While the GHS girls have already played 10 times this season, the GHS boys have played just five games so far this fall. But the Bulldogs earned their first victory of the 2014-15 campaign last Friday in the loser’s bracket of the 29th annual Cyclone Classic at Russellville. The ‘Dogs are now 1-4 overall.
Their first game was last Thursday night against the Wolves of Lake Hamilton, a Class 6A school like Greenwood. But the Wolves got off to a good start, while the Bulldogs failed to reach double digits in scoring in either of the first two periods of play.
Trailing 13-8 after eight minutes, Greenwood fell behind 28-16 at the half. Lake Hamilton outscored the Bulldogs 18-10 in the third quarter, building a 46-26 advantage, then coasted over the final eight minutes to a comfortable 57-40 win.
Junior Dustin Lunsford led Greenwood in scoring with seven points, with no player reaching double figures offensively, though 10 players contributed points. Sophomore Dylan Hughes added six points, juniors Jeff Dementjeff and Ryan Padilla had five points each, and senior Drake Lee added four points.
The loss put the ‘Dogs in the loser’s bracket and set up a Friday night match with the Badgers of Arkadelphia, a Class 5A school, and once again Greenwood got off to a slow start offensively. But after trailing 14-8 after one period, the Bulldogs caught fire and poured in 23 second quarter points to take a 31-27 advantage at the intermission.
A strong third quarter helped them to build on that lead, outscoring the Badgers 17-7. Up 48-34 as the final quarter began, the ‘Dogs kept the pressure on by scoring 16 points to pull away for the 64-49 win. Padilla and Dementjeff scored 14 points each to lead the way, followed by Lunsford with 11 points, Matt Ludwig with eight points, and junior guard Grant Morgan with seven points.
In consolation play on Saturday, the Bulldogs faced the host team, the Russellville Cyclones, another 6A school and a future 7A/6A Central conference opponent in January. Unfortunately, the home team led the contest from start to finish and were never seriously challenged.
Greenwood trailed 15-8 after one period and 32-17 at the half. Despite sitting some of their starters early in the third quarter, the Cyclones continued to maintain their advantage throughout the second half. Leading 45-27 after three quarters, Russellville went on to the 65-42 victory. Greenwood scoring stats were not kept for the game because team managers were absent, taking their ACT exams.
Following the tournament, Head Coach Brian Martin reflected on his team’s play. “We got our first win against Arkadelphia,” he said. “We were aggressive that night attacking the basket. We were getting the shots we wanted in the first quarter, but they just weren’t falling. But we felt pretty good that we were going to be able to score at lot of points at the basket.
“So we just really changed our focus to attack the basket and shoot more lay-ups. Grant Morgan and Ryan Padilla were very aggressive attacking the basket. We felt like we had an advantage in physicality against [the Badgers] and it showed in the last three quarters. It was good to see them enjoy that victory.”
However, the coach lamented the turnovers and early point deficits his team endured in the two losses, saying, “We’ve got to get better at handling full court pressure, and we will as the year goes on. Hopefully [falling behind] won’t continue to be a trend. This team is learning on the go, and sometimes that’s means learning from the first quarter to the next, and it’s good to see us finish the games stronger. We’ve just got to do a better job of coming out in the first quarter and put ourselves in a good position before halftime so that we’re not playing catch-up.”
The Bulldogs will host their first home game of the season this Thursday night against the Fort Smith Southside Rebels. “The kids are looking forward to their first home game playing Southside,” said Martin. “It’s always a good battle between [us].”
Tip-off for the junior varsity contest is set for 5 p.m. with the varsity game to follow around 6:30 at H. B. Stewart Arena. Both the GHS boys and girls will then compete in a post-Christmas tournament at Mountain Home beginning December 29th.