After starting the 5A West conference schedule 3-0 before falling to top-ranked Farmington on January 16th, the Greenwood varsity girls battled their way through a tough two-week stretch, losing three straight league contests to Siloam Springs, Mountain Home, and Van Buren before getting back on track with last Friday’s road win at Harrison. The victory moved Greenwood’s record to 7-12 overall and 5-4 in conference play, good enough to remain in contention for one of the league’s four playoff spots.

After the loss at Farmington, the Lady Bulldogs bounced back with a home victory over the Lady Cyclones of Russellville on January 20th before the winless streak began. A close loss at Siloam Springs was followed by double digit home losses to Mountain Home and Van Buren. The Lady Bombers of Mt. Home were recently ranked 10th in the state by MaxPreps Sports, but Greenwood had already beaten the Lady Pointers of Van Buren to open conference play back on January 6th.

Losing those two home contests was tough, but there are five league games left to make up some lost ground in the standings. This week the GHS ladies will travel to Alma on Tuesday before hosting the Farmington Lady Cardinals on Friday, the state’s #2 ranked team. Greenwood split games against those two teams in January, soundly beating Alma before getting thumped badly by Farmington. The Lady Bulldogs will then close out their regular season with games against Siloam Springs, Russellville, and Mountain Home. Only the Siloam Springs game will be at home, senior night for Greenwood.

Russellville

The first half of this game was uncharacteristic for the Lady Bulldogs, who scored just six points in the first eight minutes and 18 for the entire fire half. The visiting Lady Cyclones weren’t much better, but did lead, 21-18, at the break. The lack of scoring stemmed from unusually poor shooting by Greenwood, only 12% in the first quarter before “scorching” the nets for 28% in the second period, including 0-for-17 from three-point land in the half.

Thankfully, things did improve in the second half. The Lady Bulldogs shot about 50% throughout the second half, including 6-of-14 treys. The GHS ladies won the third quarter, 21-11, and the fourth, 27-19, to pull out the 66-51 victory. For the game, Greenwood hit just 28.6% of their field goal tries compared to 41% for the visitors. The Lady Bulldogs were just 6-of-31 from beyond the arc.

Greenwood made 16 free throws to 12 for Russellville, but the hometown ladies still missed nine charity shots. They did score 30 points off 26 Lady Cyclones’ turnovers, including 15 GHS steals. As a by-product of their poor shooting, the GHS ladies outrebounded the visitors, 48-to-31. Nearly two-thirds of Greenwood’s rebounds were on the offensive end of the court.

Once again carrying the team on her shoulders, senior Kylah Pearcy lead the team in scoring with a 40-point effort that included 13 two-pointers, one trey, and 11 points at the free throw line. She also grabbed nine rebounds, had 10 defensive deflections, and made eight steals. Only one other Lady Bulldogs was in double figures. Senior Journey Clements pumped in four three-pointers for 12 points while also nabbing four rebounds.

Fellow senior Ashlin Rose added eight points and led the team in rebounding with 11 boards plus three assists, four deflections, and four blocked shots. Spicer Fowler and Ava Cranor both contributed three points with Cranor nabbing five boards, dishing out two assists, with five deflections, and three steals. Halle Fox did not score but had seven rebounds and three assists.

Siloam Springs

A disastrous second quarter was the key factor in Greenwood’s road loss at Siloam Springs 10 days ago as teams all over the state scrambled their schedules due to a statewide winter storm that closed schools in Greenwood for the last week of January. The Lady Bulldogs played at Siloam Springs on Saturday, January 31st, a game originally slated for the 23rd, then rescheduled for the 27th, then rescheduled again for the rare Saturday matinee.

The visitors led 17-16 after one period, but the Lady Panthers more than doubled up on Greenwood in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs, 29-14, to lead 45-31 at the half. The GHS ladies won both quarters of the second half, but it still wasn’t enough to forestall the loss. After dropping the third stanza 19-11 to Greenwood, the Lady Panthers rallied in a high-scoring final period won by the visitors, 26-24. But the late push by Siloam Springs was enough to hang on for the 80-76 victory.

In securing the win, the hometown ladies outshot Greenwood by a margin of 50% to 37%, including a very respectable 13-of-28 from long range. The Lady Bulldogs made eight three-pointers in 26 tries. Siloam Springs won the battle of the boards, 46-to-32, and won the game despite 33 turnovers, 20 of those steals by Greenwood.

Individually, Kylah Pearcy continued to shine offensively with 42 points without making a single three-pointer, but she did get 16 points at the free throw line. She also had six rebounds, three assists, 12 deflections, and seven steals. Halle Fox added 13 points, seven rebounds, seven deflections, and four steals for a complete game performance.

Eva Booth came off the bench and hit four three-pointers for 12 points when several of her teammates got into foul trouble. Pearcy, Fox, and Journey Clements all fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter, another contributing factor in the loss. Clements had three points before going to the bench while Ava Cranor added five points, four boards, three assists, four deflections, and four steals. Ashlin Rose scored a single point but led the team in rebounding with nine plus a pair of assists, four deflections, and three steals.

Mountain Home

The day before their delayed trip to Siloam Springs, on Friday the 30th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted the Lady Bombers of Mountain Home, recently ranked as high as 10th overall in the state. But the visitors spoiled the evening for GHS coaches, players, and fans by dominating the game throughout the first three quarters before walking away with a blowout victory on the road, 69-40. The 29-point spread was Greenwood’s second worst defeat of the season after a 90-58 loss at home to Fayetteville in December.

Averaging over 20 points in each of the first three periods, the Mountain Home girls raced out to a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and never looked back. The visitors led 19-12 after eight minutes and 42-22 at the half. The onslaught continued in the third stanza, 23-12, before both teams pulled their starters as Greenwood won the last eight minutes, 6-4.

The shooting stats told the story with Mountain Home knocking down 42% of their shots to just 25% for the Lady Bulldogs. Greenwood did make six of 22 three-pointers to just three for the visitors. Another huge difference in the game was at the free throw line. The Lady Bombers made an incredible 28-of-32 charity shots to just 6-of-9 for Greenwood. Mt. Home also outrebounded the home team, 44-to-21.

Kylah Pearcy, who has averaged over 30 points per game this season, was held to just 14 points to lead her teammates, followed by Trinity Spicer with 10 points. Pearcy also had three rebounds, three deflections, and three steals. Ava Cranor and Halle Fox tied for the team lead with six rebounds each. Cranor also had three assists. Ashlin Rose had two boards and three steals.

Van Buren

Last Tuesday, February 3rd, another 5A West foe invaded H.B. Stewart Arena and snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat with a strong second half rally that resulted in a 69-59 Van Buren win as the second half of the conference season began. The Lady Bulldogs burst from the starting gate with a 23-point performance to 17 points for the Lady Pointers. Greenwood led 38-31 at the half, but that advantage was largely erased when the visitors won the third quarter, 17-11. The fourth stanza settled the matter as Van Buren more than doubled up the Lady Bulldogs, 21-10, for the 10-point victory.

Once again, the GHS ladies were outshot on their home court, making 35.7% of their shots compared to an impressive 51% for Van Buren. The Lady Bulldogs did make five three-pointers to just three for the Lady Pointers, but Van Buren dominated at the free throw line by a margin of 22 to 14 made shots. The visitors also controlled the boards with 41 rebounds to just 17 for Greenwood. Despite having more steals (17 to 10) and fewer turnovers (13 to 26), the Lady Bulldogs still lost their third consecutive contest.

Back on track, Kylah Pearcy scored more than half of her team’s total with 30 points to lead her teammates. She also had four rebounds, six assists, 15 defensive deflections, and seven steals. Halle Fox added 11 points on a trio of three-pointers with three rebounds, seven deflections, and four steals. Ashlin Rose contributed 10 points with three boards, three assists, four deflections, and two steals. Journey Clements scored six points and Spicer Fowler two points.

Harrison

Last Friday the GHS girls finally got the monkey off their backs with a road win against the Harrison Lady Goblins, 62-52. Better yet, it was a come-from-behind victory after trailing 17-16 after one quarter and 30-22 at the intermission. But a Greenwood rally in the second half won the day. The visitors hit fiv three-pointers and took the third quarter 19-10 to take a 41-40 lead heading into the fourth stanza. But the GHS comeback continued through the final eight minutes, outscoring the home team by a margin of 21 to 12.

Both teams shot a comparable percentage, around 38%, but Greenwood dominated from beyond the arc, hitting 10 three-pointers to just four for Harrison. Both teams were close in free throws, rebounding, steals, and turnovers while the Lady Goblins won the battle in the paint, 30 points to 16 for Greenwood.

Once again Kylah Pearcy led Greenwood in scoring with a lowly (for her) 18 points while also adding eight rebounds. She made half of her points at the free throw line after suffering through a poor shooting game from the floor. But Pearcy got plenty of help from her teammates, three of which also reached double figures in scoring.

Journey Clement made 5-of-10 three-point tries for 15 points with six boards and two assists. Halle Fox hit four-of-five treys for most of her 14 points to go along with two boards, four assists, nine deflections, and four steals. Ashlin Rose also added 10 points with five rebounds, three assists, three deflections, and two steals. Rounding out the GHS scoring was Ava Cranor with five points augmented by four rebounds and five assists.