Lady Bulldogs’ head coach Clay Reeves had to sit out most of last season due to health concerns, but has returned this year with a vengeance, earning his 700th career victory last Friday at home and his team’s 20th on the season.
In fact, it’s been a remarkable run of coaching news at Greenwood High School recently. Legendary football coach Rick Jones resigned on Valentine’s Day and was replaced six days later by his top offensive assistant, Chris Young.
Three days after that GHS wrestling coach John Kincade lead his teams to a pair of state championships and earned Class 5A Coach of the Year honors for himself. Well-deserved congratulations to both men.
Then, after Reeves notched his career mark, head coach Donnie Husband and the GHS varsity boys won the team’s first conference game since the end of the 2017-18 season, ending a 25-game league losing streak.
Both wins came at the expense of visiting Beebe as the 5A West conference season winds down with just two games left for each team this week before the state tournament begins on March 3rd. The GHS girls have already clinched at least third place and a spot in the post-season at Russellville High School.
Last Friday’s game was played at H.B. Stewart Arena and featured a touching halftime appearance by Coach Rick Jones, who received a standing ovation from the crowd and offered a few remarks over the P.A. system. Jones resigned a week earlier after 16 years at Greenwood and eight state championships.
The Lady Bulldogs started slowly, but eventually blew the game open in the second half, winning 70-43 behind double-digit scoring efforts by freshman Mady Cartwright (17) and junior Kinley Fisher (14).
Greenwood led 8-6 after a lackluster offensive performance in the first quarter, but pulled ahead 27-21 at the half.
The GHS girls owned the third quarter by a margin of 18-11 and led 45-32 after three periods. The Lady Bulldogs then put the game away with a 25-point flourish in the final eight minutes.
Greenwood (20-5) won its 20th game for the 10th time under Coach Reeves, now in his 17th season since leaving Greenland, where he won three state titles.
He is 700-247 (74%) overall in 32 seasons as a head coach, including a 327-147 (69%) record at Greenwood. He has four state titles with the Lady Bulldogs, giving him seven overall with hopes of earning another crown this season
“The Lord’s blessed me with the opportunity being able to coach a long time with a lot of great players, great teams, and great assistant coaches at great schools,” said Reeves after the monumental victory. “I’ve been blessed and I’m still being blessed.”
5A West Race
With 85% of the conference schedule concluded, there remains a logjam at the top between Vilonia (11-1), Little Rock Christian (10-2), and Greenwood (10-2). The Lady Bulldogs are hoping for a three-way tie.
Greenwood split (1-1) with both Vilonia and LR Christian earlier this season, and those two teams were slated to play this past Tuesday at Vilonia, with the outcome likely deciding the league winner.
Assuming the GHS girls take care of business this week against Alma and Greenbrier, a Vilonia loss would trigger the tie-breaker point system, which appears to favor Greenwood for the moment.
A win over LR Christian would give Vilonia the outright conference title, followed by second-place Greenwood. LR Christian would finish third, with Alma (6-6) and Beebe (5-7) battling for fourth place and the last playoff spot.
Looking ahead to the first week of March, the 5A West is pitted against the 5A East in the opening round of the state tournament with the strongest teams and best records in the state in those two divisions.
League Wins
Earlier this month the Lady Bulldogs continued their march through the 5A West schedule, winning four of their five games, including the win over Beebe and a home loss to Vilonia.
The month’s first game was at home, a 58-53 win over LR Christian, avenging an earlier loss in Little Rock. A trio of Lady Bulldogs contributed significant points in the victory.
Junior Kinley Fisher led the way with 16 points, followed by senior Jaelin Glass and sophomore Abby Summitt with 12 points each.
Four days later, on February 11th, the Lady Bulldogs bullied their way past the Lady Cyclones at Russellville, winning 80-39, invoking the mercy rule.
Greenwood led 50-30 at the half and was led in scoring by Fisher with 23 points, followed by Glass with 17 and Summitt with nine points.
Then came the home loss to Vilonia on Valentine’s Day, with the Lady Eagles building a double-digit lead early before Greenwood rallied to make it close at the end, losing 62-60.
Vilonia played a tremendous first half and hit 11 three-pointers through three quarters. Trailing 35-24 at the break, the Lady Bulldogs battled back in the second half, despite being down 14 points midway through the third period, getting the game within two points (52-50) with 5:43 left to play.
Fisher and Glass were huge offensively for Greenwood, scoring 26 and 22 points, respectively.
On February 18th the GHS girls had a breather against Siloam Springs, winning easily, 80-44. Greenwood led 37-19 at the half, coasting to the mercy rule victory.
Fisher and Cartwright tied for the scoring lead with 15 points each. Glass added nine points, while senior Harley Terry also contributed nine points from her post position.