Bulldogs start basketball season with pair of wins

Bulldogs start basketball season with pair of wins

Greenwood boys’ varsity head coach B.J. Ross and his Bulldogs kicked off their new season with a pair of wins over Clarksville and Searcy with two more games slated for this week on Thursday and Saturday. Greenwood traveled to Clarksville last Thursday for their season opener, winning 61-37. On Tuesday they opened play in the Lake Hamilton Classic with a 51-49 victory over the Searcy Lions. This is the second season for Coach Ross at Greenwood. Details from the win over Searcy will be included in an article next week covering the Lake Hamilton tournament.

At Clarksville, the Bulldogs got off to a great start and never looked back, leading 15-7 after one period and 27-21 at the half. Another strong offensive showing in the third period generated 18 points while the Panthers netted just four points, giving the visitors a double-digit lead for the first time. They built on that lead over the final eight minutes, winning the period by a 16-13 margin. Greenwood shot the ball well, including 40% from two-point range and 36% from beyond the arc.

Senior Jayden Garnes led the way with 24 points, 20 of those in the second half. He also had eight rebounds and five assists. Senior newcomer Jack Scott added 12 points and nine rebounds while junior Hudson Clark scored 11 points plus had seven boards and two assists. Four other Bulldogs scored points including Steven Philpot (4), Elijah Nolan (4), Blake Christiansen (3), and Jeremiah Dasher (3).

Scott led the Bulldogs in rebounding with nine, eight of those on the defensive end. Philpot also had eight total rebounds, tied with Nolan for second on the squad. Clark grabbed seven boards with two assists. Sophomore Ty Holt came off the bench to grab four rebounds while dishing out three assists. Greenwood’s starting five consisted of Garnes, Scott, Clark, Philpot, and Christiansen. As usual, the team will receive some important reinforcements at the end of football season, likely in December.

Based on the current roster and their participation in off-season practice sessions, Coach Ross expects several GHS athletes to change sports once the gridiron season is over, hopefully after winning another 6A state football title. They include the Archer brothers – Cash and Kane – plus Mario Dunbar, Grant Karnes, Benton Hossley, and Cooper Bland, all of which have significant roles for Head Coach Chris Young’s unbeaten Bulldogs, either as starters or key reserves off the bench.

These players will not only bring increased size and strength to the basketball squad, but also toughness, a winning attitude, and a championship pedigree. But these top athletes won’t be available until next month and will need some time to resharpen their basketball skills. Also, just two of them – Cash Archer and Grant Karnes – are seniors, so the remainder could play for at least two more seasons counting this one.

After winning just four games in his first season at Greenwood, three of those in conference play, Ross is expecting improvement in year two while awaiting an exciting group of basketball-only players making their way up from the junior high ranks. The 2023-24 seventh grade team went undefeated. The eighth-grade team had a winning record, and the ninth-grade team, now sophomores, reached the finals of their junior high regional tournament. Earlier this week, prior to his team’s win over Searcy, Head Coach B.J. Ross talked with the Dog Pound about his squad and the new hard-court season.

The coach talked first about the game at Clarksville. “I thought we played really well, especially for an opener,” he said. “We shot it extremely well for an opener, and we had the right matchups, and that’s what it’s all about in basketball. [Clarksville] didn’t have any bigs, and we’re not very big [either]. We’ll get some kids from football that will add a little size, but still we won’t be any [taller] than 6’2” or 6’3”.

“This preseason we had a great turnout,” Ross revealed. “I had [the football players] two days a week last spring. But we still have football left, so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully they will stay healthy and come out. Kane could relieve Jayden of a lot of pressure at the point. Being a great athlete, Grant has the ability to jump and could help in other ways. Cooper Bland had a really good summer for us. He’s a big, strong kid who could fill a spot. If Cash plays, he will be our most physical player. He’s actually a pretty good basketball player. He’s got a nice shooting touch. He’s a competitor and he rebounds like crazy. [Sophomore] Griffin Mourton could help us too, if not this year, then next.”

Mario Dunbar is also a sophomore with potential for the future and junior Benton Hossley has emerged as a reliable receiver for the football team and could bring that same confidence to the hardcourt. But until the gridiron season ends, the current roster must do the job, and they are off to an encouraging start. So far, the team’s starting five seem to have good chemistry and may stay intact even after reinforcements arrive in December. Whichever football players come out for basketball, they will most likely fill a role off the bench providing much needed depth for the conference season starting in January. “These five play really well together,” said Ross of his current starters.

Unfortunately, both the current basketball athletes and the footballers will be vertically challenged all season. The Bulldogs will be at a disadvantage against most opponents, especially once league play begins. While Greenwood’s tallest roundballers are 6’2” or 6’3”, many of their foes will have players 6’4” or 6’5” or above on the floor, so the Bulldogs will have to compensate for the height difference in other ways, namely by focusing on fundamentals, solid defense, and good shooting.

Ross also talked about the game’s leading scorer, Jayden Garnes, who profiles as his offensive workhorse this season. Garnes finished the game with 24 points, but had only four at halftime, becoming somewhat timid, especially in a scoreless second quarter. After visiting with his head coach at halftime, the 5’11” senior guard scored 15 points in the third quarter and five more in the fourth, besides adding eight rebounds and five assists for an excellent stat line.

“He came out of halftime with a little different mindset,” acknowledged Ross. “He had 15 of our 18 points in the third quarter and played a really good game.” As the returning player with the most varsity experience, this season’s squad is his to lead, so Garnes will be expected to carry the load offensively while demonstrating leadership for his teammates, most of whom haven’t yet played much on the varsity level.

There are three seniors in the current starting lineup, Garnes, new arrival Jack Scott, and returnee Lane Philpot. A transfer from Fort Smith over the summer, Scott brings some obvious talent and shooting ability and is a welcome addition. Philpot is a program player who has been around for years and is getting his first chance to start consistently. These three seniors will form the backbone of the squad this season along with juniors Blake Christiansen and Hudson Clark. That unit has an average height of just under six feet with Scott topping out at 6’2”, so they will have to make up for it with both speed and smarts.

Scott had 12 points against Clarksville, and shooting is his forte, according to Ross. “Jack’s a really good shooter for us,” said the coach. “He shoots it from deep. He had three 3-pointers, a free throw, and a layup [against Clarksville]. He came over from Northside last spring where he was on the junior varsity team, not the varsity. But he can really shoot it and brings a different dynamic to our team. He also shoots it from deep, so we’re proud to have him.

“Hudson Clark was a tenth grader last year and was on the JV squad,” said Ross. “He’s worked extremely hard getting to where he needs to be. When he was a freshman, he didn’t play much at all on the junior high team, but last year he played junior varsity and started scoring a little bit. He comes in and works every morning before school and he’s making himself into a good player, and I’m happy for him.”

As for his starting five, Ross said, “Jayden [Garnes] was the only fulltime varsity player last year. Lane [Philpot] was starting to get some minutes at the end of the season, but the other four were basically JV kids last year. Blake Christiansen is undersized but does a great job on defense. He’s a sparkplug for us. He plays hard and does everything he needs to do, and Philpot is the same way. [Blake] is a really key player for us and will be all year.”

“Jayden started coming on at the end of last season. We finally got him to the point where he knew he had to be the guy, because this season he’s got to be the guy. So his game has expanded. Last year we had four seniors starting and Jayden felt like it wasn’t his place [to step up]. He was just kind of a manager. But I told him he can’t be a manager this year. He’s got to be the leader and the one scoring. And he’s done a good job in the preseason. He’s shooting it well and has taken [responsibility].  He has a great 15-foot jump shot. He knows the pressure is on him.” Garnes also has all the duties of a point guard, with some help from sophomore Ty Holt. “We bring Ty in off the bench to play the point, and he did against Clarksville.

“They’ve all gotten a lot stronger in the weight room, and that’s been a huge key,” the coach continued. “The other night we were more physical than Clarksville. We are very undersized, so we can’t throw it in to anybody, so we’ve got to shoot it well.” The coach believes Jack Scott and Hudson Clark are likely his two best long-distance shooters. Both players had a trio of three-pointers at Clarksville. At times, Jayden Garnes could also be a threat from outside. Lane and Blake are both better spot shooters rather than on the move.

Inside the paint, Lane Philpot is the biggest undersized post player in the conference, according to Ross. “He does a great job and he’s really physical. He bench presses 240 and he probably weighs 160 pounds. But he will play his guts out. Elijah Nolan is also going to have to play in the paint and rebound,” said the coach. Ahead of their game with Searcy, Ross also pointed out that the Lions had three starters listed at 6’8”, 6’5”, and 6’4” and Greenwood won that game by two points.

Ross also added that his Bulldogs love to play fast. “They’ve done a good job of it,” he said. “They do a good job of running their lanes and knowing their roles. We try to play transition basketball. Against Clarksville we shot it 59 times, and we want to shoot at least 60 times every night. We shoot it 60 to 65% of our practices. More than half of our practices are shooting, and we’re going to take the first open shot we have. Without a big, that’s the way we have to play.”

Defensively, Ross feels good despite his team’s lack of size. “We’re quick. We’re small and we’re in a mismatch all the time. We’re all about the same height and everybody can guard everybody. We did a good job the other night of being physical and being where we were supposed to be. We were in position. Coach [Dexter] Pearcy works our defense and does a good job. We’ve introduced some new and different ways to play our man defense.” Ross expects to play about 90% man defense this season.

As for team depth, the coach also feels good, even before the football athletes show up in December. He’s looking at sophomores Ty Holt and Elijah Nolan junior Jeremiah Dasher and coming off the bench, gaining experience, while other players develop as the season progresses, plus the expected addition of a few footballers from the group mentioned earlier in this article.

Finally, the Bulldogs’ head coach talked about the rest of the league, which seems to be on an upward surge with several teams returning almost every starter from last season. “Alma won the league last year and they return everybody. They’ve got some bigs in the middle and a 6’5” guard and another 6’3” guard. Harrison has the two all-state players they had last year plus the three other starters, and they are 6’3” or 6’4” across the board. Mountain Home has them all coming back, but they aren’t as big as some of the others. Russellville brings three starters back and Van Buren, which finished second last year, brings back probably the most explosive kid in the league and they’ve got a 6’5” post player and a 6’3” move-in from Colorado.

“The new kid in town is Farmington, and they’ve got the best move-in base I’ve ever seen in my life,” said the coach. “Everybody [in NW Arkansas] is moving to Farmington. They’ve gained two of Fayetteville’s starting players this year and another kid, and they were already pretty good, reaching the state semifinals last year [in Class 4A]. Siloam Springs brings everybody back, and they could be a sleeper team.

“So our top six teams return about everybody, and they are big. It all runs in cycles and waves. After this year many of those players will graduate. But I like our chances, because every night we are a matchup problem, and we’re going to win games we shouldn’t. We’re small, so they are going to have to come out and guard us. We’ve just got to take advantage of what they give us, and we’ve got to shoot it well and rebound. We’re excited about our season and our kids. We’ve got really good groups of young kids coming. Grades 7-12 are on the upswing. We’re happy,” said the coach.

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