The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs continue to grow and develop this season, winning two of three games last week at home while co-hosting the H.B. Stewart Classic. This past Tuesday afternoon the GHS girls traveled to Class 7A Rogers and came away with a 46-39 victory.
Trailing 25-16 at the half, the Lady Bulldogs finished strong with 11 and 19 points in the final two periods while holding the Lady Mountaineers to just 14 second half points. Kyiah Julian led the team in scoring with 17 points, followed by Susannah Stein with nine, Sara Reeves with eight, and Harley Terry with six points. The win improved the team's record to 6-5 overall.
The Lady 'Dogs will host Rogers Heritage this Thursday (Dec. 22) afternoon before taking a few days off for Christmas. They will return to practice early next week before traveling to Mountain Home for a three-day tournament starting on Wednesday the 28th. Greenwood opens 6A/5A West conference play at Alma on Tuesday, January 3rd.
H.B. Stewart Classic
Greenwood, Morrilton, Providence Academy, and Bentonville West were the four varsity girls teams who participated in the event named after the legendary former coach and athletic director at Greenwood High School. The tournament was played in the arena bearing his name, and each team was guaranteed three games over three days.
The Lady Bulldogs' opening game last Thursday was against the winless Lady Wolverines of Bentonville West in Centerton, a new high school in its first year of existence. But the home team made quick work of the visitors, jumping out to a 23-2 first quarter lead en route to a 71-34 win.
After overwhelming Bentonville through the first eight minutes, the Lady Bulldogs continued their scoring barrage in the second stanza, starting with sophomore guard Baleigh Wiginton's opening three-pointer of the period.
Wiginton continued her hot shooting, hitting three more long distance bombs before halftime, and finished with five total. Greenwood led 50-18 at the break.
Senior forward Sara Reeves scored the first seven points of the third quarter for Greenwood as the Lady Bulldogs pushed their lead to 37 points at 57-20. Head Coach Clay Reeves then began pulling his starters and cleared the bench, allowing his junior varsity players to finish the game.
Wiginton's 15 points led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring, followed by sophomore Kyian Julian with 13 points, along with Sara Reeves and freshman Jaelin Glass with nine points each.
Game two last Friday pitted Greenwood against the Lady Devil Dogs of Morrilton. It was their second meeting this season. Morrilton won the earlier game at home by two points, 47-45, but last week's contest was a different story.
The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-2 lead, only to have Morrilton tie the game at 7-all. But a late three-pointer by Greenwood put the GHS girls up 10-7 after eight minutes.
The scoring picked up for both teams in the second period. The Lady 'Dogs netted the first six points of the quarter to take a 16-7 advantage. Leading 18-11, Greenwood then got baskets from junior Kaila Cartwright and Baleigh Wiginton to double Morrilton at 22-11. Greenwood led 26-18 at the half.
Both teams scored 10 points each in the third stanza. The GHS girls ran out to a 35-20 lead on two field goals by Cartwright, including a three-pointer, and two-pointers by Reeves and sophomore Susannah Stein. The Lady Devil Dogs rallied to cut their deficit to 36-28 after 24 minutes.
Morrilton scored the first three points of the final period, trimming the GHS lead to 36-31, but that's as close as the visitors would come. A lay-up by Stein and a three-pointer by Julian made the score 45-36 at the 2:21 mark, and Greenwood increased its final margin to double digits at the free throw line, winning 52-38.
Leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring was Julian with 17 points, Cartwright with 13, Reeves with seven, and Stein with six points. Sophomore Kenzie Smith added four points, while Glass had three points and Wiginton had two.
The girls finale of the H.B. Stewart Classic was last Saturday afternoon, pitting Greenwood against Providence Academy, a private Christian school in Springdale. The Lady Patriots played well in notching a 50-43 victory, winning the tournament title with a perfect 3-0 record.
Providence used full court defensive pressure throughout the game, forcing Greenwood to handle the basketball well just to get across the half-court line. "We handled the press pretty [well] a few times," said Coach Reeves after the game, "and a few times we didn't," he added.
The opening eight minutes was both frantic and close, with Greenwood leading 15-12 at the buzzer. A three-pointer by Baleigh Wiginton put the Lady Bulldogs on top 19-18, and a Susannah Stein lay-up tied the score at 21-all at the 2:15 mark of the second quarter, but Providence led 24-21 at the half.
The Lady Bulldogs took a brief 25-24 third period lead on a jumper by Jaelin Glass, but Providence responded with a 6-1 run to push ahead 30-26 at the five minute mark. The Lady Pats led 38-34 heading into the final period.
Greenwood pulled to within three points (46-43) with just over a minute remaining, but with time running out the visitors shot well from the free throw line to pad their final margin, winning 50-43.
Susannah Stein led the Lady 'Dogs in scoring with 11 points. Freshman Harley Terry added nine points while Jaelin Glass scored eight points. Kyiah Julian contributed five points, Sara Reeves four points, with Greenwood getting three points each from Baleigh Wiginton and Kenzie Smith.
Tournament of Champs
Before hosting the H.B. Stewart Classic, the Lady Bulldogs played in Fort Smith's Tournament of Champions December 8-10 at Southside High School. The GHS girls went 1-2 over the three-day event.
Unfortunately, Greenwood's opening round draw was Chattanooga, Tennessee's Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, the nation's seventh ranked girls varsity program. The Lady Hawks won the game in a blowout, 74-27.
Greenwood trailed 23-5 after one period and 41-9 at the half. The Lady Hawks led 61-20 after three quarters before coasting to the 47-point victory. Baleigh Wiginton led Greenwood with nine points, followed by Kaila Cartwright with five points.
Game two was against the Southside Lady Mavericks and it was the second meeting between the two teams this season. After winning the first contest at home, 49-33, Greenwood rolled to a nearly identical 47-33 win at the Tournament of Champs.
A huge first quarter made all the difference for the Lady Bulldogs, who led 18-2 after eight minutes. Southside rallied to trim the halftime margin to 22-14, but lost both the third and fourth quarters by four and two points, respectively.
Sara Reeves led the GHS girls in scoring with 12 points, followed by Kyiah Julian with 10 points, the only two Lady Bulldogs in double figures. Jaelin Glass added eight points, Baleigh Wiginton six points, and Susannah Stein five points.
Greenwood's tournament finale was against Tulsa, Oklahoma's East Central Lady Cardinals. Leading 15-11 after one period and 29-27 at the half, the Lady Bulldogs succumbed to a big second half by the Lady Cards, losing 74-53. East Central outscored Greenwood 25-14 and 22-10 in the final two quarters.
Kyiah Julian led the Lady Bulldogs offensively with 17 points. Kaila Cartwright added seven points, Sara Reeves and Susannah Stein scored six points each, with Harley Terry adding five points.