There’s no way to sugarcoat the kind of basketball season the Greenwood varsity boys had this year. It was brutal, and Head Coach Donnie Husband knows it and doesn’t run from it.
Only three wins, all in non-conference action against smaller schools, and a winless record in league play means the Bulldogs are sitting home during the state playoffs.
The winner of over 600 games in his career, Husband knows basketball and what it takes to get to a championship level. He won two state titles in Oklahoma before coming to Greenwood last spring.
“We are still a ways away,” he admitted earlier this week. “But I think if we can have a good off-season, a good summer and a good pre-season, that we can be more competitive on a nightly basis.
“But we’ve got to find a way to put the ball in the basket,” he added. “Defensively, not having a rim protector, I thought we were competitive. Most of the teams we played their scoring was down.
“We’ve got to get consistent offensively and find more guys who can score. We’ve got to make a bigger commitment to shoot the ball more. We’ve got to find offense,” said the coach.
Asked about the lessons from this past season, Husband said, “The biggest thing is you appreciate what [the players] did. You appreciate that they handled some adversity and fought through it and stuck together.
“We’ve [now] got a better idea of exactly where we need to get to [in the conference]. If we can just get five possessions better [every game] that will make a big difference for us.
The Bulldogs have several key players returning next season, including seniors-to-be Steven Stone, Cameron Hampton, Jayce Garnes, all of which should be better, along with juniors-to-be Braden Stein and Evan Bartlett, both of whom show potential.
Coach Husband’s two sons, Caleb and Aaron Ligon also return in a supporting role, and there is some talent on the way from the junior high ranks as well. But the conference will be strong once again.
Greenbrier
The Bulldogs closed out their season last Friday on the road against the Panthers, dropping a 51-27 decision. Jayce Garnes led Greenwood with eight points, followed by Cameron Hampton with seven.
“We didn’t play well,” said Husband. “We tried to play a lot of young kids in the game too. We weren’t as motivated as we’ve been all season. We couldn’t hit a shot and it just kind of snowballed on us.
“They’ve got two 6’7” kids and we had a bunch of shots blocked inside. [Greenbrier] is a terrible matchup for us,” admitted the coach.
“[Point guard] Steven [Stone] got into foul trouble early, and we were in the game until we had to take him out. We made three or four turnovers in a row right after he came out of the game.”
Greenbrier blocked 10 Bulldogs’ shots and had 14 steals in the game. The Bulldogs also shot only 18% from the field and 55% from the free throw line.
Alma
“It was our one final shot to lay it all out there,” said Coach Husband of his Bulldogs’ final home game last Tuesday (February 19th) against fierce rival Alma.
It was senior night for Greenwood as well, and James Christian, Jack Gaston, Dalton Russell, Mark Johnson, and Bryce Marek were all recognized before the game.
The game itself was a good one, and the outcome wasn’t decided until the final seconds. Greenwood fell behind early, 12-4, then rallied to trail 21-16 after one period.
But a 7-0 Alma run to open the second quarter put the visitors up by 12 as both teams traded three-pointers in the period. The Bulldogs trailed 34-24 at the half.
Things changed dramatically in the second half though. The GHS defense gave up only 12 points, allowing the ‘Dogs’ sporadic offense to climb back into the game. Alma led 39-35 after three.
Jayce Garnes opened the scoring in the final quarter with a three-pointer, cutting the Alma lead to one point before sophomore Evan Bartlett hit a pair of free throws to put Greenwood ahead, 40-39.
But that’s when things started going downhill for the Bulldogs. Senior Jack Gaston fouled out midway through the period, soon followed to the bench by junior Cameron Hampton, injured after scoring 22 points on a barrage of three-pointers.
Absent two starters, Greenwood was unable to staunch an Alma rally, allowing the Airedales to go back on top 44-40. Hampton returned to the floor a couple of minutes later, but did not score again.
Trailing 44-42 with less than a minute remaining, the ‘Dogs missed a critical opportunity at the free throw line to potentially tie the score again.
Alma was then fouled and sealed the win with a pair of charity shots, making it a four-point game, the final margin, 46-42.
Besides Hampton’s 22, including six three-pointers, Jayce Garnes had 10 points for the Bulldogs, who left it all on the floor in a very emotional game.
Beebe
Four days earlier Greenwood made the long road trip to face the Badgers in 5A West conference play, losing 49-39, despite building a 10-point first quarter lead.
Ahead 14-4 after eight minutes, a poor offensive showing in the second period allowed the home team to grab the lead at the intermission, 20-19.
The offense remained anemic in the third quarter for Greenwood. The ‘Dogs scored just four points and trailed 27-23 headed into the final stanza.
Both teams picked up the scoring pace in the fourth period, but Beebe won the battle, 22-16, for the 49-39 victory. No GHS player reached double digits in scoring.
Jayce Garnes had eight points and Jack Gaston scored six points, while Cameron Hampton and Aaron Ligon had five points each.
Siloam Springs
The Panthers held Greenwood to just one field goal in the fourth quarter and coasted to a 56-27 conference road win at H.B. Stewart Arena on Tuesday, February 12th.
The visitors led throughout the game, 12-7 after one period and 27-15 at the half. The Panthers outscored Greenwood 18-8 in the third quarter and 11-4 in the fourth.
Jack Gaston scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the first half for the Bulldogs. Cameron Hampton added five points.