The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs opened 5A state tournament play on Wednesday night at Lake Hamilton High School, riding a four-game conference winning streak. Their opening round opponent was two-seed Watson Chapel of the 5A Central.
Despite the distance between the two schools, they met in non-conference play in December, with Greenwood winning on the road in overtime. The results of Wednesday’s contest were not available at press time.
Should they win, the GHS girls (18-8) will play Friday afternoon against Paragould (19-8) or Lake Hamilton (18-7). If they make it to the semi-finals, Greenwood would play Saturday at noon.
Win Streak
The Lady Bulldogs enter the playoffs after consecutive wins over 5A West conference foes Siloam Springs, Beebe, Alma, and Greenbrier. They finished 10-4 in league play.
In fact, the second half of the conference schedule mirrored the first half. Greenwood started out 1-2 then won four straight games. They also defeated Russellville twice this season.
Their four losses were all to Little Rock Christian and Vilonia, the top two teams in Class 5A, according to the MaxPreps website rankings. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked 10th overall out of 32 teams.
Greenbrier
Last Friday Greenwood traveled to Central Arkansas to close out their conference schedule and regular season against the Lady Panthers. The visitors won easily, 68-34, for their 18th win.
The Lady Bulldogs used pressure defense to force numerous turnovers and convert several easy baskets, leading 21-5 after one period and 36-22 at the half.
A 28-point offensive explosion in the third quarter was more than enough to put the game away, allowing Coach Bryant to clear his bench in the final period of the 68-34 victory.
Four GHS players reached double figures in scoring, led by Kinley Fisher with 14. Ally Sockey added 12 points, followed by Kyiah Julian and Jaelin Glass with 11 points each. Angela Price added seven points.
Alma
Tuesday, February 19th, was senior night for the Lady Bulldogs, and a bad night for the visiting Lady Airedales, who were blown out of H.B. Stewart Arena in the first quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back, completing a season sweep of their longtime rivals. The win also clinched the #3 playoff seed from the 5A West.
Junior forward Harley Terry scored the game’s first four points, then added two more field goals plus three rebounds, a steal, and a block, all in the first eight minutes.
Senior Kyiah Julian also dished out three assists in the opening period, while sophomore guard Kinley Fisher had three baskets and two free throws in the opening stanza.
Greenwood led 21-2 after a quarter, but didn’t let up in the second period, riding a string of late three-pointers to build a 41-5 advantage at the intermission.
“They made my job easy,” said GHS interim head coach Matt Bryant. “I told [the girls] at halftime the hardest part of my job was is trying to figure out when do I sub, or do I sub, or when do I put people back in. That was about all I had to think about.”
Sophomore Ally Sockey led Greenwood with 14 points off the bench, including eight consecutive points in the second quarter on a pair of treys and a coast-to-coast layup following a defensive rebound.
Junior Angela Price added nine points, all on three-pointers. Harley Terry finished with eight points and seven rebounds, while Kinley Fisher also had eight points.
Prior to the game the Lady Bulldogs honored four seniors, Kyiah Julian, Kenzie Smith, Lauren Testerman, and Susannah Stein.
After the game, Coach Bryant talked about the contributions of his seniors, particularly those who don’t often see time on the floor during games.
“I’m a big believer that it’s not just the girls you see on the court all the time that are the difference makers. If you don’t have someone to go against in practice, and you just go through the motions, you don’t really get better,” he said.
Beebe
The Friday before their blowout win over Alma, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Beebe and found themselves in an unexpected battle with a team they had earlier beaten by 28 points.
The Lady Badgers scratched and clawed and managed to stay with Greenwood throughout the first half. Each team scored seven and 13 points in the first two periods, respectively.
With the contest knotted at 20-all at the break, Greenwood managed to build a slight lead after three quarters, 30-26, but couldn’t hold off a late Beebe surge to tie the game in the fourth quarter and force overtime. The contest was knotted at 39-all after 32 minutes.
The game was also very tightly called by the officials, accounting for nearly 50 fouls and constant stoppage of play, which interrupted the offensive rhythm of both teams, but especially for the fast-paced Lady Bulldogs.
“There were 49 fouls called. It was the craziest game I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Coach Bryant afterward, clearly annoyed by the numerous whistles.
“It was a weird game,” he said. “The girls could have easily lost their minds, because it was frustrating. But they never put their heads down.”
Still, it worked out in the end for Greenwood, winning the game in overtime, 46-45. Ally Sockey had a critical steal late in the extra period and turned it into a layup. Fisher, Glass, and Price also scored in OT.
Kinley Fisher led the team in scoring with 11 points, followed by Kyiah Julian with seven and junior Jaelin Glass with six points. Altogether, nine players scored for Greenwood.
Siloam Springs
Three days earlier Greenwood hosted the Lady Panthers, and got off to a great start, riding the strong play of Kyiah Julian and Angela Price.
The team’s only senior starter, Julian sparked a great defensive effort by the Lady Bulldogs, who forced 16 first half turnovers. She and Price then combined for an 8-0 run to close out the first half, drilling back-to-back three-pointers.
Greenwood led 15-8 after one period and 27-12 at the break. The Lady Bulldogs then outscored the visitors 19-12 in the third period and 16-10 in the fourth for the convincing 62-34 victory.
In the third period, Jaelin Glass temporarily took the game over, her long reach and defensive instincts forcing several turnovers. She also scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in the quarter.