The GHS boys varsity basketball team ended regular season play last week with a flurry of games, winning nearly three times as many games this season than last year. Unfortunately, that vastly improved record wasn’t quite enough to get them into the 5A state tournament. Still, Head Coach B.J. Ross and his Bulldogs deserve a lot of credit for taking a major step forward for a program that’s languished in mediocrity for over a decade.
In just his second year at Greenwood, Ross is making significant progress in returning the Bulldogs to a position of prominence they enjoyed at the end of the last century when H.B. Stewart Arena was new, and the Bulldogs played in the state championship game in the late 1990s. Ross is also excited about several up-and-coming basketball-only players climbing the junior high ranks to populate future GHS rosters. Two of this year’s starters are eligible to return next season.
The final week of the regular season was unusual for a couple of reasons. First, it included not two, but three games after their second meeting with Siloam Springs was pushed back from Friday the 21st to this past Monday. Then came the two regularly scheduled games against Russellville and Mountain Home, both at H.B. Stewart Arena. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs were eliminated from postseason consideration the week before, falling to sixth place in the league standings. But that didn’t impact their level of passion or play as they battled the Panthers, Cyclones, and Bombers.
Greenwood finished the season with a win over Mountain Home and a 14-15 overall record, 5-9 in conference play. In order of finish from first to fourth, Harrison, Farmington, Alma, and Russellville will represent the 5A West in the state tournament at Greene County Tech in Paragould starting on Tuesday this week.
Alma
On Tuesday, February 11th, the Bulldogs hosted their longtime rivals at H.B. Stewart Arena and led for much of the contest before Alma closed strong to secure a 57-50 road win, keeping the Airedales in the thick of the conference and playoff race. The GHS boys got off to a solid start, winning the opening quarter, 18-14, maintaining a lead at the half, 29-26. But Alma regrouped at halftime and won the third stanza, 18-14, and the decisive fourth quarter, 13-5.
Despite playing on their home court, the Bulldogs were bested by the Airedales in shooting percentage. The visitors hit 46.5% of their field goal attempts to just 34.6% for the home team. Alma also hit 7-of-18 three-point shots to Greenwood’s 4-of-10. The Bulldogs had a better free throw percentage (66.7%) but the Airedales got to the line more often, outscoring their hosts 10 to 8 at the charity stripe. The visitors also outscored the Bulldogs in transition points and points off turnovers. The GHS boys had a slight edge on points scored in the paint, 24 to 20, and in rebounds, 30 to 28.
Individually, Greenwood was led in scoring by seniors Grant Karnes and Jayden Garnes with 16 points each. Karnes hit an incredible eight shots in nine attempts while grabbing eight rebounds and making two steals. Garnes hit five field goals and six free throws, also dishing out three assists and making four steals. Also scoring were Ty Holt (6 points), Jack Scott and Kane Archer with three points each, while Lane Philpot and Hudson Clark contributed two points each. Archer also had eight rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks. Philpot nabbed five boards with two steals.
Farmington
The Bulldogs’ next contest was on the road at conference newcomer Farmington in Northwest Arkansas. The Cardinals just moved up from Class 4A and are taking the 5A West by storm, battling Harrison for the conference lead and the league’s #1 seed in the upcoming playoffs. The Farmington boys humbled the Bulldogs at H.B. Stewart Arena in January and did so again on Valentine’s Day, winning at home, 71-45. The Bulldogs were held to a paltry 14 points in the first half.
The Cardinals outscored the GHS boys 17-6 and 20-8 in the first two quarters for a 37-14 advantage at the half. The Bulldogs played better offensively in the second half, reaching double-digits in both periods, but still trailed the Cards in each quarter, 19-17 and 15-14. Playing for the first time at Farmington’s arena, the Bulldogs shot just under 28% for the game compared to nearly 46% for the home team. Greenwood also hit just four of 27 three-point attempts.
On the bright side, the Bulldogs had more steals (10-to-4) and got to the charity stripe more than Farmington, hitting 11 of 16 free throws, but were dominated in the paint, giving up 28 points inside and allowing the Cardinals to rip down 44 rebounds to only 26 for the visitors. There were only 18 turnovers in the contest, seven of those by Greenwood.
The Bulldogs had two players reach double figures in scoring. Grant Karnes had 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Hudson Clark came off the bench to net 10 points with two assists and a steal. Ty Holt contributed seven points with four rebounds and three steals while Kane Archer added five points, two boards, four assists, and a steal. Jayden Garnes and Blake Christiansen added four points each with Garnes also grabbing three rebounds and making two steals. Cooper Bland added two points late in the game.
Siloam Springs
After the Lady Bulldogs burned the nets for 94 points, the GHS boys followed suit by scoring a season-high 79 points at Siloam Springs in a 79-57 conference victory, snapping a six-game losing streak against league foes. The Bulldogs won three of the four quarters and were especially strong in the second half, scoring 49 of their 79 points. The visitors led 16-15 after one period but trailed 33-30 at the half. Greenwood added 24 points in the third quarter and 25 in the last stanza.
On the road, the Bulldogs shot an impressive 52%, including 8-of-21 three-point attempts. They also hit 13-of-17 free throws while narrowly losing the rebounding battle, 29-to-25. The ‘Dogs scored 40 points in the paint and had 10 steals, part of the Panthers’ 16 turnovers. The Bulldogs had only seven turnovers.
Jayden Garnes had a big game offensively with 28 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers plus 10-of-11 free throws and three assists. Grant Karnes also shined with 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting and a free throw. Karnes also had six rebounds. Ty Holt netted 13 points, including a trio of three-pointers, plus seven boards, three assists, and three steals. Hudson Clark scored five points, Lane Philpot four points, Jack Scott and Kane Archer three points each, while Jeremiah Dasher had two points. Philpot added four boards, three assists, and three steals. Archer had three rebounds, 12 assists, and three steals.
Russellville
This past Tuesday the Bulldogs hosted the Cyclones in their final meeting of the season after the Russellville boys won their first contest a month earlier, 74-65. This time around the visitors from Pope County used a 17-0 scoring run in the first half to build a double-digit lead midway through the second period. The Bulldogs then clawed their way back to within four points (25-21) late in the half, only to have the Cyclones hit back-to-back treys to go back up by 10. The Bulldogs went into the break trailing by 13 points, 34-21. Russellville added a point to its lead after three quarters and both teams scored 10 points in the last stanza for the 60-46 Cyclones’ win.
Unfortunately, the hometown boys couldn’t put the ball in the basket to save their lives, shooting a paltry 26.6% for the game overall and 14.8% from beyond the arc. Russellville shot 46.5% overall. Most of the other significant stats were close – rebounds, points in the paint, points off turnovers, steals, turnovers, and fouls.
Leading the way offensively for Greenwood was senior guard Jayden Garnes with an impressive 27 points, 21 from the floor and six points from the free throw line. Garnes also snagged four rebounds and had two assists and two steals. No other GHS player reached double figures in scoring. Grant Karnes had eight points, Ty Holt five points, Lane Philpot four points, and Hudson Clark two points. Philpot also had 11 boards while Karnes had nine plus two assists and four steals. Holt had five rebounds and Hudson had two boards and two steals. Kane Archer did not score, but had four assists.
Mountain Home
While the Bulldogs aren’t moving on to postseason play, they did close out their season with an impressive 73-68 win over the Bombers last Friday before a home crowd at H.B. Stewart Arena on senior night. Senior guard Jayden Garnes also had a big game in his final appearance as a Bulldog. The GHS boys finished their season with a 14-15 overall record, their best mark since 2016, the last year they enjoyed a winning record. Their 73 points last Friday was also one of their best offensive performances of the season.
Greenwood won three of the four quarters, 21-15, 12-9, and 22-19, with Mountain Home taking the third quarter, 25-18. While the Bulldogs led for most of the game, they were unable to shake off the pesky Bombers, who eventually caught up and took a brief lead late in the game before Jayden Garnes hit a pair of critical three-pointers, helping the home team maintain its lead or retake it. Garnes’ free throws in the final seconds sealed the GHS victory.
Leading by six points, 21-15, after the first eight minutes, the Bulldogs increased their lead to nine points, 33-24, at the intermission. But the Bombers rallied after halftime to close the gap to 51-49 after three quarters. Jayden Garnes hit the first of his two big treys to keep the Bulldogs ahead at the 6:00 mark of the fourth quarter. Mountain Home then took a brief two-point lead later in the period before Garnes hit his second big three-pointer to put Greenwood back on top by one. His free throws inside the final 10 seconds made it a two-possession game at 73-68, also the final score.
The Bulldogs had an exceptional game shooting the ball, hitting over 56% of all shots, including 40% of their three-point attempts, or 8-of-20, two by Garnes, 4-of-4 by Jack Scott, and one each by Kane Archer and Grant Karnes. The ‘Dogs scored 13 points off turnovers and 12 points in transition. They also scored 24 second-chance points and outrebounded the visitors by a goodly margin, 32-to-19. Not only did both teams shoot the ball well (Mountain Home hit 45%), but they also took good care of the basketball with only 19 combined turnovers in the game.
Offensively for Greenwood, Jayden Garnes completed the best three-game stretch of his career, scoring 27 points agianst the Bombers on senior night to go along with the 27 points he scored against Russellville on Tuesday and the 28 he netted at Siloam Springs on Monday, giving him 82 points for the week. Not a bad way to end your high school basketball career. He also had six rebounds, two assists, and a steal. His presence on the court will be missed next season.
But Garnes wasn't even the top scorer for the Bulldogs on this night. That distinction belonged to another senior, Grant Karnes, who connected on an amazing 14-of-17 shots for 28 points, also in the last game of his basketball career. He will move on to play football for the Arkansas Razorbacks next season. Karnes also added 17 rebounds last Friday for an impressive double-double. Senior move-in Jack Scott showed out by hitting all four of his three-point attempts for 12 points. Junior Kane Archer had three points to do along with two rebounds and three assists. Lane Philpot, another senior, added two points, two rebounds, three assists, and three steals in his swan song performance.
Before last Friday’s season finale, Head Coach B.J. Ross talked about his team and their season after being eliminated from postseason consideration. “We’re playing for the Bulldogs,” he said, “and we’ve had a great year for the building that we’re doing. We’re 13-15 and we’re going to try and get one more [win] Friday night, and we can (and they did). I love these guys, and we want to finish Friday night the way we want to finish. I’m so proud of them. They’ve fought and battled. With this bunch, you wouldn’t know if we were first in conference or sixth. They just go out and compete, and the seniors have been pivotal in that. They went through some hard times two years ago and last year, winning just five games. But they’ve helped build the foundation for what we want to do and for our younger kids.”
Asked about those up-and-coming Bulldogs, Ross said, “We finished second in ninth grade behind Van Buren and the eighth grade only lost to Conway. They were like 21-1 or 22-1. So, it’s coming, but I’m proud of what we have now. I’ve enjoyed this year. It feels like those years when I went 25-5 at Charleston, because of how hard they play, and they love it and they like each other. They play for Greenwood,” he concluded.
Ross said that in a quarter century of coaching he had never experienced a losing season before coming to Greenwood in 2023, which only highlights his own commitment to rebuild the Bulldogs’ brand in basketball. Based on this season’s results and the players in the pipeline for future years, he and assistant coach Dexter Pearcy seem to be on their way to the kind of sustained success Bulldogs’ fans have been waiting for and hoping for over the last decade.