The recent winter weather has played havoc with the basketball schedule for the GHS girls and boys, not to mention all the other teams in the 5A West conference. In the last 10 days Greenwood cancelled games at Harrison and at home against Siloam Springs. Fortunately, the games against Siloam Springs were made up quickly this past Thursday at H.B. Stewart Arena. The Harrison contests have been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 30th.
In the meantime, the two GHS squads continued to work hard on the practice floor, when the weather permitted. Classes were out for the Martin Luther King holiday last Monday but were also dismissed through Thursday due to the ongoing severe cold and snow-covered streets and roads. School was also closed for icy conditions on Monday of this week, but hopefully there will be no more weather-related cancellation of games over the final five weeks of conference play.
The Lady Bulldogs got off to a great start after escaping with an overtime win at Russellville to open league play before easily defeating Van Buren. They then topped Siloam Springs, earning the 800th win in the career of Head Coach Clay Reeves, but suffered their first conference loss of the season last Friday at Mountain Home. The Lady Bulldogs are now 14-4 overall and 3-1 in 5A West conference play.
The GHS boys struggled in their first two games against the top teams in the conference, Russellville and Van Buren, based on pre-season projections. But the makeup game against Siloam Springs gave them a chance to notch their first conference win of the season and only the team’s second league victory in the last two seasons. They lost at Mountain Home on Friday.
Lady Bulldogs
The conference season began with an exciting 71-70 overtime win at Russellville on Friday, January 5th. The Lady Cyclones look to be one of the top challengers for the two-time defending conference and state champion Lady Bulldogs. Even still, the GHS ladies jumped out to a 20-8 lead after one period as all five starters contributed offensively in the first eight minutes, led by sophomore Kylah Pearcy’s six points and junior Izzy Smith who started the game with five consecutive points.
But the Russellville girls rallied to start the second quarter with a 6-0 run, cutting the GHS lead to six points at 20-14. Still, Greenwood managed to push its margin back to double digits at halftime, 36-26. The Lady Cyclones then cut their deficit to 49-46 late in the third period before a 5-0 GHS run made it 54-46 as the quarter ended.
The Lady Cyclones trimmed the Greenwood lead to 60-59 midway through the fourth stanza before Kylah Pearcy fouled out for the Lady Bulldogs. GHS senior Anna Trusty scored a pair of baskets to keep the Lady Bulldogs on top, 64-61, with 40 seconds remaining in regulation play, but the hometown girls tied the score with a field goal and free throw in the final seconds. Trusty then got off a decent shot at the buzzer but came up short, sending the game to overtime.
Things were looking good for Russellville early in the OT period with the Lady Cyclones taking a 68-64 lead. But an Anna Trusty steal, layup, and free throw cut the margin to one point at 68-67. With 1:22 left the Lady Cyclones were still up by a point, 70-69, and neither team scored again until the clock was under 10 seconds. A Greenwood steal led to a pass from Izzy Smith to Anna Trusty for the winning layup with seven ticks remaining. Russellville called timeout to set up a last second shot, which missed, as did a putback try as the horn sounded, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to escape with a road victory.
Anna Trusty led the GHS girls with 26 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. She also had four assists and four steals. Before fouling out of the game, Kylah Pearcy added 13 points and four boards. Izzy Smith had 11 points and five assists while seniors Brooklyn Woolsey and Carly Sexton chipped in with 10 and nine points, respectively. All stats are unofficial.
The following Tuesday, January 9th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted Van Buren at H.B. Stewart Arena, beating the Lady Pointers easily, 65-34. The game was never really in question with Greenwood getting off to a 20-8 lead after one period and 39-17 at the half. The third period was fairly even, but the Lady Bulldogs outscored the visitors 13-6 over the final eight minutes.
Once again it was Anna Trusty leading the way offensively with 27 points, one of three GHS players to score in double figures. Brooklyn Woolsey had a great night shooting beyond the arc with five three-pointers for 15 points. Kylah Pearcy had three treys and 10 points while Carly Sexton added eight points.
After their game at Harrison was postponed due to the long distance and the possibility of bad weather, their next home game against Siloam Springs was also cancelled due to snow-covered roads and extremely cold temperatures in the single digits. Fortunately, the two schools were able to agree on a quick makeup date and the Lady Panthers came to H.B. Stewart Arena last Thursday, sporting a young starting lineup that was hard pressed to match Greenwood’s talent and experience.
Siloam Springs was outscored 7-0 to start the contest and 27-6 in the first quarter. Greenwood led 49-10 at the intermission and the Lady Bulldogs’ starters were pulled and didn’t play again as Coach Reeves allowed his reserves to finish the game. But a strange thing happened in the third quarter with the visitors going on a 23-0 scoring run to start the period before junior Pate Jones hit a free throw for Greenwood with a minute left. Jones also scored on a floater in the lane before the period ended with the Lady Bulldogs still up, 52-33. Greenwood won the fourth stanza, 13-6, making the final, 65-39.
Anna Trusty continued her high scoring ways with 23 points, all in the first half, adding eight steals, two assists, and two rebounds to the mix. Kylah Pearcy had nine points, six rebounds, and three steals, while Brooklyn Woolsey scored eight points with four steals, two assists, and two boards. Carly Sexton contributed five points with four rebounds, two steals, and two assists, with Izzy Smith netting four points with two boards, two assists, and two steals to her credit. Journey Clements had seven points off the bench, while fellow sophomore Eva Booth had a pair of three-pointers and six points and Pate Jones had four points.
After the win, the coaches and team stayed on the floor for a presentation by Athletic Director Chris Young to celebrate Coach Reeves and his 800th victory. After starting his career at tiny Bay, Arkansas, Reeves began making a name for himself by winning three state championships at Greenland before coming to Greenwood 21 years ago. Since then, he has added seven more state titles to his resume for a total of ten, including the last two and three of the last four. He hopes to add yet another 5A state crown this season. Reeves won his first career game in 1988 at Bay.
Afterward, in a brief interview with the Dog Pound’s Tim Terry, the voice of GHS sports, Coach Reeves was predictably humble in describing his career achievements. “I’ve been blessed,” he began. “I’ve got a great family. I’ve been at some great schools and had an unbelievable [number] of great players over the years. I’ve had great assistant coaches and great community support. When you put all that together you ought to be able to win a game or two every now and then.”
For whatever reason, the Lady Bulldogs were just not as sharp the next night against an inspired group of Lady Bombers at Mountain Home. Greenwood made the long trip to Baxter County last Friday afternoon and dropped their first conference game of the season, losing 55-46, an unusually low scoring total for Greenwood’s high-powered offense. Late foul trouble and overall poor outside shooting were definitely factors in the rare GHS loss.
But from the opening tip the Lady Bulldogs seemed to be in charge, leading 11-4 then 15-10 at the first period ended. Izzy Smith drilled a long three-pointer to put Greenwood up 18-12 early in the second quarter, but a 7-0 run by the Lady Bombers put them on top to stay at 19-18. Making matters worse, Mountain Home banked a three-pointer off the glass at the buzzer for a halftime score of 28-21.
Anna Trusty hit a trey early in the third quarter, making it 28-24, but the two squads kept it close the rest of the period with the home team on top, 44-42, with eight minutes remaining to play. But defense prevailed in the fourth quarter as both teams combined for just 15 points, 11 for the Lady Bombers and four for the Lady Bulldogs, who couldn’t buy a basket. A Mountain Home three-pointer with about a minute left was the fatal dagger, putting the host squad up 51-46, and a few free throws later the Lady Bombers had a earned a marque victory over Greenwood, 55-46.
Unofficially, the Lady Bulldogs got 15 points from Anna Trusty to lead the offense. Kylah Pearcy added 14 points before fouling out for the only other GHS player to reach double figures. Brooklyn Woolsey added seven points, Carly Sexton five points, and Izzy Smith three points before also fouling out in the second half.
Bulldogs
The GHS boys started their 5A West conference schedule already under the gun with three players out with injuries – Braden Bollman, Jayden Garnes, and Brady Mackey. All three were injured in tournament games played after Christmas and their loss was keenly felt in the season’s first conference game against Russellville. Bollman and Garnes returned quickly in time to face Van Buren, but Mackey is likely out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury that may require surgery.
At Russellville on January 5th to open conference play, the Bulldogs were never really in the game against one of the top 5A teams in the state. The talented Cyclones jumped out to a 32-7 first quarter lead and coasted to a 45-11 halftime margin. The Bulldogs acquitted themselves a little better in the second half, scoring 14 points in each of the final two periods, making the final score 74-39.
On the offensive side of things, Peyton Presson netted 10 points to lead the way for Greenwood, also grabbing four rebounds. Fellow senior Landon Nelms contributed eight points and eight boards, followed by sophomore Blake Christiansen off the bench with six points. Senior guard L.J. Robins had five points and four assists while junior Caleb Burnette came off the bench to score four points. All stats are unofficial.
The following Tuesday the Van Buren Pointers came calling at H.B. Stewart Arena for the home conference opener, and the Bulldogs made a game of it until midway through the third quarter, when the visitors started pulling away for good. the Pointers got off to a good start and led 17-6 after the first eight minutes, maintaining that 11-point margin at the half, 28-17.
But the Bulldogs had the advantage through the first few minutes of the second half, drawing to within 33-27 on a Caleb Burnette three-pointer near the 4:45 mark of the third period. But Greenwood could not keep the momentum going as the Pointers rallied to close out the quarter with a 13-7 scoring run. Leading 46-34 after three stanzas, the visitors coasted to a 68-45 victory.
Topping the scoring chart for Greenwood was Peyton Presson with 10 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. Senior forward Brenden Chick had a nice game with nine points, four boards, and three blocked shots. L.J. Robins netted eight points with five assists and four steals. Braden Bollman scored eight points and led the team with 11 rebounds, while Jayden Garnes scored seven points and Caleb Burnette three points.
The wintry weather and subsequent postponement of the Harrison and Siloam Springs games may have been a blessing for the Bulldogs, who didn’t have to make the long trip to Crooked Creek and face a tough Harrison team, giving them some rest and additional practice time to prepare for the makeup game at home against Siloam Springs last Thursday, a 63-53 victory for Greenwood.
The Bulldogs got off to a quick start against the Panthers with L.J. Robins and Brendan Chick scoring early field goals for a 4-0 GHS lead. But an 8-1 Siloam Springs run put the visitors on top, 8-5, and they still led after one period, 13-12. Things got worse for Greenwood early in the second stanza when Siloam Springs opened with a 15-3 scoring run and a 28-15 lead. But a Peyton Presson three-pointer near the 4:00 mark cut the GHS deficit to 10 points at 28-18 and started a Bulldogs’ comeback.
Eight consecutive points scored by Robins, including a pair of corner three-pointers, quickly cut the margin to 30-28. After the Panthers made it 34-28, Braden Bollman drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to keep the Bulldogs within three points at the half, 34-31. The two squads played to a virtual draw in the third quarter with the visitors still on top 43-39 at the buzzer.
But Jayden Garnes hit a three-pointer at the 6:20 mark of the fourth quarter to pull Greenwood to within one point of the Panthers at 46-45, followed by another Bollman long ball moments later to put the home team on top, 51-48. The Bulldogs never looked back from that point and rolled to a 10-point win, 63-53, a much-needed victory and their first in league play.
Braden Bollman had an incredible game shooting the basketball with six three-pointers and 20 points to lead the team in scoring. Three other players, L.J. Robins, Brenden Chick, and Jayden Garnes also reached double digits with 15, 12, and 11 points, respectively. Robins also had six assists, five rebounds, and two steals while Chick had eight boards and three steals. Garnes added six assists and five rebounds. Peyton Presson had three points with four steals, two rebounds, and two assists.
However, the Bulldogs weren’t as fortunate the following night when they traveled to Mountain Home last Friday, taking a lopsided 61-31 loss at the hands of the Bombers. Despite the final score, the Bulldogs led for much of the opening period, up 4-2, 7-5, and 10-7 before the hometown boys closed strong and took a 14-10 lead after one period.
Things seemed to be going in the right direction for the Bulldogs in the second stanza as Greenwood gradually pulled ahead and led 20-17 late in the period. But a sudden barrage of Mountain Home three-pointers allowed the Bombers to roar back and lead 29-20 at the half, and Greenwood never recovered.
The Bombers extended their second quarter scoring run to 20 points in the third quarter and led 37-20 before the Bulldogs could break the string of unanswered baskets. The home team led 50-22 after three periods and rolled to the convincing 30-point victory at the final buzzer, 61-31.
Braden Bollman paced Greenwood with 10 points and four rebounds. L.J. Robins and Brenden Chick had six points each while Jayden Garnes scored five points and had five assists. Peyton Presson contributed four points in the conference loss.
Coming Up Next
The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will return to action this Tuesday night at home against Alma before traveling to Greenbrier on Friday. They will travel to Harrison the following Tuesday, January 30th, for the makeup game before starting the second half of the conference schedule at home against Russellville on Friday, February 2nd.