GHS girls, boys reach midway point of conference schedule;
Lady Bulldogs well positioned while Bulldogs remain hopeful
At the halfway point in the 5A West Conference schedule, the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs are sitting pretty with a 6-1 record, despite playing their last several games without their best player, junior forward Endsley Evans. On the other hand, the GHS boys are in the middle of the pack with a 3-4 league mark, but remain hopeful that a strong second half can get them to seven or eight conference wins and earn them a berth in the state playoffs come March.
Recently, the two GHS squads were in action at Huntsville last Tuesday and at home against Morrilton last Friday night. The Lady Bulldogs swept both of their games while the 'Dogs lost at Huntsville, then rallied from an early offensive hole on their home court to defeat the Devil Dogs. Upcoming this week is an open date on Tuesday and a road trip to Harrison on Friday to tip off the second half of the league schedule.
Lady Bulldogs
Four GHS girls scored in double digits in the road win at Huntsville over the Lady Eagles. Sophomore Presleigh Atkins scored 14 points, junior Haley Donald had 13, sophomore Sammy Richards added 11, and freshman Lundon Williams scored 10 points. The two teams traded baskets in the first and third quarters, but Greenwood won the second and fourth periods by seven points each for the 12-point road victory.
The Lady Eagles led 7-6 after eight minutes, but trailed 23-17 at the half, giving up 17 points to the Lady Bulldogs in the second period. Huntsville edged Greenwood 12-11 in the third quarter and trailed 34-29 entering the game's final eight minutes. But the visitor's defense held Huntsville to just 11 points while the Lady Bulldogs' offense accounted for 18 points, securing the 52-40 victory.
"It started out slow for both teams," said GHS head coach Clay Reeves, "but our kids adjusted and played [well]. We just need to play better every game, and hopefully we'll keep it going." Asked to comment about his team's quality depth, Reeves said, "I think we have a lot of kids that can play, and there's a lot of nights we can't get that many [players] in. But I feel good about all the kids that we put in."
Back at home last Friday night, Greenwood got off to a fast start, outscoring the Lady Devil Dogs of Morrilton 22-4 in the first period en route to a 28-point victory. Things didn't get much better for the Morrilton girls in the second quarter as the Lady Bulldogs continued their offensive outburst for a 45-21 halftime lead.
With the victory in hand, Coach Reeves played everyone on his deep bench in the second half. Greenwood outscored Morrilton 12-10 in the third quarter and managed a 10-10 tie in the final period for the 67-39 conference victory. Ten players scored for Greenwood, but only two reached double digits offensively. Lundon Williams led the team with 14 points, while junior Allie Wilson added 12 points. Junior Haley Donald scored nine points, Senior Jessica Moudy scored eight points, and sophomore Sammy Richards chipped in with seven points.
Asked about the status of junior forward and team leader Endsley Evans, Coach Reeves said, "I think she's supposed to be back next week. That's what we've heard so far. We'll try to bring her back a little at a time. But our team is developing great, and when she comes back that just adds a little bit more to our team. We've got a well-balanced team that's playing really [well] right now. You add one more piece to it and that helps strengthen us that much more."
Queried about his team's position in the league standings, Coach Reeves said, "I'll take 6-1 at this point. I would rather have been 7-0, but that's a good place to be at this point in time. We just know that we've got seven [games] left and our kids will be focused on those." Greenwood is currently in second place behind unbeaten Vilonia.
Reeves also spoke of his team's solid play on the road. "All three of our conference games we played away this first round we were able to win on the road. We played so many tough teams non-conference on the road early in the season that it doesn't seem to be a real big deal with our kids. They just go out and play. Actually, we've played better on the road than we have at home, maybe up until tonight.
Bulldogs
Huntsville's Tucker Trumbo, one of the league's top offensive players, scored 35 points, including seven three-pointers, to lead the Eagles to a 64-53 victory over the visiting Bulldogs last Tuesday. Junior guard Braden Suter scored 19 points for the Greenwood boys, canning five three-pointers. Junior guard Ryan Lensing added 13 points for the visitors, who lost their fourth 5A West game in six tries.
The home team led 13-10 after the first quarter, but a strong offensive showing in the second period kept the Bulldogs in the game at the half, trailing just 32-30. That deficit got even smaller in the third quarter as Greenwood edged the Eagles in scoring by a point, 17-16. Down by one point, 48-47, as the final period began, the Bulldogs actually held the lead briefly after scoring the first bucket of the quarter. But a pair of Huntsville three-pointers put the Eagles up by five points, and they never looked back, outscoring the visitors 16-6 over the last eight minutes. "To start the fourth quarter we were down one, but we were only able to score six points," said head coach Brian Martin. "We [just] have to get better on the road to win in the fourth quarter."
A slow start Friday night at home against Morrilton saw the Devil Dogs leading Greenwood 11-4 after eight minutes of play. But the Bulldogs rallied late in the second period to trim the Morrilton lead to just one point at 16-15 in a low-scoring first half. Ryan Lensing's free throw cut the margin to 14-10 with 1:14 remaining before the break. A three-pointer by senior Billyjack Freeman then made it 14-13 as the clock moved below one minute. Senior Chris Caudle then scored down low to make it 16-15. Braden Suter's three-point attempt at the buzzer just missed the mark, ricocheting off the iron as both teams headed to their respective dressing rooms.
The two squads traded baskets throughout the third quarter, as each team added 11 points to its total. Still trailing by one point (27-26), the Bulldogs took the lead for the first time in the second half on another Chris Caudle basket inside. Lensing then added a pair of free throws before Caudle scored again for a 32-29 GHS advantage. But the biggest shot of the night was Braden Suter's three-pointer that put the home team up 35-29. Freeman added a three-pointer and Lensing hit more free throws to solidify the lead at 40-31, and Morrilton never made a serious run. Neither team fouled much and the Devil Dogs couldn't put Greenwood at the line late because Morrilton had too many fouls to give. When the final buzzer sounded Greenwood had a much-needed 44-34 conference win, ending the first half of the league race one game under .500.
Chris Caudle led the way with 14 points for Greenwood. Sophomore Drew Morgan also played well and scored 10 points. Billyjack Freeman added eight points and Ryan Lensing contributed seven points. The Bulldogs also played the game somewhat shorthanded due to the illness of several players, including starting senior guard and defensive specialist Shawn Hankins.
"We were trading baskets in the third quarter," said head coach Brian Martin, "but we knew that tonight's game was about getting stops. Finally we put together offensive possessions along with the stops and stretched the lead out in a short span of time."
Martin also praised the play of Drew Morgan and leading scorer Chris Caudle. "Drew did a good job of getting to the paint off penetration and finding Chris, and he finished," said the coach, noting that the 6-3 senior postman scored six points in the decisive fourth quarter. "Morrilton played good defense and we couldn't buy a shot," said the coach of his team's early offensive woes. "I knew our shots would eventually fall, but anytime that your two leading scorers have a basket apiece and you win by 10, you feel pretty good about it. It was a good job by the rest of our team, picking up the slack. We can usually depend on Braden [Suter] and Ryan Lensing} scoring, but tonight it was a struggle for them and the rest of the guys picked up the slack when we needed them to in the fourth quarter."
Asked about the conference race, Martin sounded an optimistic note. "We're probably fighting for fourth [place], but we just want to get in there," said the coach about the post-season. "It's all about making the playoffs. We feel confident in our chances, but we've got to play well. We've got three of the top four teams coming to our place in the second [half], and it's going to be a challenge."