Lady Dogs' reach the top at Summit Arena with win over Little Rock Christian, 42-41
At the start it's impossible to know what a season may bring, as the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs found out Saturday night at Summit Arena in Hot Springs. Trailing throughout the second half, the GHS girls rebounded a missed free throw with 18 seconds left, trailing Little Rock Christian by one point, 41-40. Senior guard Rebel Clay crossed the mid-court timeline with the clock ticking down toward 10 seconds remaining in her high school career. She dribbled past the top of the key, just to the left of the basket and was picked up by a second defender.
With time running out and no one in sight to receive a pass, she somehow muscled an awkward shot around, up, and over the outstretched arms of the defense. With Greenwood fans on their feet, the ball first hit iron, then glass, but finally found the bottom of the net for the game winner, giving the Lady Bulldogs their first ever state basketball championship.
For head coach Clay Reeves, it was his fourth state title after winning three at Greenland in 1999, 2000, and 2002. Reeves concludes his seventh season at Greenwood and has now accomplished what the administration and GHS fans had hoped he would when he was hired. And with three key players returning next season, there's no reason to expect that this kind of excellence won't continue in the future.
Greenwood reached the state finals with wins over Monticello, Camden Fairview, and Nettleton in the first three rounds of the tournament played at Alma, and had a full week to prepare for the championship game in Summit Arena at the Hot Springs Convention Center. It was the third game of the day and the last girls' title to be decided. With 14 championship games to be played, the finals began on Thursday and concluded with the last boys' game on Saturday.
Both Greenwood and Little Rock Christian had large contingents of fans in attendance, and they weren't disappointed as the game was exciting and close throughout, with the outcome in doubt right up until the final buzzer. Greenwood's largest lead was four points late in the first half, while the Lady Warriors led by six points in the third quarter. Neither team had a distinct advantage in size or speed. LR Christian stayed in the game by hitting five three-pointers, but had trouble scoring inside. Greenwood was cold from behind the arc, but pounded the inside for most of its points. The one glaring difference was in overall shooting percentage, a battle Greenwood won going away, holding the Lady Warriors under 30% while shooting nearly 50% themselves.
Sophomore Endsley Evans scored Greenwood's first basket, and would finish as the team's leading scorer in the contest, a distinction she had held all season. Rebel Clay then hit a three-pointer to put the Lady 'Dogs up 5-4 at the halfway mark of the opening period. Evans scored again down low on a nice left-handed move to the basket, then dished to teammate Jessicah Moudy, a junior, who also scored inside for a 10-9 GHS lead late in the quarter. But LR Christian countered with a long-range bomb just before the buzzer to grab the lead, 12-10.
Evans split two defenders and scored inside early in the second period, and completed the three-point play at the free throw line, putting Greenwood back on top, 13-12. Moments later the GHS forward repeated the feat, but this time with a more acrobatic shot. Her free throw made the score 16-12. On the next trip to the offensive end, Rebel Clay penetrated inside, then dished the ball to senior forward Sarah Lenzen, who made a nice spin move toward the basket and scored, putting the Lady 'Dogs up 18-14. Then came a long scoring drought for both teams, punctuated by hard nose defense, turnovers, and a couple of wild scrambles for a loose ball.
Greenwood's only points of the last five minutes came on another Endsley Evan's basket, a short jump shot to put her team on top, 20-16, with just over 30 seconds left in the half. But just as they did at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Warriors got an open look with about five seconds remaining and drained another three-pointer to cut the margin to 20-19 at the break.
When played resumed in the third quarter, it was all LR Christian. The Lady Warriors scored first, then took advantage of a Greenwood turnover by hitting a three-pointer for a quick 24-20 lead, prompting Coach Reeves to signal for a timeout. Endsley Evans hit a free throw to get her team on the board, but a trio of LR Christian charity shots gave the Lady Warriors their largest lead of the game at 27-21 with 5:15 to play in the period. But Greenwood closed the quarter with a 9-5 scoring advantage. A pair of Jessicah Moudy free throws, an Endsley Evans stick back, and another basket by Moudy cut the GHS deficit to 30-27. A free throw by sophomore guard Haley Donald and a backbreaking shot underneath the basket by Evans accounted for Greenwood's last three points of the quarter. With eight minutes to play, LR Christian led 32-30.
A minute into the fourth stanza, Rebel Clay hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 32-all. After a Jessicah Moudy three-pointer rimmed out, Haley Donald grabbed the rebound and scored inside while being fouled. Her free throw put Greenwood back on top at 35-34 at the 4:29 mark. But the lead was erased by another long-range bucket from the Lady Warriors. Greenwood would not have the lead again until Clay's winning shot with 2.5 seconds left on the clock.
Following a miss on the GHS end of the floor, LR Christian decided to let the air out of the ball by slowing down the game, refusing to approach the basket or attempt to score until the Lady Bulldogs switched out of their stifling zone defense. Nearly two minutes ticked off the clock before Coach Reeves signaled for the change, and the Lady Warriors picked up their offense. They missed their shot attempt, but were rewarded with a pair of free throws, which they converted for a 39-35 lead with 1:48 remaining to play.
Back on offense, Greenwood's senior sharp shooting guard Lynsey Turner missed on her eighth three-point attempt of the game, but Jessicah Moudy rebounded the ball and Rebel Clay nailed her second three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 39-38 with 1:23 to play. Coach Reeves immediately signaled for a strategy timeout to map out the final 83 seconds.
After Turner was forced to foul with 48 second left, LR Christian's Jane Tucker hit both free throws to put the Lady Warriors up 41-38. Back on offense, Rebel Clay penetrated the interior defense and flipped the ball to Jessicah Moudy for an easy basket, trimming the GHS deficit to 41-40 with half a minute left. Coach Reeves then called for another timeout.
The Lady Warriors inbounded the ball and ran 12 seconds off the clock before being fouled, sending Megan Baker to the free throw line. Baker had just entered the game and she missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving Greenwood the opening it needed. The miss was rebounded by Endsley Evans, who then passed the ball to Clay with the clock moving. The strategy was to spread out the interior defense and for Clay to penetrate as far as possible to take the shot or throw the ball back outside for an open look. But when the second option didn't materialize, she took matters into her own hands, and the rest is history.
LR Christian called timeout with 2.5 seconds remaining, hoping for a miracle. Coach Reeves did his best to keep his player's emotions in check, as some of them wanted to start celebrating a little too early. But with time back in, Greenwood put two defenders in the frontcourt to force the Lady Warriors to pick up the ball and start the clock. They managed to get the ball near the mid-court stripe and heave up a desperation shot, but it was deflected and came nowhere near the basket, and the celebration was on for Greenwood.
When the emotions subsided a bit, the teams were awarded their trophies to rousing applause by fans from both sides. Endsley Evans was also honored as the game's Most Valuable Player. Greenwood insurance agent Melody Rhodes took part in the presentation ceremonies, sponsored by State Farm Insurance Company. Several photographs were taken and numerous well-wishers congratulated Coach Reeves and assistant coach Don Williams. The GHS spirit groups also joined in on the fun at the invitation of Coach Reeves, before he headed off to the locker room and the interview room, where he and three of his players met with the press.
With Lynsey Turner, Rebel Clay, and Endsley Evans seated to his left, Coach Reeves opened the press conference with lavish praise for his girls. "I thought our kids did a great job," he said. "We had a really good season that turned into a great season here at the end. Our players really stepped up during the state tournament and had three of the best games they've played all year, and came down here and played another great game.
"Our kids just kept their heads up, had confidence, and kept believing in themselves. Tonight we got behind, but we've been behind all year. Our kids just kept fighting. It's just like we tell them all year - one play can make the biggest difference in a game, and our players made that one play down the stretch of this game, and fortunately we came out on top."
Regarding the winning basket, Coach Reeves described his strategy for the play and how it was executed, having a little fun with Rebel Clay in the process. "We were supposed to be bringing everybody up and away from the basket around the free throw line, to open up a drive for her, or whoever had the ball. If they weren't able to shoot the ball, somebody was supposed to rotate behind them to kick it out for the shot. But she made a good decision and went on to the basket. She did what she was supposed to do, whether she knows it or not. Players make plays and Rebel made the right decision and made the play."
As for Clay herself, she said, "I haven't been much of a scoring threat all year, really. My role on the team is to get the ball into the hands of the scorers. But I knew there were just a few seconds left and I got right in there under the goal. I was scared I was going to throw up a bad shot, but I didn't see anybody else open, so I just took it." Asked about the shot again later in the interview, she added these revealing comments, "It was over #23 (LR Christian's Jae Tucker) and it was thrown up, and I was thinking, Lord, please help this go in. It was just all kind of quick, and when it went in I remember my heart - I felt like I was going to fall over. I knew the game wasn't over and I think a timeout was called. Everybody was getting all excited and I kept trying to tell myself, the game's not over, the game's not over. But it was exciting."
One area reporter asked Endsley Evans about her first season in a Greenwood uniform. "I just moved here as a new student, and Greenwood was very welcoming from the start," she said. "They took me in, along with Coach Reeves. They were real encouragers, and I'm just so thankful to be a part of it." Evans moved to Greenwood last summer from the Kansas City area and almost immediately became the go-to offensive player on the team, despite being a sophomore.
Lynsey Turner also responded to a question about the meaning of Saturday's state title win. "We made history. We were not picked to get this far. We were struggling to get fourth place in the conference, and we were struggling to get a win in state, and now we are state champions. It's awesome. I love it." Despite her shooting woes in the title game, it's likely that the Lady Bulldogs would not have reached the finals without Turner's deadly long-range accuracy earlier in the state tournament, not to mention her ball handling and defensive skills.
Rebel Clay also relayed a story about how Coach Reeves shared with the team a real-life episode from one of his earlier visits to the title game. "He let me read a journal entry from a girl who played for him at Greenland," said Clay. "She played point guard for three years, and her senior year they had lost in the state finals. I read it and it just told about all of her regrets, and I remember going back to most of the seniors on our team and telling them the story. He kind of gave us the gist of it, but that really fired me up, and I think it really motivated everybody else. We wanted to do this for Coach Reeves because he's been there before, and he's told us that they'd lost twice by two points, and we weren't going to let that happen."
In fact, Reeves and his Greenland girls reached the title game six times in seven years, winning half of those games. "It makes you appreciate every win and every team," said the coach, "especially getting back to the state tournament and the state finals. I know finals week is really an enjoyable time for the players because they have time to soak all of that stuff in. It does make you learn to appreciate everything a lot better, and these kids stepped up and got us back [here]. They put their foot in the door and got this program where it needs to be for our future players. Everything that's going to happen in our program in the future will go back to what this team has established."
Asked about his personal feelings after the victory and his plans for the future, Coach Reeves assured everyone that he was returning next season. "I feel really good," he said. "I feel relieved. Like I told our kids, I love basketball. I love coaching. I love every day that we do something. But when it's over after practicing for seven months, you're ready for a little break, and there's nothing like having a break after winning that last game. I hope to be back full strength in a couple of months and ready to go, because I'm excited about our program and will be ready to start back after a few days of rest." The coach has dealt with health problems since last season, but voiced confidence that those issues would be addressed during the upcoming spring break, and he expects to be as good as new by early summer.
Final games stats showed Endsley Evans with 17 points for the Lady Bulldogs, hitting seven of 10 field goal attempts and three of four free throws. Rebel Clay added 10 points on three field goals, including a pair of treys, and two free throws. Jessicah Moudy came off the bench to score eight points on three of five shooting and two charity shots. Haley Donald scored four points but led the team in rebounds with seven. Moudy had five boards while Evans and Clay had four each.
Greenwood shot 46.9% overall from the field, but only 14.3% from three-point land, hitting just two of 14 attempts. They outrebounded the Lady Warriors 27 to 19 and held them to 28.9% shooting from the field, despite hitting five of 14 three-point shots. Both teams shot free throws well - Greenwood hitting 10 of 13 for nearly 77% and LR Christian hitting 14 of 17 for over 82%. The Lady Bulldogs, who finished third in the 5A West Conference, ended the 2009-10 season with a 22-10 overall record, but it was the last win that counted most of all.