Much to the surprise of some skeptics, the Greenwood Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs finished the first half of the tough 7A/6A Central conference schedule with identical winning records of 4-3. Both teams started at 1-3 in league play, but each finished with a three-game winning streak. In their first season of Class 6A competition, the GHS boys and girls have exceeded expectations in the minds of many people, at least through the first seven games.
But the conference season is 14 games long, and the second half of the league slate promises to be just as difficult as the first half. After an open date on January 29th, both GHS squads returned to action on February 1st at home against Little Rock Parkview, and then made the short trek to Fort Smith to face Fort Smith Southside on February 5th.
This past Friday at home, Greenwood hosted two of the state’s premier high school teams, regardless of classification, when Little Rock Hall visited H.B. Stewart Arena and came away with a pair of victories. So the second half of the league schedule for Greenwood has started the same way the first half began, taking on some of the state’s best hard court teams.
GHS Boys
Before the league’s second half got underway, Bulldogs’ head coach Brian Martin said, “If you would have told me [we’d be] 4-3 before the season started, I’d have told you [that] you were crazy. [But] our work’s not finished. This is something we can definitely build upon. We’re getting better and better each game. We want to peak at the right time like we did last year. We’re starting to show signs of that. Our guys believe in themselves and they compete each and every night.” Judging by recent results, Martin seems to have the pulse of his team.
After being embarrassed in their earlier loss at Little Rock Parkview, the Bulldogs played the powerful Class 7A Patriots to a near draw until midway through the third period last Friday at Greenwood’s H.B. Stewart Arena. Parkview, featuring two players committed to play basketball at Mississippi State and Missouri, led 18-17 after one quarter. But the Bulldogs cut the margin to 41-40 late in the second period, before trailing at the intermission, 44-41.
Behind 49-47 halfway through the third quarter, a series of turnovers by the Bulldogs helped Parkview to build a double-digit lead. Leading 58-49 after three quarters, the Patriots went on to win the game, 82-66, but Ethan Clark’s dunk at the buzzer emphasized the point that the Bulldogs were still a force to be reckoned with in the 7A/6A Central, but especially in the upcoming 6A state tournament to be played in Greenwood in late February.
Senior guard Drew Caple and junior guard Evan Lensing kept the Bulldogs in the game early with their deadly three-point shooting. Lensing had a trio of long-range bombs in the first half to account for his nine points, and Caple had four treys in the game and 14 total points. But Clark was the scoring leader for Greenwood with 24 points. Seniors Cole McAllister and Colton McEvoy added nine and seven points, respectively.
“I thought we were a little shell-shocked when we went [down] there,” said Coach Martin of his team’s earlier visit to Parkview. “Tonight, I thought we didn’t show any fear from the start of the game to the end. [But] we were down eight [points] with the ball, and had two straight turnovers, and they turned it into a double-digit lead,” said Martin. “But we kept fighting [to] the last. I’m super proud of our effort. Our guys fought for the entire four quarters.”
GHS Girls
Like Martin, Lady Bulldogs’ head coach Clay Reeves was pleased with his team’s record at the halfway mark of the conference season. “Being 4-3 at this point is good,” he said, while at the same time lamenting what might have been. “Two of the three games we lost were at Parkview and [Little Rock] Hall, and we were down two [points] with a minute to go. We lost to [Fort Smith] Northside pretty handily, but we’ve had a chance to win every game with the exception of Northside,” said Reeves.
“There’s a chance we could have been 6-1,” he continued, “[but] we’ll take 4-3 and get better.” But subsequent rematches with Little Rock Parkview and Fort Smith Southside haven’t gone in Greenwood’s favor, and the state’s defending Class 5A state champion Lady Bulldogs still have work to do before hosting the 6A state tournament later this month.
After battling Parkview to a 14-all tie after one period last Friday, the Lady Bulldogs scored only seven points in the second quarter to trail 29-21 at the half. The Lady Patriots, featuring one of the nation’s top players in Roshunda Johnson, an Oklahoma State recruit, won the third quarter 18-13 and the fourth period 15-10. Perhaps sending a message to his players, no starters were on the floor for Greenwood at the final buzzer.
While the Lady Bulldogs were fairly successful in containing Johnson, who got into early foul trouble, they could not stop her supporting cast. Johnson had only two field goals and six total points, but dished out six assists to her teammates.
“They just have great balance,” said Coach Reeves of Parkview. “They had players step up when Johnson wasn’t scoring. Some of our players had opportunities [too], especially in the first half, and we didn’t hit our shots. [Parkview] played from start to finish, and we just kind of had it on cruise control,” said the disappointed coach. “I didn’t think we fought [or] got after it with any intensity.”