The Greenwood boys opened their 2017-18 season last Thursday with a 73-68 win over visiting Waldron, in a battle of the Bulldogs. As usual, GHS Head Coach Greg Nichols and his team start their season playing shorthanded while waiting for football to end.
Two of last year’s returning starters, Zane Harmon and Peyton Holt, among others, are still toiling on the gridiron as the Bulldogs pursue another state title. If they reach the finals, that game will be played on December 1st, with several players then transitioning to the hardcourt.
Against Waldron the home team took the early lead, 9-5, before the visitors came back to tie things up at 11-all. Junior Jack Gaston scored an old fashioned three-point play to break the tie, followed by baskets from senior Jordan Sheppard, sophomore Jayce Garnes, and Sheppard again, putting Greenwood up 20-15 after the first eight minutes.
Gaston and Sheppard scored to open the second period, putting the home team ahead 24-17, but a pair of Waldron scoring runs, 6-2 and 8-4, put the visitors on top 31-30 late in the quarter. With the game tied at 31, a Waldron three-pointer made it 34-31, but a Greenwood free throw and a late drive and layup by GHS senior newcomer Neil Rice tied the game at the half, 34-all.
Rice scored the first basket of the third quarter to put Greenwood ahead again and for good. Jordan Sheppard quickly followed with a scoring drive and a short bank shot sandwiched around a free throw, putting the hometown Bulldogs on top, 41-34. Jayce Garnes scored inside just before the period ended for a 50-44 GHS lead.
Waldron hit a trey to open the fourth quarter, cutting the GHS lead to three points at 50-47, but a 9-2 run by Greenwood pushed the lead to double digits for the only time in the game, 59-49. The visiting Bulldogs got the deficit down to four points (61-57), but then senior Ronin Stewart briefly took over the game for Greenwood offensively, scoring the next seven points to make it 68-60. With Greenwood ahead 73-65, a late three-pointer by Waldron made the final, 73-68.
The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Sheppard with 21 points, followed by Stewart with 15, 11 in the second half, and Gaston with 13, all in the first half. Unofficially, both teams took 58 shots in the contest and the 93 total rebounds were almost evenly split between them, though Greenwood bested Waldron in offensive rebounds, 25-14. The home team also shot better from the field, 46% to 39% for the visitors.
Greenwood had six fewer turnovers (12) compared to 18 for Waldron, and the home team also accounted for 13 steals. The real difference in the game, however, was free throws. Greenwood made just 17 of 37 charity shots (46%), helping to keep Waldron (82%) in the game.
“Poor shooting percentage,” said Coach Nichols after the game. “I thought we’d be better than that. We work on those free throws every single day. That’s really bugging me, because we spend a lot of time on the free throw line, working on our shots. I hope it was first game jitters, but I don’t know.
“Where we won the game was in the paint,” he continued. “We had 48 of our points in the paint, and they had 28. I saw a lot of good hustle. I saw [us] playing really hard. At times I thought we blocked off the boards well, and then there were times when we let them get easy shots. I didn’t think our full court man-to-man [defense] looked good at all. I saw us not getting down and getting ready to play. So, we’ll spend some time working on that [as well].
“I’m hoping that we’ve got the first game jinx over with and we’re going to get ready for Idabel (OK) next Tuesday,” added Nichols. “They will be a very good ball team. They’re extremely quick. They’ve got some height and some shooters. So, it will be a tough ball game. I hope we’re up for that. I think if we just tweak a few things, it will be alright.
The GHS boys will return to action next Tuesday, hosting Idabel, Oklahoma at 6 p.m. before the Thanksgiving holiday. A week later they will travel to Springdale on Tuesday, November 28th and then compete in the Russellville Cyclone Classic, December 6-8.