The Greenwood varsity boys basketball team, under first year Head Coach B.J. Ross, went 2-5 in their first run through the 5A West schedule, defeating Siloam Springs and Greenbrier, the two bottom dwellers in the league standings. But considering the Bulldogs won only a single conference game last season, they’ve already surpassed last year’s results. Yet, they still want more, and they are off to a good start with an upset win over Russellville on February 2nd at H.B. Stewart Arena.
The Bulldogs are now 3-7 in league play with four games remaining against Siloam Springs, Mountain Home, Alma, and Greenbrier. They are theoretically still alive in the playoff race, though it will take a miraculous convergence of events to make it possible. They currently sit in sixth place while only the top four teams qualify for the state tournament, but winning four or five conference games would still be a huge step forward for Coach Ross and his program.
Their next best chance to pick off a 5A West opponent comes this week with games at Siloam Springs (0-10) on Tuesday and at home against Mountain Home (6-4) on Friday. They close out their conference and regular season schedule next week at first place Alma (10-0) and at home against Greenbrier (2-8). While it seems unlikely that Greenwood could beat Alma at their gym, the other three remaining opponents are ripe for the picking.
Russellville
At the start of the conference season the Cyclones were thought to be the class of the league, having put together several consecutive seasons of excellence and playoff appearances. But by early February Russellville had suffered some injuries and lost two league games to Alma and Harrison. They currently sit at 6-4 in the 5A West tied with Mountain Home for third place, one game ahead of Harrison (5-5).
Neither Greenwood nor Russellville played particularly well when they met for the second time this season at H.B. Stewart Arena to open the second round of 5A West play. While competing hard, both teams committed numerous turnovers and displayed poor shooting throughout the game. Still, somehow, the Bulldogs remained ahead throughout the contest, though the Cyclones stayed close enough to keep the outcome in doubt.
Senior Brenden Chick scored the game’s first basket in the paint, but Russellville soon took a 4-2 advantage. A three-pointer by senior Braden Bollman put the ‘Dogs on top 5-4, followed by a two-pointer in the paint by junior Jayden Garnes. Chick netted a putback basket for Greenwood’s last points of the opening stanza before the visitors closed with a 5-0 run. Greenwood led 13-11 after one period.
In the second quarter, Russellville retook the lead briefly at 15-14 on a dunk, but it would be the last points scored by the Cyclones until the second half. The Bulldogs then scored nine unanswered points to lead 23-15 at the intermission. Senior guard L.J. Robins hit a short jumper at the 3:00 mark to make it 18-15, followed by a steal and layup by Braden Bollman, who also hit a pair of free throws before the half ended.
The visitors won the third quarter, 15-9, closing their deficit to just two points at 32-30 by the end of the period. Jayden Garnes and Braden Bollman both hit three-pointers for Greenwood and Landon Nelms came off the bench and had a layup. A three-pointer put Russellville back on top with 6:45 left to play, 33-32, and they led again moments later at 35-34 and 37-34. But a three-pointer by L.J. Robins knotted the score at 37-all before the Bulldogs slowly pulled away for the victory.
In the final four minutes, Robins hit a pair of free throws and senior Peyton Presson completed an old-fashioned three-point play, putting Greenwood up 42-38. Neither team scored a field goal over the last two minutes. The Cyclones added a free throw and Robins hit two critical charity shots for Greenwood to secure the win, 44-39.
Unofficially, the Bulldogs had only one player in double figures in scoring. Braden Bollman netted 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double. L.J. Robins added nine points with four board and three assists. Peyton Presson scored eight points with five rebounds while Jayden Garnes added six points with three boards and three assists. Brenden Chick had five points with seven rebounds. While the win was a big lift for the Bulldogs, it was a blow to the Cyclones and helped to reshuffle the 5A West playoff race.
Van Buren
At Clair Bates Arena on February 6th the Van Buren Pointers led from wire to wire over the visiting Bulldogs before rolling to a convincing 77-43 victory. Greenwood’s shooting woes continued after a poor offensive performance against Russellville, despite the win over the Cyclones. The Pointers led 4-0 out of the gate and 16-12 after one period.
But the Bulldogs were outscored 21-9 in the second quarter and trailed 37-21 at the break, a deficit they were helpless to close in the second half. Van Buren’s offense cranked out 33 points in the third stanza to just 12 for the visitors and the Pointers led 70-33 after 24 minutes, invoking the mercy rule for the final quarter. With the clock running, the home team quickly closed out its 34-point win.
Once again only one GHS player reached double digits in scoring. Peyton Presson had 14 points, five rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots. L.J. Robins added seven points, Jayden Garnes six points, juniors Caleb Burnette and Lane Philpot scored five points each, Braden Bollman had four points, and Brenden Chick two points. All stats are unofficial.
Harrison
Homecoming night at H.B. Stewart Arena featured the GHS girls and boys against Harrison last Friday. While the Lady Bulldogs won their game easily, the GHS boys stumbled against the Goblins, losing 71-54. The homecoming court was presented during halftime of the boys’ game with Lady Bulldogs Anna Trusty honored as queen and Kylah Pearcy as a sophomore maid. Trusty was selected by members of the boys’ basketball team.
Jaydon Garnes opened play with a three-pointer and Braden Bollman added a field goal for a 5-0 GHS lead. L.J. Robins then added a trey of his own and Peyton Presson scored twice down low, putting Greenwood up 12-11. But the Goblins closed the period with a 7-0 run for an 18-12 lead they would not surrender. Harrison scored the first bucket of the second quarter and was able to maintain its lead throughout the period, including a late three-pointer in the final seconds. The Goblins led 30-23 at the intermission.
Braden Bollman scored for Greenwood to open the second half, but the visitors gradually built on their lead, going up by 15 points before Coach Ross called a timeout at the 2:44 mark. Harrison went up 50-33 before Bollman hit a three-pointer, only to be cancelled out by a Goblins’ trey just before the buzzer for a 53-36 Harrison lead. The Bulldogs battled to the end but were never able to make a run in the fourth quarter, losing by 17 points.
Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, starting with Peyton Presson with 17 points. L.J. Robins added 14 points and Braden Bollman scored 11 points. Brenden Chick netted seven points and Jayden Garnes scored five points. The loss put the Bulldogs at 3-7 in conference play and 4-13 overall on the season, yet time and opportunity remain for them to finish strong and leave a positive legacy for future GHS teams.
Comments
After Friday’s homecoming game, Coach Ross spoke about his team’s play against the Goblins and talked about their season as a whole and what may yet come. The coach reaffirmed his original position that rebuilding the boys basketball program is a process that will take more than one season, but he sees encouraging signs of hope with this year’s team and in the junior high program led by Head Coach Mike Possage.
“Harrison has three really good basketball players,” admitted the coach, “and when we went through a [scoring] drought like we did, you just can’t have that. You can’t go that long without scoring, referring to Harrison’s 9-0 run that put them in the lead and Greenwood’s inability to score more than 12 points in the second quarter.
“It’s not the fact that we didn’t play hard or fight hard, but when you get behind so far, it’s just hard to catch up. You just can’t do it. But they fought. Nobody can fault their effort. They did everything they were supposed to do, but if you can’t score?” said the coach. “We stole one last week [against Russellville], and I told them not to be satisfied with that. Let’s try to get another one. We’ve got four games [left], so let’s fight. We’ve already tripled our [conference] wins from last year. Let’s try to get one or two more wins and [play spoiler]. We’re going to keep pushing. I am more proud of this group than I’ve been of any group in a lot of years. I love their fight and I love these seniors. Wins are great, but at the end of the night we’ve got guys fighting for their school, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Ross also spoke about the future of his program and the promise of an unbeaten seventh grade team and a good number of basketball only athletes in the program. “We have a seventh-grade team that went undefeated and beat everybody in this league by double digits. We have a really good eighth grade team, and our ninth-grade team has gotten better every game and they have a chance to win the district. So it’s coming, but it doesn’t happen overnight.
“In seventh and eighth grades 10 of our top 16 are basketball-only kids. My son and Coach Possage’s son are part of the six that [also play football], so really it’s 12 of our top 16. That’s a core that’s going to stay together, and then [add] some ninth and tenth graders, and that’s the foundation, and I hope these younger [kids] fight as hard as [our current team]. We see improvement every day from [them],” said the coach. “They show up and work [hard].”