True to form, Head Coach Clay Reeves and his Lady Bulldogs have begun their season with a bang, taking on a pair of Class 7A schools in the opening week of the 2017-18 campaign. After winning their annual AAA benefit game the previous Thursday over Class 4A Prairie Grove, the GHS girls traveled to Bentonville last Tuesday, then hosted Fort Smith Northside last Thursday.
Both games resulted in narrow defeats, but they were quality losses to much larger schools, and in the case of Northside, the Lady Bulldogs lost to one of the most storied girls’ basketball programs in the state during the modern era. The Lady Bears have won six state titles since 1999.
Reeves believes that playing tough, even superior competition early in the season prepares his teams for the grind of conference play. But more importantly, it prepares them for the rigors of the post-season in the state tournament. And it’s hard to argue with his results, having won seven state championships, including the last four at Greenwood.
Bentonville
At Bentonville, the Lady Bulldogs fell behind early, down 8-0 before scoring their first points, ultimately trailing 15-3 after one quarter before starting their long comeback. One player for the Lady Tigers, junior Avery Hughes, scored 34 points in the game, with 20 of those points coming from the free throw line.
Down by 12 points after eight minutes, Greenwood charged back with a vengeance in the second period on the strength of a 15-5 scoring run. Freshman Kinley Fisher's bucket pulled the Lady Bulldogs within two points at 20-18 with 2:18 left in the half. But the Lady Tigers rallied and closed the quarter with a 9-1 rush for a 29-19 halftime lead.
The visitors made another run in the third period, outscoring Bentonville 15-10, trimming the GHS deficit to just five points 39-34. Junior guard Kyiah Julian scored early in the fourth quarter, making it a three-point game at 39-36, but that was as close as the Lady Bulldogs could get.
Hughes scored the next six points to make it 45-36, and she hit 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, helping to keep the Lady Bulldogs at bay. Both teams breached the 20-point barrier in the final eight minutes, but Bentonville held on to win by its original eight-point margin, 62-54.
Offensively for Greenwood, senior post player Kaila Cartwright and freshman guard Haven Clements each had 12 points in the contest. Sophomore guard Angela Price added 10 points, while Fisher and Julian both had seven points.
Northside
Last Thursday the GHS girls hosted the Lady Bears of Fort Smith Northside in what turned out to be a very intense, fast-paced, and physical game. Several players spent time picking themselves up off the floor, including Northside senior Aniya Webster, who went down with a knee injury and had to be assisted to the training room. She did not return.
“It was a very physical ballgame,” said Northside Head Coach Ricky Smith. “Very, very physical. We missed a lot of shots early,” he continued. “We started hitting some shots in the third quarter and got a big lead, then kind of relaxed. But it was a quality win, because there’s not many teams that will come out of this arena with a win.”
Greenwood jumped ahead 6-3 early, but Northside scored the last nine points of the opening quarter to take the lead for good. Trailing 12-6 after eight minutes, the Lady Bulldogs hung around on a Kyiah Julian driving bucket and a pair of scores by Kinley Fisher, including a three-pointer.
But the Lady Bears pushed their lead to double digits at 24-13 and then 28-15 before freshman Stormi Baggs hit a pair of free throws and Fisher stole the ball and was fouled, making both charity shots. That cut the deficit to 28-19 before Northside closed the half with two free throws for a 30-19 advantage at the intermission.
Greenwood started the third period hoping to chip away at the Northside lead, and Kyiah Julian hit a pair of three-pointers to twice trim the margin to eight points. But the Lady ‘Dogs couldn’t grab the momentum, and the Lady Bears rallied to lead by 19 points late in the quarter, 49-30.
Then the worm turned, so to speak. Northside lost its intensity and started missing shots, including four straight misses at the free throw line, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to get back into the game. A 20-6 scoring run ended with another Julian three-pointer with 2:14 remaining, making the score 56-50.
Greenwood got within six points on three more occasions, including 63-57 with 37 seconds to go, but Northside was able to hold off the Lady Bulldogs’ late charge by hitting their free throws in the final minute for the 67-57 win.
Julian scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half to lead all scorers, including a trio of three-pointers. Ninth-grader Kinley Fisher added 16 points and two treys for the Lady Bulldogs and senior Kaila Cartwright scored seven points.
Asked about his team’s response to the challenge of playing two Class 7A schools right out of the gate, Coach Reeves said, “I’m proud of the way our kids have competed. They’re playing hard. They’re learning a lot and they’re going to keep learning. I saw a big improvement from Tuesday night to Thursday night. I feel good about the direction we’re headed.
“Both games we’ve gotten behind against good teams,” he continued. “But our kids kept fighting. Offensively, we’ve just got to have a little better first quarter, but we’ll get that fixed. We’re shooting a lot, and we’re going to make more of them, and we’re getting offensive rebounds, so that tells me things are headed in the right direction.
“We competed hard in both games,” said Reeves. “We’re playing good teams for a reason, and we’re going to continue to play some really good teams. That’s the way you learn and grow up. We’re looking at the end of February and [early] March, and we’re headed in that direction right now. They’re playing defense, they’re rebounding, they’re hustling, they’re competing. I don’t have a gripe,” he said.
Oddly enough, the Lady Bulldogs are off for the entire week of Thanksgiving, instead spending extra time on the practice floor. They will next see live action at Morrilton on Tuesday, November 28th. Another off week then follows before they play in a tournament at Fayetteville, December 7-9.