Head Coach Clay Reeves and his top-ranked Lady Bulldogs continue to impress as 5A West conference play heads toward a conclusion next week. Reeves reached yet another coaching milestone on January 27th when his team beat Greenbrier for their seventh league victory against zero losses. The Lady Bulldogs are now 11-0 in league play, 24-2 overall, and are ranked #1 overall in Class 5A. They currently have a 19-game winning streak.
The win over Greenbrier was the 400th in Reeves’ coaching career at Greenwood against 158 losses, nearly a 72% winning clip. Including his 12 years at Greenland, Reeves is approaching 800 total wins, a mark he likely will surpass next season. But ending January with his 400th win at Greenwood was no big deal to the GHS head coach, now in his 20th season with the Lady Bulldogs.
"I hadn't even thought about it at all. I'm just thinking about the next [game]," said Reeves when asked about the milestone. "We'll worry about that later. We're just focused on the next one." The no-nonsense Reeves also has nine state titles to his credit, including six at Greenwood, and is on track to claim a tenth one this season, assuming his Lady Bulldogs tend to business as favorites to repeat as state champions.
Greenbrier
Following the postponement of the Alma game due to wintry weather, the Lady Bulldogs returned to action on Friday, January 27th, at home against Greenbrier. But it wasn’t much of a contest as the GHS girls exploded out of the gate with 22 points in the first quarter and 21 more in the second period. The home team scored 12 points in the opening stanza, but added just 13 points the rest of the game. Greenwood led 43-17 at the half, 59-25 after three periods, and held the Lady Panthers scoreless in the fourth quarter as Coach Reeves pulled his starters and cleared his bench in the 65-25 win.
Anna Trusty led the way offensively for Greenwood with 21 points. Mady Cartwright contributed 18 points and Brooklyn Woolsey added eight points in the win, #400 for Coach Reeves since coming to Greenwood 20 years ago. Since then his teams have averaged 20-plus wins per season. The Lady Bulldogs have a shot at winning 30 games this season should they run the table and win another state title.
Russellville
The GHS girls began February with a trip to Pope County and a rematch with the Lady Cyclones of Russellville, and it didn’t turn out well for the home team as the Lady Bulldogs blew them off the court by 40 points, 70-30. Strangely enough, the game was pretty close in the first half. Greenwood led 13-6 at the end of one period after a slow start offensively for both teams. The visitors then led 30-21 at the intermission. But things got away from Russellville in the second half.
The Lady Cyclones scored just six points in the third period while Greenwood pumped in 28 points, including a three-pointer by freshman Izzy Smith at the end of the quarter, making the score 58-27. Both head coaches then pulled their starters, allowing subs and younger players to finish the game. The visitors won the final stanza, 12-3.
As usual, Mady Cartwright and Anna Trusty led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with 22 and 14 points, respectively. Cartwright also had three rebounds and three assists while Trusty grabbed four boards. Izzy Smith scored eight points with three steals and three assists. Junior Brooklyn Woolsey also added eight points with two boards. Freshman Kylah Pearcy contributed four points with five rebounds. Senior Adriana Rusin didn’t score but had four rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Van Buren
Very much like the two previous games against Greenbrier and Russellville, the Lady Bulldogs took care of business early against the Lady Pointers on February 7th in route to another 40-plus point victory, 64-17. The GHS girls scored 16, 13, 24, and 11 points across four quarters, respectively, holding Van Buren to single digits in each period – 4, 6, 3, and 4 points.
Mady Cartwright and Anna Trusty played limited minutes but still led the team in scoring, though it was very balanced up and down the roster. Cartwright finished with 10 points while four others contributed nine points each, including Trusty, Kylah Pearcy, Carly Sexton, and Izzy Smith. Brooklyn Woolsey and senior Ella Williams scored five points each.
Alma
It took three tries, but Greenwood finally traveled to Alma last Wednesday, February 8th, for a game previously postponed twice due to winter weather conditions. But the Lady Airedales might have wished for another postponement or perhaps a cancellation after the Lady Bulldogs took a 16-0 lead to start the contest and led 22-1 after one period.
Greenwood went on to build a 31-1 advantage in the second quarter before the Alma girls hit their first field goal. The visitors led 40-11 at the half. The Lady Bulldogs won the third stanza by a 17-12 margin and pulled their starters before the quarter ended with Greenwood on top, 57-23. Eight minutes later the GHS girls walked off the floor as 71-26 winners. Anna Trusty led her GHS teammates in with 14 points. Mady Cartwright contributed 13 points and Kylah Pearcy added nine points.
Harrison
Playing their third game in four days might prove daunting to many teams, but not to a team coached by Clay Reeves. His Lady Bulldogs were pumped to get back to work after bad weather interrupted their schedule the two previous weeks. After beating Van Buren and Alma by hefty margins earlier in the week, they endured the long trip to Harrison last Friday and did the same to the Lady Goblins, winning handily, 75-35.
Mady Cartwright opened the scoring with a three-pointer, followed by Anna Trusty gently banking one off the glass for an early 5-0 lead. Cartwright went on to score 14 points in the first quarter alone as Greenwood led 28-7 after one period and 43-17 at the halftime break. The visitors then opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run, putting them ahead 50-17. The mercy rule went into effect by the end of the period with Greenwood up, 69-28. With both teams subbing liberally, the Lady Goblins did win the last period scoring battle, 7-6.
For the Lady Bulldogs, Mady Cartwright finished with 24 points in limited minutes. She also grabbed five rebounds and had two assists, two steals, and one blocked shot. Likewise, Anna Trusty didn’t play much in the second half, ending the game with 18 points, four assists, two boards, and three steals. Brooklyn Woolsey contributed 13 points while three others added five points each – junior Carley Sexton, sophomore Piper Pitts, and freshman Kylah Pearcy.
Siloam Springs
The power problems didn’t just impact the boys’ game last Tuesday night, forcing the final 10:38 to be postponed until the following evening. The power went out at the arena even before the Lady Bulldogs took the floor and the electricity did not come back on for nearly an hour, pushing the start of the girls’ varsity game back a few minutes. But when the ball was tossed up the Lady Bulldogs ran out to a 22-10 advantage after one period and 33-16 at the half.
While their first meeting at Siloam Springs was very close and required a come-from-behind effort by the Lady Bulldogs to pull out a slim victory, the rematch wasn’t close at all. The Siloam Springs’ head coach called multiple timeouts to try and stem the GHS momentum, but to no avail. Midway through the third quarter he pulled his starters with his team trailing by more than 30 points and Coach Reeves followed suit a short time later. Greenwood led 61-18 after three periods and shutout the Lady Panthers in the fourth quarter for the 70-18 victory.
Three players topped the scoring list for the Greenwood girls, led by Mady Cartwright with 18 points, Anna Trusty with 17 points, and Izzy Smith with 16 points. Coach Reeves was also able to clear his bench in the fourth quarter and give playing time to all his girls, rewarding them for their hard work this season.
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Asked about the difference between the first and second games with Siloam Springs, Coach Reeves said, “That first game was still on their minds,” referring to his players. “That was a great game. Siloam Springs played great, and it was a close game. Our kids knew [this one] was going to be a tough game and we’ve been preparing for it. But shooting the ball well and hustling and playing hard on defense takes care of most [things], and our kids did a great job of that tonight.”
The Lady Bulldogs have three games remaining in conference play and on their regular season schedule. Barring an upset of monumental proportions, the GHS girls should win out and finish unbeaten in league play (14-0), ending the season with a 22-game winning streak heading into the playoffs as the #1 seed and favorite to repeat at state champions. They play Friday night at Mountain Home, then host Alma next Tuesday for senior night before ending the season on the road at Greenbrier. The state playoffs will begin the following week at Pine Bluff. The state title game will be played in Hot Springs.
Asked about how he intends to wrap up the regular season, Coach Reeves said, “We’re going to practice hard the rest of this week and all next week to [maintain] our conditioning and still prepare for the next three teams, just like we always do. We’re going to work on things we need to just to get better ourselves, so we’ll keep working on a few of those basic things and try to [improve].”