The Bulldogs got their final win of the regular season, and only their second victory in conference play against Little Rock Catholic on Friday, February 21st. It was also Homecoming night, with senior queen Lundon Williams and her court being honored during halftime. As for the game itself, the two teams combined to score less than 60 points, but the Bulldogs came out on top, 29-28.
The visiting Rockets got off to a good start, taking a 7-0 lead before Greenwood’s Jordan Hernandez scored after an offensive rebound under the basket. But with 2:25 left in the opening period, and trailing 10-2, GHS head coach Brian Martin called a much-needed timeout, after which the Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run to tie the score after eight minutes.
But if the first quarter was deliberate and low-scoring, the second period was absolutely anemic. Greenwood senior guard Evan Lensing hit a three-pointer early in the quarter for a 13-10 GHS lead, representing the only scoring for the Bulldogs before halftime. Ordinarily that would spell disaster for the home team, but the Rockets managed only one basket themselves and trailed at the break, 13-12.
The Bulldogs then scored the first seven points of the third quarter to lead 20-12, before Catholic rallied to trim the deficit to 20-16 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Greenwood led by six points in the fourth period, but the Rockets kept chipping away, eventually taking a one-point lead (28-27) after a three-pointer with 19.6 seconds remaining. Inbounding the ball after a timeout, the Bulldogs called on Lensing to take the potential winning shot or get fouled in the process.
Driving down the right side of the lane, the senior guard was able to penetrate the Catholic defense for a decent shot from about six feet away. The floater rattled around a bit, but found the bottom of the net for a 29-28 GHS lead.
The Rockets managed to get off a desperation shot at the buzzer, but their prayers were not answered as the Bulldogs survived and pulled out a much-needed victory. Lensing led the way with eight points, followed by Ryan Padilla and Kevin Jones with five points each, while Grant Morgan and Jordan Hernandez added four points each.
GHS head coach Brian Martin was pleased with the victory. “We’ve been searching for that second (league) win for a long time now,” he said, “and I’m just happy for our kids. They just kept fighting. We needed that win for our morale, especially on homecoming. It was a slow (low-scoring) game, with two teams with kind of the same strategy.”
GHS at Russellville
After two straight home games, both league victories, the Lady Bulldogs traveled down I-40 to Russellville on Tuesday, February 25th to take on the Lady Cyclones.
And following a strong first quarter, Greenwood appeared to be headed for another easy win. But after leading 19-11, the Lady Bulldogs gave up 19 second-quarter points and found themselves trailing at halftime, 30-29.
But Coach Reeves didn't get on his team, instead choosing a more cerebral approach. "I just told them we needed to go out and execute and play better," said Reeves. "There wasn't anything really [special] that we said. We played better in the second half. Basically, we just made shots. That was the biggest turnaround."
The Lady Bulldogs netted 25 points in the third quarter, while allowing only seven points, and coasted to a lopsided 70-49 win. Hailey Henson led Greenwood with 25 points, hitting five 3-pointers in the game. Senior point guard Lundon Williams added 16 points, while Megan Hartness and Brittnay Branum had nine and eight points, respectively.
"I think it was good for our kids to know that they have to be ready to play every night and every game," said Reeves. "I think it woke them up. They came out ready to play in the second half." The win over the Lady Cyclones also secured for Greenwood one of the two top seeds in the 6A state tournament.
GHS at Russellville
The Bulldogs missed a golden opportunity to steal a road victory at Russellville last Tuesday night, falling to the Cyclones 42-38. Trailing 13-6 after one period, the Bulldogs fought back in the second quarter to trim their halftime deficit to just four points at 20-16.
Likewise, they trailed 30-26 after three periods, and managed to keep the game close throughout the final stanza. Down 40-38 with 13 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line, but missed both ends of a two-shot opportunity. The Cyclones added a pair of free throws to account for the final margin.
Evan Lensing led the scoring for the Bulldogs with nine points, while Logan Hollingsaid had eight points and Kevin Jones six points.