Nearing the mid-point of the conference season, the Greenwood Bulldogs (3-14, 0-6) are behind the eight ball, so to speak, but are not out of the running for a berth in the 6A state tournament. The top three among Greenwood, Alma, Siloam Springs, and Russellville will qualify for the post-season tournament to be played in Russellville.
It will take a huge effort in the second half of league play, but Head Coach Greg Nichols was greatly encouraged by the intensity he saw on the floor this past Tuesday night at home against Van Buren. Despite losing the game to another 7A opponent, the Bulldogs played with renewed vigor.
Van Buren
The game was close early, with the visiting Pointers up 9-7 midway through the opening period. But Greenwood went scoreless over the final four minutes and trailed 13-7 at the buzzer.
Van Buren got it going offensively early in the second quarter and led 27-14 late in the period before Luke Hales hit a three-pointer for the Bulldogs. The home team trailed 28-17 at the half.
But Greenwood refused to go away in the second half, continuing to play solid defense against Van Buren's top player, center Mitchell Smith, a University of Missouri recruit, holding him to just eight points for the game.
GHS guard Alec Armstrong drove the lane and scored two early buckets in the third quarter, cutting the Pointers' margin to seven points at 28-21. But after a timeout, Van Buren rallied to rebuild a double-digit lead at 36-23 before another Bulldogs' run trimmed the deficit to 41-34 after three quarters.
But that was as close as the home team could get in a frantic and intense second half. At the 3:00 mark the Pointers once again led by more than 10 points at 51-38 and held on for the 60-48 win.
Senior Blaise Lomon led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14 points, followed by senior Dustin Lunsford (11), junior Luke Hales (8), and junior Alec Armstrong (6).
"They played well," said Coach Nichols of his team. "We did a pretty good job defensively. I thought they played with a lot more intensity tonight, and when they do, they play better.
"What we've got to do now is to prepare for [Little Rock] Catholic, and then get ready to beat Siloam [Springs] at Siloam and try to get Alma here," said Nichols. "If we [win] those two, we've still got a shot [at the post-season]."
Russellville
The visiting Cyclones never trailed and had a pair of double-digit scoring runs in the first half to coast to a 69-33 win over the Bulldogs. Russellville led 3-2 before netting 13 consecutive points, sparked by a pair of three-pointers. Dustin Lunsford, who led Greenwood in scoring with 15 points, ended the run with a three-pointer.
Russellville led 18-5 after one quarter and built a 21-7 lead early in the second stanza before blowing the game open with a 10-0 run, capped by a three-pointer. Greenwood’s Devin Gilbert scored in the lane to end the visitor's scoring spree.
Turnovers and rebounding were problems for the 'Dogs in the first half, and they trailed 39-15 at the break and 51-24 after three periods. The second half highlight for Greenwood was a breakaway steal and dunk by Blaise Loman.
After the game, Coach Nichols conceded Russellville's talent and experience. "I think the most important thing is they have nine seniors in their top ten players," said the coach. "They just do a good job of executing and taking care of business. We played very young and inexperienced," he added. "We got behind and started rushing things instead of executing as we should."
Alma
The Airedales used a flurry of three-pointers to earn a mercy-rule win over Greenwood on January 19th. Alma drained 14 long-range baskets from six different players in the game. The home standing Airedales led 19-12 after the first quarter and 43-23 at the half.
Alma pushed its lead to 62-36 after 24 minutes, then added a pair of threes in the fourth quarter, activating the state's mercy rule just under the five minute mark en route to the 76-48 win.
Greenwood got a big offensive performance from Dustin Lunsford with 22 points. Fellow senior Blaise Lomon added 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team in that category.
Conway
On January 15th the Bulldogs played hard but lost to Class 7A Conway, 79-60. The loss did not hurt Greenwood in its pursuit of a post-season bid, since only 6A games will determine which three teams will make the post-season from the 7A/6A Central.
Coach Nichols had this to say on the subject. “As far as playing the 7A schools right now, it doesn’t mean anything except it’s giving us playing experience and an opportunity to run our offenses and defenses against other opponents.”
Dustin Lunsford and Blaise Lomon each scored 18 points in the loss to the Wampus Cats.