The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs have just two games remaining in the 2016-17 regular season and 6A/5A West Conference schedule. After an open date this coming Friday, the GHS girls will host 6A league rival Siloam Springs next Tuesday, Valentine's Day.
The game will also serve as Greenwood's annual senior night, though the very young Lady Bulldogs have just two seniors, guard Kaitlyn Summitt and forward Sara Reeves, the daughter of Head Coach Clay Reeves. The regular season ends at Russellville next Thursday, February 16th.
Over the past two weeks the Lady 'Dogs have played four games against conference foes Alma, Clarksvile, Farmington, and Harrison, going 2-2 in that stretch. But of paramount importance for the post-season are the final two games against the league's other two 6A teams.
So far this season, Greenwood is 1-1 against Siloam Springs and Russellville. The 6A West conference tournament will start on Saturday, February 18th with the higher seeded teams serving as the host schools.
Besides Greenwood, Siloam Springs, and Russellville, other members of the 6A West include El Dorado, Benton, Texarkana, Sheridan, and Lake Hamilton. The league tournament will be double elimination, with the top six teams moving on to the state tournament in Lake Hamilton starting on February 27th.
Harrison
This past Tuesday night the Lady Bulldogs made the long trip to Boone County to face the Lady Goblins of Harrison. But despite holding a 22-17 halftime lead, the GHS girls struggled offensively in the second half and fell to Harrison, 48-36.
The Lady Goblins' defensive pressure proved too much for the Lady Bulldogs, who got off to a horrendous start in the third quarter, allowing Harrison to score the first 10 points of the period to take a 27-22 lead. A pair of three-pointers by GHS freshman guard Jaelin Glass kept the visitors within striking distance, trailing 34-30 after three quarters.
A trey by sophomore guard Kenzie Smith tied the score at 34-all early in the fourth stanza, but that was as close as Greenwood got to retaking the lead. Still, the Lady Bulldogs had a chance, trailing 40-36 with 2:48 to go, but Harrison scored the final eight points of the game for the win.
Greenwood's leading scorer was sophomore guard Kyiah Julian with 13 points, six of those from the charity stripe. The Lady Bulldogs made nine of 11 free throws for the game.
Jaelin Glass had six points, Sara Reeves five points and seven rebounds, and junior Kaila Cartwright had four points and eight boards.
Farmington
Last Friday the GHS girls were on the road at Farmington against the Lady Cardinals, who trailed for most of the game before a late rally allowed them to pull out a narrow 48-45 win over Greenwood.
The Lady Cards turned up the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter after trailing 11-7, 21-16, and 35-27 after each of the first three quarters, respectively.
Greenwood jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes of play and maintained a narrow lead throughout the first 24 minutes. But Farmington quickly wiped out that lead in the opening moments of the fourth quarter and actually took a five-point lead.
The home team's defensive pressure forced some untimely GHS turnovers that the Lady Cards converted into easy points. The Lady Bulldogs responded, making it a one possession game in the final seconds, but a three-point attempt to tie the score failed at the buzzer.
"Every one of our [conference] games have been identical to this," said Coach Reeves after the loss. "It's been down to the wire, and [we] just try to make improvements and get ready for state.
The Lady Bulldogs were led in scoring by Sara Reeves with 14 points, followed by Kyiah Julian with 11 points. Kaila Cartwright added seven points, sophomore Karli Fisher contributed six points, and sophomore Susannah Stein had five points.
Clarksville
The GHS girls hosted the Lady Panthers on January 31st, overcoming a sluggish first half before turning the momentum their way in the second half to pull ahead for a 61-52 victory at H.B. Stewart Arena. Greenwood led 13-9 after one period, and 25-20 at the intermission.
Greenwood opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run before Clarksville ended the stanza with an 11-0 stretch of its own to cut the GHS lead to five points at the half. Greenwood made its first four field goals in the second quarter, but missed its next 10 shots to open the door for Clarksville.
However, it was another 9-0 scoring run by the Lady Bulldogs in the third quarter that turned the tide in their favor, taking a commanding 15-point (40-25) lead after three quarters. Clarksville won the fourth quarter, 27-21, but it wasn't enough to offset the GHS lead.
"When things are not going well, you have to take it up a notch," said Coach Reeves. "Clarksville did that. Thankfully we had the lead. But we stepped it up a notch ourselves."
Sara Reeves led Greenwood with 18 points. Kyiah Julian added 16 and Kaila Cartwright had 15 points for the Lady Bulldogs. Kenzie Smith had eight points. After a slow start, Julian scored all 16 of her points in the second half.
"[Kyiah] did a good job of taking care of the ball and getting the ball to the right person," Reeves said. "She made some good decisions. We made the most of those as well. Every player on our team knows if you are open, you are taking the shot. We're doing a good job making [shots] right now.
"Our kids have had a positive attitude and worked hard since the first game of the year," added Reeves. "We've played a lot of games, and some nights it hasn't gone our way. But our kids have come back with a great attitude. I continue to see improvement every day."
Alma
The GHS girls hosted the Lady Airedales on January 27th and broke open a close game in the first half before pulling away for a convincing 57-38 victory. The Lady Bulldogs scored the last seven points of the second quarter and the first six points of the third period to cement the win.
"We were doing our best to keep up with them," said Coach Reeves after the win. "[Alma] still got some open shots. Fortunately, [those shots] didn't fall. We knew they were going to hit some. But they didn't hit many."
Alma took an 18-17 lead early in the second quarter after back-to-back three-pointers, but Greenwood ended the second period and opened the third with a 13-0 run to boost its lead to 12 points at 30-18. The Lady 'Dogs led 24-18 at the half.
Alma finished 1-for-8 shooting (12.5%) in the third quarter and finished the second half 4-for-19 (21%) from the field. Greenwood made 12-of-23 (52%) second-half field goals to put the game away.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Airedalettes 9-0 in the opening four minutes of the fourth period, increasing their advantage to an insurmountable 23 points at 46-23.
Greenwood's balanced offense was led by Kenzie Smith with a team-high 13 points. Kyiah Julian and Kaila Cartwright each added 11 points.