The Greenwood High School girls and boys basketball teams completed their regular season schedules last Friday night before a nice home crowd at H.B. Stewart Arena on the GHS campus. With state tournament berths already locked up before tip-off, it would have been easy to coast through the regular season finale against Morrilton, but it was senior night and there were still worthy goals to achieve. The GHS girls completed a perfect (14-0) conference season with their 53-25 victory over the Lady Devil Dogs. The Bulldogs earned the second seed from the 5A West in the state tournament by beating Morrilton, 50-38. Earlier in the week both squads went on the road and won at Huntsville.
Greenwood at Huntsville
Last Tuesday’s game at Huntsville was something of an anomaly, with Greenwood losing the scoring battle in three of the four quarters, while winning the game by 10 points, 66-56. Huntsville led 12-8 after eight minutes and 30-25 at the half after outscoring Greenwood 18-17 in the second quarter. But a 26-point outburst by the Lady Bulldogs in the third quarter, coupled with a stingy defense that allowed the Lady Eagles just five points, turned out to be the difference in the game. Leading 51-35 after three periods, Greenwood coasted to the 66-56 victory. Scoring stats were not available.
GHS head coach Clay Reeves was happy with the road win, saying, “We’re done with our road games, and our team has [played] well. We want to come out and finish strong in our last conference game at home,” he added, referring to the season finale against Morrilton. Reeves also hoped to play senior forward Endsley Evans against the Lady Devil Dogs. Evans missed more than half of the conference schedule – eight games in all – with an injured ankle. “She has started working her way back, doing some conditioning and some different drills,” said Reeves. “She’s going to give it a try.”
The GHS boys continued their late season surge with a convincing 69-52 win over the Eagles, outscoring them in all but the final period. Greenwood led 22-16 after one quarter and 40-28 at the half. A scoring margin of 15-7 added to the Bulldogs’ lead after three periods, 55-35. Huntsville won the final eight minutes by a count of 17-14, but it was too little too late.
Senior Ryan Lensing led the scoring for Greenwood with 22 points. Junior Colton McEvoy added 13 points as the only other GHS player in double digits. Juniors Drew Morgan and Ethan Clark both added eight points, while fellow junior Cole McAllister contributed six points. The victory left the Bulldogs even with Morrilton in the conference standings, tied for second place behind Alma. Greenwood also finished with an amazing 6-1 record on the road in league play this season.
“It’s going to be a battle,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Brian Martin of the season finale against the Devil Dogs. “It’s two state tournament teams both wanting the get the highest seed possible. We’re hoping to finish the regular season with our seventh straight win, lock up the two seed, and have some momentum going into the state tournament,” said the coach. “We’re playing well at the right time of the year. Our kids are playing with confidence and believe in themselves. We’re respecting everyone, but fearing no one.”
Morrilton at Greenwood
Last Friday at H.B. Stewart Arena was senior night for all 12th grade members of the basketball teams and spirit squads. The seniors were escorted onto the floor by their parents and were honored between games. In the first contest the Lady Bulldogs rolled to an easy 53-25 win to complete a perfect conference season at 14-0. The Lady Bulldogs finished the regular season at 23-4 overall and are ranked number one in Class 5A headed into the state tournament at Paragould’s Greene County Tech this week. In Friday’s nightcap, the Bulldogs held the Devil Dogs at bay throughout a tough-fought battle for the league’s number two seed. A 16-4 run in the fourth quarter broke a 34-all tie and gave Greenwood its seventh straight win. The Bulldogs ended the regular season at 21-7 overall and 11-3 in conference play.
The Lady Devil Dogs were never really in the game, trailing 14-3 after one quarter and 29-11 at the break. Over the first 16 minutes, Greenwood had scoring runs of 8-0, 6-0, 6-0, and 9-0. And if there was any doubt about the outcome, it was put to rest in the third period when the Lady Bulldogs outscored Morrilton 21-8 to build an insurmountable 50-19 lead, invoking the mercy rule. Both coaches emptied their benches in the fourth quarter, and the two teams failed to combine for 10 points, as Morrilton won the period 6-3, while losing the game by 28 points.
Junior Sammy Richards led the scoring for Greenwood with 12 points. Freshman Megan Hartness added 11 points, while junior Presleigh Atkins scored eight points and sophomore point guard Lundon Williams added seven points. Junior Allie Barnes chipped in with six points and several others got in the scoring column with four points or less, including senior Endsley Evans, who netted two points while logging a few minutes in both halves. It was the first time Evans had played since mid-January.
Regarding his team’s perfect conference record, while also scoring the fourth most points (918) in the history of the 5A West, Coach Reeves said, “It’s hard in this conference. [But] they have been focused. They practice hard. They push each other. It’s hard to stay that focused through 14 conference games since the first of January, but they have [stayed focused] every night. We’ve had some bumpy roads at times, but they’ve overcome them.”
In the boys’ contest last Friday, the Bulldogs took an early lead and never relinquished it, though the Devil Dogs did manage to briefly tie the score a couple of times. Ryan Lensing hit the first bucket for the Bulldogs, a two-pointer, at the 6:50 mark of the first period. When the buzzer sounded, Greenwood led 12-10 with three quarters to go. Junior guard Drew Caple hit a three-pointer to jumpstart the scoring in the second period, putting the Bulldogs up 15-10. When the clock ticked under a minute left in the half, Coach Martin called for his squad to hold the ball for the last shot, and junior Colton McEvoy made it count, scoring on a driving layup just before the buzzer.
Leading 20-14 at the intermission, the Bulldogs led by eight points twice in the third quarter, the last time at 29-21. But Morrilton closed the period with a 10-4 scoring run to narrow the GHS lead to 33-31. After the Devil Dogs tied the game for the last time at 34-all, the Bulldogs then outscored the visitors 16-4 the rest of the way to win the game, 50-38. Junior forward Ethan Clark was instrumental in starting the decisive run, scoring a pair of buckets, one on a stickback after an offensive rebound and another on a pretty turnaround bank shot off the glass. Moments later, Morrilton’s biggest and best player, Warren Leapheart, was called for a foul and then compounded matters by tossing the ball away and getting whistled for a technical foul as well. Ryan Lensing hit both free throws and Greenwood sealed the victory minutes later when Colton McEvoy stole the ball and dished it to Drew Morgan for a layup at the one-minute mark, with the Bulldogs leading 47-31. The 50-38 win gave them the second seed from the 5A West in the upcoming state tournament.
Coach Martin was very complimentary of his team’s play, especially on defense. “Giving up just 38 points is a real credit to our defense,” he said. “Our guys are really competing on the defensive end and working hard to limit teams to one shot.” The coach also talked about the intense, physical nature of the game. “We knew it was going to be a physical game on both ends of the floor. It was one of those grind-it-out type of games. During this seven-game [winning] stretch our defense has showed up in a big way. We’re holding teams to below 48 [points] a game, and to hold those guys to 38 – what an effort by our team. It was definitely a team effort. It wasn’t pretty, but this time of year it doesn’t have to be. We just wanted to get the “W” and keep this thing going as we enter the state tournament.”
Against Morrilton, Ryan Lensing led the scoring with 17 points, and was the only GHS player in double digits. Drew Morgan added nine points, Ethan Clark eight points, Colton McEvoy seven points, and Adam Lucas six points on two three-pointers. “In the last four minutes when it counted, we made the plays to win a close ball game,” said Coach Martin.
In his third season at the helm for the Bulldogs, Martin will lead his team into the state tournament for the first time on Thursday against Central Arkansas Christian at 2:30 p.m. at Greene County Tech in Paragould in Northeast Arkansas. The Thursday first-round game gives the Bulldogs more time at home and in the classroom, and more time to practice and prepare for the tournament opener, but it also means that they could be called upon to play three games in three days, should they reach the semi-finals on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Friday’s quarterfinal game is set for 5:30 p.m. But all things considered, that would be a nice problem to have.
As for the Lady Bulldogs, they will spend most of the week away from home, living out of their suitcases. The GHS girls play their first-round game on Tuesday, February 28th, against Little Rock Christian at 4 p.m. A victory would put them in the quarterfinals on Friday at 1 p.m. with the semi-finals set for Saturday at noon. Because of the distance, travel time required, the fuel expense, and the need for adequate rest and practice time, the Lady Bulldogs will remain in Paragould for the duration of their stay in the tournament. If either or both GHS teams reach the finals, the championship games will be played in Summit Arena in Hot Springs over three days, March 8-10. The schedule will be announced later.