to double digits through the first four minutes of the third stanza, 36-24, before the Airedales cut it in half, trailing 40-34 after 24 minutes. Still down 47-41 minutes later, the visitors to H. B. Stewart Arena went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the second half, 49-47, with just under a minute remaining. Aiden Kennon then hit a pair of free throws for Greenwood to send the game to overtime.
But Alma sophomore Israel Towns-Robinson scored three baskets in the OT period, including a slam dunk following a steal to spark the Airedales to the comeback victory. Offensively, the Bulldogs were held to just six points over the last five minutes. Both teams finished the game with a 6-21 overall record, but the Airedales claimed bragging rights by beating Greenwood twice this season. Aiden Kennon and Dawson Holt each scored 19 points for the Bulldogs.
At Greenbrier last Friday night, the Bulldogs got an early turnover and Aiden Kennon scored on a layup for a 2-0 lead. L. J. Robins then drained a three-pointer in the final seconds of the first quarter to pull the Bulldogs within two points of the Panthers, 15-13. After trailing by six points midway through the second period, the visitors missed multiple shots in the final seconds of the quarter and went to the locker room down by four, 23-19.
Dawson Holt scored on an athletic move inside for the first basket of the third quarter. L. J. Robins then drilled a three-pointer to cut the Greenbrier advantage to 26-24 moments later. But the Panthers slowly increased their lead to eight points after three periods, 35-27. The GHS deficit continued to grow in the fourth quarter until Coach Husband pulled seniors Dawson Holt and Aiden Kennon in the final minute, hugging each player as they reached the sideline.
The win propelled the Panthers into the playoffs as a #4 seed. The final score was 48-36, ending the Bulldogs’ season with a record of 6-22 overall and 1-13 in conference play. As he has done all season, Aiden Kennon led the ‘Dogs in scoring with 16 points, adding five boards, two assists, three steals, and two blocked shots. L. J. Robins scored 13 points with six rebounds and two assists. Dawson Holt netted seven points in his final game as a Bulldog.