The Greenwood High School boys’ varsity basketball season ended last Friday night at H.B. Stewart Arena, and it was another tough campaign for the Bulldogs, winners of just four games in head coach Donnie Husband’s second year on the job. The team won three games last season and has mustered only one winning season in the last six.

Coach Husband arrived from Oklahoma with nearly 600 career wins on his resume, not to mention a pair of state championships, but he understood the challenges of rebuilding the Bulldogs’ program.

“I knew what I was getting into,” he said after last Friday’s season-ending loss to Greenbrier on senior night for the Bulldogs. The team bid farewell to four seniors, Stone Lee, Jayce Garnes, Hunter Hesslen, and Aaron Ligon.

Those four players, along with the rest of their teammates, have worked hard and given their all throughout the past two years without a lot to show for their efforts in terms of wins, and that’s a hard pill to swallow. But it also says much about their character, determination, and perseverance, qualities that will serve them well in the future.

“They’re four really good guys,” said Husband of his seniors. “Jayce really became a leader and the best player on the team. Hunter is a great young man. He’s the type of kid you want representing your program. Stone made a commitment to get better and his defense really improved the last part of the season. Aaron is my son. He’s had a hard time staying healthy, but nobody outworks or outcompetes him.

“They mean a lot to our team and a lot to me personally,” he added. “I couldn’t ask for a better foursome. Hopefully, the day we do turn the corner I hope they will feel great pride, because they were part of the struggle that started it all.”

The Bulldogs entered last week on a high note after notching their first conference win the previous Friday against Beebe. Coach Husband and his players were hoping to add one or possibly two more wins to close out their season in style, but a close loss at Alma last Tuesday was followed by season-ending home loss to Greenbrier.

Alma

The Bulldogs stayed close throughout last Tuesday’s conference game at Alma. But the Airedales were finally able to pull away at the end to secure a season sweep in their longstanding rivalry, 47-40.

Alma held a 16-11 advantage after a one quarter and led 24-17 at the half. After three periods the home team still led, 37-31, before the Bulldogs made a fourth quarter run, cutting their deficit to just one point.

Greenwood began the final stanza with a 7-2 run behind three free throws from senior Jayce Garnes, followed by consecutive baskets from junior Evan Bartlett to make it 39-38 with 3:24 left to play.

But Alma answered with four straight points, stretching its lead to 43-38 with 1:19 remaining. ​ Garnes hit two free throws for Greenwood, but that was it offensively for the Bulldogs. Alma added four more charity shots to account for the final margin of seven points. Sam Forbus and Garnes had eight points each for Greenwood.​

“We were down one [point] with a couple minutes to go and we fouled and they hit their free throws and we don’t score, so it is what it is,” said Coach Husband reflecting on the Alma loss.

Greenbrier

Last Friday the Bulldogs hosted the Panthers in the season finale for both teams, neither of which qualified for the state tournament being played this week in Russellville. The senior night activities were held before the varsity girls’ game.

Greenwood trailed throughout the contest but remained in striking distance well into the second half. The ‘Dogs trailed 16-10 after one period and 33-26 at the intermission. The Panthers finally began to stretch their lead, reaching double digits after three quarters, 43-32. Greenwood was unable to mount a serious run over the final eight minutes, losing 56-39.

Junior post player Braden Stein and Garnes had nine points each to lead the team, followed by junior Evan Bartlett with six points. Seniors Aaron Ligon and Stone Lee had five points each while sophomore Sam Forbus added four points.

“The second half tonight, for whatever reason, we just didn’t have a lot of umph,” said the coach. “They kept hitting shots, then we had three stops in a row and had three layups, and we don’t hit them. That could have put a little pressure on them and given us a little life, but it didn’t go our way.”

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Asked if he believed his team showed improvement in his second year at the helm, Coach Husband said, “I think so. You’d like to think that [we] improved. We were much more competitive in conference games than last year. We had leads in a lot of them or were right in the game at halftime. We’ve just got to get better at closing the deal out.

“We were a little up and down at times,” he continued. “We had to play so hard, with so much energy, and sometimes it’s hard to keep mustering that up over and over again.”

As for next season, Husband sees brighter skies ahead. “Hopefully we’ll have as good a summer as we did last summer and play a lot of basketball, and we have some [younger] kids coming in that I think can help us. So we’ll reset it. We’ll take a few days off and evaluate everything we did and see what we can do to get better.”

As for the incoming sophomore class, they finished third as freshmen in the River Valley Conference, losing by one point to Bentonville in the first round of their league tournament.

“They finished third in the conference and there’s some guys that we think can help us right away next year. They are some talented guys, but they [will be] sophomores.

“We’ve [also] got some good pieces coming back,” he added, referring to his four returning starters, Braden Stein, Sam Forbus, Caleb Ligon, and Evan Bartlett.

“We’re excited about them and what they might be able to do. They’re hard workers. They’ve got to get stronger and play bigger and faster than they are, and sometimes that’s tough to do,” he concluded.

The recent past notwithstanding, there are many reasons to believe the varsity boys’ basketball program at Greenwood is in good hands and on an upward trajectory. Better days lie ahead, but it will take time and patience and a lot of very hard work, something for which GHS athletics is well known.