Lady Bulldogs to play for state title on Saturday
The Greenwood High School Lady Bulldogs have defied the odds and reached the Class 5A state championship game, scheduled for next Saturday in Summit Arena at the Hot Springs Convention Center. The GHS girls earned the right to compete for the state title by their performance in the first three rounds of state tournament play at Alma High School last week, defeating Monticello, Camden Fairview, and Nettleton on successive days. Greenwood has never won a state basketball championship and last appeared in the title game in 1998, when both the GHS girls and boys lost in the finals to Hot Springs.
Greenwood 66, Monticello 38
Thursday's game tipped off at 1 p.m. and was basically over by half past the hour. By the four-minute mark of the first period the Lady 'Dogs opened up an 8-0 lead on a pair of three-pointers by senior guard Lynsey Turner, sandwiched around a short jumper by sophomore forward Endsley Evans. After Monticello's first basket, Greenwood sophomore guard Haley Donald canned another trey, then got an assist on a pass to Evans, who scored on a lay-up for a 13-2 GHS lead.
Senior forward Sarah Lenzen added a pair of free throws and Greenwood led 15-4 after eight minutes. After 16 minutes, the score stood at 36-11, thanks to a 15-0 scoring run by Greenwood at the start of the second period. Junior forward Jessica Moudy started the blitz with a long field goal and ended it at the free throw line. In between, Evans scored three buckets down low, Turner hit another trey and added a free throw, and Donald drove for a lay-up. Greenwood led 30-4 at the 2:43 mark.
The second half was just a formality as the Lady 'Dogs outscored Monticello 19-14 in the third quarter for a 55-25 lead, invoking the Arkansas Activities Association's Sportsmanship Rule to begin the final stanza. Greenwood entered the game as the number three seed from the 5A West Conference, while Monticello was the two seed from the 5A Central. The GHS girls improved their season record to 19-10 overall, while Monticello finished at 15-10.
Endsley Evans led the GHS scoring barrage with 24 points. Lynsey Turner finished with 10 points on three long-distance bombs, all in the first half, helping her team build its big lead. Jessicah Moudy added nine points, sophomore guard Allie Wilson scored seven points, and Haley Donald added six points.
Greenwood head coach Clay Reeves, who earned his 500th career victory with the win, was obviously pleased with his team's offensive explosion. "I knew we were due to have all of our players have a good offensive night," he said. "All of our players were in rhythm and shot the ball really well. When that happens on the same night, it usually leads to good things. We [also] played really good team defense, and rebounded really well. That's what happened tonight."
As for his landmark victory, the coach was philosophical and quick to share the wealth. "It just means that I've had a lot of good players through the years," said the coach. "The next game is always the most important. Any win is good. I just give our kids the credit. They practiced hard and had to wait all week to play, [and] they couldn't have responded any better."
Greenwood 53, Camden Fairview 52
The Lady 'Dogs got off to another good start against the Camden Fairview Lady Cardinals on Friday, in a game that tipped off shortly after 4 p.m. The GHS girls led 5-0 through the first four minutes in what turned out to be a low scoring first period. Endsley Evans added a trio of charity shots to make the score 8-4 after the first eight minutes.
Greenwood's defense limited the opposition's access to the lane and Camden Fairview continued to fires bricks and blanks from the perimeter throughout the second quarter. Endsley Evans scored inside for a 10-4 Greenwood lead, which increased to 13-4 moments later after a three-pointer by Allie Wilson, prompting the Lady Cardinals to call a timeout to regroup. Moments later, GHS senior guard Rebel Clay fed Evans for an easy basket to make the score 15-5. Greenwood added four charity shots to lead 19-12 at the half, holding Camden Fairview to only one field goal from the floor.
But it was after a status quo third quarter that things really started to get interesting. Greenwood led 35-29 as the fourth period began, but the Lady Cardinals were beginning to shows signs of life offensively, a trend they continued early in the final frame. Their full court defensive pressure was also starting to take a toll and reap some benefits. Taking the opening possession, they scored inside to trim their deficit to 35-31. After a charging call on Greenwood and a timeout by Coach Reeves, the Lady Cards hit a three-pointer to cut the margin to 35-34.
The Lady Bulldogs managed to stave off the assault until the 5:00 mark, when Camden Fairview sank a free throw to tie the game at 39-all. In the process, Sarah Lenzen fouled out of the game and was replaced by Allie Wilson. But yet another turnover became a 42-39 deficit as the Lady Cardinals hit another triple. Undaunted, Greenwood rallied on a pair of free throws by Evans and a lay-up by Wilson.
The teams continued to battle, trading free throws until the game was tied again at 47-all with 2:30 remaining to play. Following another GHS turnover - one of 21 for the game - Camden Fairview took its last lead of the contest at 49-47. Allie Wilson tied the game with a lay-up and put Greenwood back on top with a free throw. After a defensive stop, Rebel Clay fed Endsley Evans streaking to the basket, and the Lady 'Dogs were up 52-49 when the Lady Cardinals called timeout with 1:09 left to play.
After another defensive stop, Greenwood rebounded the ball and Rebel Clay was fouled and went to the line with a chance to increase the lead, but missed both free throws. Then after the Lady Bulldogs rebounded the second miss, they promptly turned it over, allowing the Lady Cardinals to score and complete a three-point play to tie the game at 52-all with 27 seconds remaining on the clock.
When play resumed, Clay was fouled again, and this time she hit the front end of the one-and-one, but missed the second shot with just under 13 seconds left. Leading 53-52, Greenwood allowed Camden Fairview's best player to penetrate the lane, not wanting to foul her. Still, her driving shot within six feet missed the basket, but bounced off a GHS player and out-of-bounds with exactly four seconds left.
After each team called a timeout to assess its strategy, the Lady Cards inbounded the ball and hurriedly put up another short jumper from the right side of the basket, but the ball was nowhere close. A teammate rebounded the miss near the baseline and threw up another prayer at the buzzer, but thankfully for GHS fans, that prayer was not answered, and the Lady Bulldogs survived to advance to the semifinals, winning 53-52. Endsley Evans led the team with 13 points, while Allie Wilson had 12 points and Lynsey Turner 11 points. Both teams combined for 49 fouls and 68 free throws.
"It was really an exciting game to be a part of," said the Camden coach after the contest. "Greenwood hit some big time free throws down the stretch. They shot free throws a lot better than we did. Coach Reeves does a great job. We had a chance [at the end] and that's all we can ask for."
"Our kids just gutted it out," said Coach Reeves outside his team's locker room after the win. "I thought we played good defense and rebounded well. All of our kids stepped up and did what we needed to do. I thought we handled [their press] pretty well," he added, surprised to hear that his team had so many turnovers. "They found a way," he said of his players. "Our kids made good decisions," he added, against a "quick, physical team. All of our kids got a big basket or got a rebound at the right time. There are no easy roads," said Reeves. "You've just got to get it done. I never saw any letdown. Our kids kept their heads up. We [just] made one more play than they did down the stretch."
Greenwood 54, Nettleton 43
The semi-finals on Saturday drew a large contingent of GHS fans that made the short drive over to Airedales Arena for the 6 p.m. tip-off, and once again the Lady Bulldogs took the early lead. Endsley Evans began the scoring by hitting one of two free throw attempts. After a pair of Rebel Clay lay-ups and two more charity shots by Allie Wilson, Greenwood led 7-4. Evans added another free throw for an 8-6 lead, but Nettleton hit a three-pointer just before the buzzer to take its only lead of the game at 9-8.
The scoring slowed to a crawl for the first half of the second period, and Greenwood led just 11-9 with 3:30 left in the quarter. Endsley Evans then fed Sarah Lenzen inside for a lay-up and a 13-9 advantage at the 2:40 mark, but four Nettleton free throws tied the game at 13-all with 2:00 left to play. The Lady Bulldogs then went back up by four points at 17-13 on two baskets by Endsley Evans. The Lady Raiders added a pair of free throws to make the score 17-15, and that's when things fell apart for Nettleton.
The Lady Bulldogs closed out the half with a seven-point run that essentially won the game for them. The first to score was Allie Wilson, increasing the GHS lead to 19-15. Endsley Evans then rebounded a Nettleton miss and went coast-to-coast for a lay-up on the offensive end, putting Greenwood up 21-15. But the dagger in the heart came with five seconds left, when Lynsey Turner unleashed a long-distance bomb that touched nothing but the bottom of the net. When the teams left the floor at the half to go to their respective locker rooms, Greenwood's margin had ballooned to nine points at 24-15.
Nettleton cut the GHS lead to 26-20 early in the third quarter, but the Lady 'Dogs quickly pushed their margin to double-digits after a steal and basket by Haley Donald, making the score 31-20 and prompting a Nettleton timeout. Coach Reeves called a timeout moments later when Sarah Lenzen picked up her fourth foul, the first of several players on both sides who found themselves in foul trouble in a game that was called very close by the officials. Jessicah Moudy replaced Lenzen in the lineup and scored a basket in the final minutes of the third quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs still led, 36-29, after three periods, and Nettleton never managed a serious run at Greenwood in the fourth quarter. The closest they came was at 39-34 at the 4:50 mark. Jessicah Moudy then fed Endsley Evans inside for a basket to push the lead back to seven points. Seconds later Evans scored again to put Greenwood up 44-35 with four minutes left. Evans soon picked up her fourth foul, but managed to stay in the game until the final buzzer, something that could not be said for two of Nettleton's starters who fouled out in the final minutes. When the buzzer sounded, Greenwood was up 54-43.
As she had done in the previous two tournament games, Endsley Evans led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with 19 points. Haley Donald added 11 points, while Lynsey Turner contributed eight points and Rebel Clay seven points. Allie Wilson, Jessicah Moudy, and Sarah Lenzen combined for nine points.
Following the game, the Lady Bulldogs were understandably jubilant as they went to the locker room and celebrated their berth in the Class 5A state championship game. Head coach Clay Reeves, no stranger to state title games from his previous stint as head coach at Greenland, was also pleased with his team's play in the post-season. "It was a great game," said Reeves. "Our kids came in here and played three great games in three days. They kept their heads up and fought and played with heart the whole time. When things didn't go [well] they just kept playing. They deserve all the credit. They did what they had to do. I think confidence is the biggest thing - just believing in themselves - and mainly a lot of it is focus, understanding what we're trying to do on offense and defense." Reeves also gave credit to his two senior guards for their poise and leadership. "[Lynsey Turner] had an extremely good tournament as far as shooting, and she also guards the other team's main ball handler. Rebel [Clay] has fit into her role of taking care of the ball, and distributing [the ball], and playing good defense."
Coach Reeves also agreed that the game turned in the final two minutes of the second quarter. "Turner's three right before the half gave us a nine-point lead," said the coach, "and gave us great momentum going into that third quarter. At that point I wasn't ready for halftime. I wanted to keep going."
Reeves also agreed that both games against Camden Fairview and Nettleton were rough-and-tumble affairs. "Both of these games were real rough, [but] I thought [the officials] called it both ways. We've got some tough kids and we have some pretty physical practices. Our kids are mentally tough and I've driven them really hard all year. I've challenged them on a daily basis and I'm extremely proud of all of our kids. It's [been] a total team effort. We beat a two [seed] and two [number] ones, and that puts us in a position to be number one after next week, and why not us?"
The victory over Nettleton improved the Lady Bulldogs' season record to 21-10. The state championship game between Greenwood and Little Rock Christian will be played Saturday, March 13th, at 6 pm in Summit Arena at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs.