New look Lady Bulldogs up to same old tricks

New look Lady Bulldogs up to same old tricks

The GHS varsity girls’ basketball season is off to a roaring start as Clay Reeves embarks on another year as the Lady Bulldogs’ head coach. As mentioned in an earlier article, the 2021-22 squad is different from the previous four seasons with the departure of that magnificent quartet of seniors – Kinley Fisher, Ally Sockey, Haven Clements, and Shea Goodwin – all of whom are continuing their athletic careers in college, three in basketball and one in softball.

Two key pieces from that team return this season to form a young but experienced core surrounded by several bench players now stepping into a starter’s role. Those two foundational pieces are junior Mady Cartwright and sophomore Anna Trusty. The former was the fifth starter last season and played with the varsity team as a freshman. The latter was a freshman last year, but became a pivotal player off the bench, logging significant minutes every game. Both girls seem to be coming into their own as varsity players, leading the team in scoring so far this season.

They are also surrounded and supported by experienced players like senior starters Megan Gray and Abby Summitt, along with juniors Adriana Rusin and Ella Williams. Newcomers Brooklyn Woolsey and Carley Sexton, both sophomores, offer a new wave of talent, as do Ashlyn Butler and Madelyn Wilkinson, both juniors, who did not play as sophomores but had excellent junior high careers. Others may emerge in reserve roles as the season progresses.

So far, that combination of players has resulted in five wins, four in blowout fashion, and one a nail biter. The Lady Bulldogs own victories over Class 6A Cabot, Class 4A DeQueen, Class 5A Lake Hamilton, Class 1A Kirby, and Class 4A Nashville, against no losses. They are averaging 67 points per game while allowing just 37 points per outing, or a differential of 30 points. Surely that margin won’t last too deep into the season, particularly in conference play, but it’s a great start.

The GHS girls return to action at H.B. Stewart Arena on Thursday night against Conway, one of the top teams in Class 6A. It will be their first home game of the season and will give Coach Reeves and assistant Ryan Lensing a good sense of just how good their team can be or where they need to improve. Tip-off for the junior varsity game is set for 5 p.m. followed by the varsity contest. They will also compete in the annual Tournament of Champions in Fort Smith next weekend.

Cabot

The Lady Bulldogs completely dominated the Lady Panthers in all four quarters, scoring in double digits every period, 15-7, 18-13, 22-12, and 13-6. Greenwood led 33-20 at the half before blowing the game open in the third stanza. The GHS reserves finished up with 13 points in the fourth quarter.

In her first outing as the most experienced and recognized leader of the team, Mady Cartwright poured in 31 points, accounting for nearly 46% of her team’s total of 68 points. Anna Trusty was very good as well, adding 22 of the remaining 37 points for Greenwood. Cartwright and Trusty are also the tallest players on the squad, both about 5’10”.

DeQueen

Following their convincing win at Cabot, the GHS girls took part in the Lake Hamilton Classic, playing three games over five days (Dec. 16-20), and first up was a battle against the Lady Leopards of DeQueen High School. Greenwood won that game by an even greater margin than at Cabot, 76-30, holding the opposition to less than 10 points per quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs led 17-6 after one period, 42-11 at the half, and 69-20 after three periods before pulling their starters in the fourth quarter. But this time three GHS players scored in double figures, led by Megan Gray with 19 points, including five three-pointers. Anna Trusty and Ella Williams scored 13 points each, Mady Cartwright added nine points, and Carley Sexton and Abby Summitt scored seven points each.

Lake Hamilton

Up next for the Greenwood girls were the host Lady Wolves of Lake Hamilton, who provided a bit more competition than their two prior opponents. The Lady Bulldogs led 16-12 after the first eight minutes and 27-19 at the intermission. The Lady Wolves continued to hold their own, winning the third quarter 16-15, but were dominated by Greenwood in the fourth quarter, 14-6, giving the GHS girls a 56-41 double-digit victory. Leading the way offensively for Greenwood was Anna Trusty with 18 points and Mady Cartwright with 14.

Kirby

Kirby High School is a tiny Class A school located in Pike County near Murfreesboro, but has a long tradition of winning girls’ basketball, according to Coach Reeves. Yet the Lady Trojans were no match for his Lady Bulldogs, who won easily, 80-24. Greenwood outscored Kirby in all four quarters, 19-5, 21-9, 23-8, and 17-2.

Six GHS players scored significant points, starting with Mady Cartwright’s 20 and Anna Trusty’s 13. Carley Sexton added eight points, followed by Ashlyn Butler, Ella Williams, and Brooklyn Woolsey with seven points each.

Nashville

After completing a three-game sweep at Lake Hamilton, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Nashville last Tuesday to take on the Lady Scrappers, and they lived up to their namesake, battling Greenwood tooth and nail to the bitter end. Both teams split the scoring lead per quarter, with Greenwood winning the first and third periods and Nashville winning the second and fourth. Greenwood led 12-10 after eight minutes, 30-29 at the half, and 36-32 after three quarters before escaping with a hard-fought 56-53 victory. Nashville’s head coach is Paul Dean, a former assistant coach under Clay Reeves.

Cartwright led Greenwood in scoring with 18 points, followed by Trusty and Megan Gray with 13 points each. Cartwright had two three-pointers and Gray sank a trio of treys in the second quarter before adding four points at the free throw line in the second half. Brooklyn Woolsey also added seven points. The win pushed Greenwood’s early season record to 5-0.

Coach’s comments

“We’ve got a great bunch coming back and some great players have moved up,” said Coach Reeves in a recent interview given to the Dog Pound’s Tim Terry at halftime of the Mountain Home playoff game on November 19th. “But they know we still have a lot of work to do to get this team to its potential.”

Asked about Cartwright and Trusty, Reeves said, “They have been our leading scorers. They’ve done a good job of driving to the basket and making perimeter shots. They’re good at beating [the defense] off the dribble and making things happen, and if they continue to do that, we will have some shooters out there and be able to play some horse,” a reference to players like Megan Gray and Abby Summitt, among others.

“They are doing a good job and are two really good three-point shooters,” said Reeves of his senior duo. “They hit some big ones down at Lake Hamilton this week, and Adriana [Rusin] is doing a great job inside rebounding and doing all the little things that need to be done. Ella Williams has given us some good minutes, scoring 13 points [against DeQueen]. Brooklyn [Woolsey] and Carley [Sexton] are both good shooters and sophomores and they are adjusting to the speed of the high school game. A lot of our players can score and we’re trying to figure out a rotation to get different players and combinations in [the game].

“[But] this has been a really good week for us,” he continued. “We got to play three games [Cabot, DeQueen, Lake Hamilton], and [tomorrow] will be our fourth game (Kirby). We’ve had just a few walk-throughs, and I know they’ve enjoyed that. But daily competition in practice is what makes you better, and we’ll get back to practice a little bit more next week then go down to Nashville. After that we’ve got Conway (Dec. 2) and North Little Rock (Dec. 17) coming to town, but it’s all about March. That’s what we’re working toward,” said Reeves, a reference to the 6A playoffs.

Asked later about his team’s defense, Coach Reeves said, “We’re getting after it pretty hard, but that’s probably the area that I see we can improve on the most, just being in the right place and moving a little quicker. [Offensively], if the drives are open, we’re going to take those first and then the perimeter shots.”

Prior to the game, Coach Reeves said of the Nashville contest, “If we play like we’re capable, we’ll be fine. But I expect it to be a competitive game, because they kind of swarm [defensively] and get after it like we do.” After taking three days off for Thanksgiving, the Lady Bulldogs returned to the practice floor last Saturday to get ready for Thursday’s foe, Conway.

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