It’s been a weird year for the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs, highlighted by their third consecutive state championship last March under then head coach Clay Reeves. The legendary leader retired last spring and will soon be inducted into the Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, along with former GHS football coach Rick Jones. Reeves won 11 state titles, eight of those at Greenwood, and Jones won eight titles, all with the Bulldogs, plus one additional championship in Oklahoma.
But the three-time defending state champion GHS ladies have been on a roller coaster since last spring. The school district hired a highly qualified and accomplished coach as Reeves’ replacement. James Halitzka had just won back-to-back state titles at tiny Bergman High School and came to Greenwood with high hopes of continuing Reeves’ legacy of championship basketball. But all that ended this fall when the new coach suddenly resigned due to health concerns.
Athletic Director Chris Young acted quickly to fill the vacancy from within the district, promoting veteran coach Ryan Casalman to lead the varsity girls. Casalman was the junior high boys basketball coach and is the varsity golf coach as well, but has 13 years of varsity experience coaching girls at County Line High School. His appointment was welcomed by the players, but such a transition just before the start of the season is not easy, especially when Greenwood’s non-conference schedule is so tough.
The Lady Bulldogs are currently 3-6 overall, with five of their six losses coming against Class 6A opponents. Three of their losses have been by two, four, and six points. On Friday this week the Greenwood girls will host yet another 6A traditional basketball power in North Little Rock at H.B. Stewart Arena. Following Christmas, they will play in the Little Rock Christian Classic tournament, Friday, Saturday, and Monday after the holiday. But before conference play begins, the Lady Bulldogs will host Class 6A Cabot on January 3rd. Van Buren travels to Greenwood on the 7th of January to open league play.
Most recently, the GHS girls participated last week in the Northwest Arkansas Classic basketball tournament held in Springdale, winning one of their three games, all against 6A foes, Bentonville, Springdale-Harber, and Fayetteville. Nine days before the tournament the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Central Arkansas to face the Conway Lady Wampus Cats.
Conway
Greenwood’s first outing in December came on Tuesday the 3rd against the Lady Wampus Cats of Conway, their third 6A opponent of the season. The Lady Bulldogs scored double figures in all four quarters, but it wasn’t enough to offset the offensive firepower of the hometown girls who rolled to a dominant 71-50 victory. Conway scored 19, 15, 21, and 16 points in each period, respectively, while the visitors scored 13, 11, 14, and 12 points. The Lady Wampus Cats are presently ranked #1 in the state of Arkansas by Max Preps sports.
The two squads were fairly even in many statistical metrics, like shooting percentage, three-pointers made, free throws, second chance points, and more, with Conway holding slight advantages in nearly every case. But Greenwood lost the battle of the boards, 31-43, turnovers, 24-18, and steals, 8-12. The Lady Bulldogs had only one player to score in double digits, though they did get offensive contributions from eight different players.
Senior Izzy Smith led the way with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists, and four steals from her point guard position. Junior Kylah Pearcy, daughter of assistant coach Dexter Pearcy, netted eight points with two boards and four assists. Senior Pate Jones and junior Journey Clements were next with seven points each, with the latter also getting four rebounds and two assists. Senior Keelie Dolan contributed five points and sophomore Hallie Fox added four. Dolan also grabbed four rebounds. Senior Piper Pitts added three points and junior Ashlin Rose scored two points.
Bentonville
After the loss at Conway, the Lady Bulldogs had over a week off from competition to focus on getting better on the practice floor and better acquainted with their third head coach in 2024. They returned to live action in the Northwest Arkansas Classic in Fayetteville on Thursday, December 12th. Their opponents were the Lady Tigers of Class 6A Bentonville in what turned out to be an offensive shootout and a GHS victory, 72-69. Despite winning three of the four quarters, the Lady Bulldogs trailed at halftime, 36-33. Greenwood led 20-16 after the first eight minutes, then won the third quarter, 23-19, and the fourth, 16-14.
The GHS ladies shot 39% from the field, including 12 of 31 three-pointers while sinking 12 of 14 free throws. Bentonville won the battle of the boards, 43 to 31, but Greenwood led in steals, 10 to 5, and had five fewer turnovers, 10 to 15. The GHS girls also had four players score in double digits, Kylah Pearcy (19), Piper Pitts (18), Pate Jones (16), and Izzy Smith (13). Ashlin Rose and Keelie Dolan added three points each. Rose led the team in rebounding with seven boards while Pitts had six rebounds. Pearcy also added four rebounds, six steals, and seven deflections. Smith dished out 11 assists in the win.
Springdale Har-Ber
Last Friday, December 13th, the Lady Bulldogs returned to tournament play in Fayetteville against Springdale Har-Ber in another high-scoring battle won by Har-Ber, 76-68. The Lady Wildcats had a huge first quarter, scoring 29 points to best the GHS ladies by 10 points. Greenwood spent the remainder of the game playing catchup before falling short at the end. The Har-Ber girls are currently ranked #3 in the state by Max Preps sports.
The Lady Bulldogs won the second quarter, 17-13, lost the third, 21-18, and narrowly won the fourth period, 14-13. They trailed 42-36 at the half and entered the final eight minutes down 63-54. Ironically, Greenwood shot 51% for the game compared to 42% for Springdale. But the Lady ‘Cats hit nine three-pointers to Greenwood’s four treys. The Lady Bulldogs outscored Springdale in the paint, 38-28, but lost the battle of the boards, 38 to 26. Greenwood also had 11 steals compared to eight for the opposition plus five blocks shots.
Kylah Pearcy led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with 24 points with a perfect 10 for 10 in two-point shots. She also had 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals, and three blocked shots in a superlative performance. Pate Jones added 15 points with Izzy Smith netting 12 points. Piper Pitts contributed nine points, Hallie Fox six points, and Ashlin Rose two points.
Fayetteville
Last Saturday Greenwood and Fayetteville clashed for the second time this season. The Lady Purple Dogs traveled to South Sebastian County in mid-November and returned home with a narrow 62-60 win. But their second meeting turned out quite differently with the Fayetteville girls exploding for 51 first half points to lead 51-26 at the intermission, a deficit from which the Lady Bulldogs were unable to recover in the 77-42 loss.
Greenwood shot only 24.5% for the contest, including just five of 29 from beyond the three-point arc. Fayetteville benefitted from 22 points off GHS turnovers and dominated the lane by scoring 40 points in the paint. Kylah Pearcy had 17 points to lead her teammates, nabbing six rebounds and three steals as well. Ashlin Rose scored eight points, Pate Jones had six points, Izzy Smith five points, while Journey Clements and Piper Pitts had three points each. Jones added four rebounds and Smith four assists as the Greenwood girls fell three games under the .500 mark.