The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs remain in third place in the 5A West conference standings as their regular season nears its end.

After this past Tuesday’s home game against Siloam Springs, only three regular season contests remain before post-season play begins.

Actually, the GHS girls entered Tuesday’s action tied for third with both Siloam Springs and Russellville, all at 6-4. But a win over the Lady Panthers would give Greenwood a two-game sweep over both teams for the season, also giving them the edge in any tiebreaker situation.

This season has been unusual in a couple of ways for the Lady Bulldogs, who finished their 2017-18 campaign as state runners-up in Class 6A.

First, the new statewide classification system for all non-football sports dropped Greenwood down to Class 5A in basketball. The Lady Bulldogs play in the 5A West.

On the surface that might seem to be a good thing, except that two of the top three teams in Class 5A are both in the 5A West, Vilonia (21-1) and Little Rock Christian (21-2). Both teams own two-game sweeps over Greenwood this winter.

The other oddity about this season is the loss of Head Coach Clay Reeves to health concerns. In December it was learned that he was taking medical leave for a condition that would be addressed by a surgical procedure in February.

At the time it was expected he would not return this season. Reeves is a seven-time state champion head coach, with three titles won at Greenland and four at Greenwood.

Filling in for Reeves has been boys assistant coach Matt Bryant, a former head coach and state champion in Oklahoma. Bryant and his players have done well under the circumstances, but there’s no doubt that a mid-season coaching change is not exactly what the doctor ordered.

Still, Greenwood remains in the mix to potentially make a deep run in the playoffs, but needs to finish the conference schedule strong.

If they repeat their first half performance, winning four straight after a 1-2 start, they will end their season at 10-4 in league play, positioning them well for the post-season.

Tuesday’s results were not available at press time. The team will travel to Beebe this Friday before hosting Alma next Tuesday in the regular season home finale. They will conclude their schedule on the road at Greenbrier next Friday.

Vilonia

The Lady Bulldogs traveled to Vilonia in Central Arkansas last Friday to take on the state’s top-ranked team in Class 5A, but a disastrous first half left Greenwood trialing 35-14 at the break.

The game started well enough, with both teams scoring 12 points in the opening period. But the Lady Eagles outscored the visitors 23-2 in the second quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs righted the ship in the third quarter, scoring 22 points, but Vilonia still led 59-36 after three periods. The home team also won the fourth stanza, 18-15, for the 77-51 win.

Vilonia hit 11 three-pointers in the contest, including six in the third period alone, and connected on 16 of 18 free throw attempts. Greenwood had seven treys in the game.

Sophomore Kinley Fisher and senior Kyiah Julian both had 12 points for Greenwood, followed by sophomores Shea Goodwin and Ally Sockey with six points each.

Asked about Vilonia’s position as the best team in the league, Coach Bryan said, “Their four guards can all really hit shots, and their post girl, one-on-one, is really good. They’re just really solid.”

Russellville

Last Tuesday the GHS girls hosted the Lady Cyclones at H.B. Stewart Arena, hoping to break a tie for third place in the conference standings and gain a tiebreaker advantage. They did both with a 58-49 win.

The Lady Bulldogs slowly but steadily built a lead over the visitors from Pope County, then held on for the victory as Russellville trimmed the margin to just four points late in the game.

Greenwood had an 8-0 scoring run and built a 13-point fourth-quarter lead after Kinley Fisher drained a three-pointer midway through the final period. The Lady Bulldogs led 52-39 with 3:11 remaining.

But the visitors took advantage of several missed GHS free throws and went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes, cutting their deficit to 52-48, before the Lady Bulldogs put the game away in the final minute for a nine-point win.

The game was tied at 12-all after one period, with Greenwood leading 25-20 at the intermission. That lead grew to 41-33 after three periods.

Fisher led all Greenwood scorers with 18 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Kyiah Julian added 11 points, followed by Angela Price with eight points, while junior Jaelin Glass and sophomore Haven Clements had six points each. Ally Sockey added five points.

“I’m worn out,” said Coach Bryant after the contest. “There were little runs by both teams at different times. We didn’t really build a big enough lead to put [Russellville] away. They kept coming back.

“We were a little short in the first half getting to tipped balls, and weren’t flying around like we can do,” said Bryant. “We came out better in the second half. We forced more turnovers.

“This was a big one,” he added. “We were tied with [Russellville], and now we have two wins over them in conference. We won the game and we’re happy about that.”

LR Christian

The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half of the conference schedule on the first day of February against the Lady Warriors of Little Rock Christian Academy, ranked second in Class 5A and fifth overall in the state, according to MaxPreps.com.

But neither team could find the net in the opening period, with both defenses working hard to prevent the opposing offense from scoring. The home team led 5-2 after eight minutes.

The GHS girls then tied the score at halftime, 15-all, before both teams found their rhythm offensively in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Warriors won the third quarter, 19-14, to build a 34-29 lead, then held on for the 57-51 victory, narrowly outscoring Greenwood over the final eight minutes.

Kyiah Julian led the offense for the visitors with 11 points, all in the second half. Kinley Fisher and Angela Price had 10 points each, while Ally Sockey added eight points.

“If you didn’t go watch the game, you missed out,” said Coach Bryant, “because it was a really good game. Our girls fought so hard, and I believe we had a five-point lead with four minutes to go, then had a [charging] call go against us that I didn’t really like. We would have gone up seven. But we were right there and had a chance to win it.

“[LR Christian] is so big and athletic, they cause us some problems,” he continued. “They came out defensively and were so solid in that first quarter, with their length and athleticism. We had a hard time getting shots [against the zone], but we figured it out. The fourth quarter was a little more fast-paced.”