Their regular season ends this week, but the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs have already set themselves up nicely for a post-season run to repeat as Class 6A state champions. After losing on the road at Bryant on February 6th to open the second half of the league schedule, they have won four straight games to secure the top seed in the 6A Central and earn a first round bye.
The list of Greenwood’s victims most recently includes the Lady Cyclones of Russellville, who put up a good fight last Friday night on the road at H.B. Stewart Arena. But after trailing at the half and by as many as nine points in the game, the Lady ‘Dogs rallied to win by seven.
Prior to last Friday’s win, the GHS girls had also beaten Alma and Conway on the road, and Siloam Springs at home. Head Coach Clay Reeves and his girls are currently 24-2 overall, pending the outcome of this week’s games against Van Buren and Mount St. Mary.
Russellville
The Lady Bulldogs appeared to be sleepwalking through most of the first half, unable to shake themselves free of the pesky Lady Cyclones, who trailed 13-8 after the first eight minutes. Russellville then outscored Greenwood 23-9 in the second period to take a stunning 31-22 lead into the locker room at the break.
A hefty first half rebound advantage (26-15) by Russellville and some accurate long distance shooting, led by Shameka Ealy, accounted for the visitor’s lead. The Lady Cyclones hit five three-pointers in the second quarter alone.
“We talked at halftime about what kind of team [we are] and what we need to do, and we just spent a whole half not doing it,” said Coach Reeves of his squad’s first half performance. “We didn’t get after it. We just had to pick it up.”
Returning to the floor for the second half, the Lady Bulldogs forced Russellville into seven turnovers in the third quarter. Senior guard and leading scorer Megan Hartness also poured in 13 points in the period, including a pair of conventional three-point plays, twice driving to the basket, getting fouled, then hitting a free throw. She also added a three-pointer to help her teammates climb back to within three points (38-35) after the third stanza.
The Lady Bulldogs continued their aggressive defensive pressure in the fourth quarter, forcing six more turnovers while tying the game at 40-all on a three-pointer by Hartness at the 6:51 mark. Sarah Elkins added another trey with 5:17 remaining to give Greenwood its first lead since early in the second quarter.
Ealy almost single-handedly kept Russellville in the game until the final minutes, scoring both inside and outside beyond the three-point line. She finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and four steals. After Ealy tied the score at 43-43, Elkins hit a running jumper inside and Hartness muscled her way underneath for an impressive lay-up with 4:16 left.
Ealy hit her final three-pointer from the corner to cut Greenwood’s lead to 47-46, but those were the last points of the game for the Lady Cyclones, who did not score over the final four minutes. Hartness hit a three-pointer with 2:07 left, then added free throws, along with Brittany Branum, to polish off the 53-46 victory.
“Our kids picked up the pace and the intensity,” said Coach Reeves. “The more shots we hit, the better our defense and rebounding got. We can’t let missed shots affect the other two parts of the game. Our kids are seeing that. I’ve got great kids. They play hard.”
Megan Hartness finished with a game-high 28 points, including 13 in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth. She was 7-of-10 shooting in the second half with a trio of three-pointers. Despite a tough game offensively, Brittany Branum had 10 points and seven rebounds. Sarah Elkins had seven points and seven boards, and Maddie Goodner added six points.
At Alma
Last Tuesday (February 17th) the Lady Bulldogs put their collective feet on the gas pedal early at Alma, sowing up the top seed in the 6A Central with a 60-32 win. Visiting Greenwood took advantage of 19 first-half turnovers by the home team, scoring 24 points in the first quarter alone, then added 21 more in the second period for a whopping 45-12 halftime margin.
“We came out and played with a lot of intensity,” said Coach Reeves. “We got after it. When we rebound well and play hard on defense, and the shots are [falling], everything looks good. When we’re ready to play, we do a great job,” he added. “They know we need to come out and play well, [and] they know when we don’t play hard, things don’t work as well for us.”
The Lady Bulldogs were 9-of-16 shooting in the first stanza, and finished the half hitting 17-of-28 shots (61%) from the floor, led by Megan Hartness with 20 points. The GHS girls had scoring runs of 11-0 and 16-0 in the first half alone.
With the outcome of the game already decided and both coaches clearing their benches, the two teams combined for only 12 total points in the third quarter, before Alma finally reached double digits with 15 points in the final eight minutes.
Hartness finished the game with 24 points and was 9-of-16 from the floor with a trio of three-pointers. Sarah Elkins added nine points, and Maddie Goodner had seven points.
At Conway
One of the best games in the state was played earlier this season at Greenwood between the Lady Bulldogs and the Class 7A Lady Wampus Cats of Conway. Both are defending state champs, hoping for a repeat this season, and Greenwood got the best of it with a narrow victory in the final seconds. The sequel was at Conway on February 13th, and once again the Lady Bulldogs won, 67-64.
Megan Hartness did damage on both ends of the floor in a rematch of two of the state’s top female players, Hartness and Conway’s Jordan Danberry. But Hartness finished with 30 points while Danberry had one of the worst shooting performances of her career, though she still managed to score 18 points.
The visitors led by five to nine points for most of the game, but could never extend the lead to double digits. The game was very physical and there were lots of foul calls. Hartness picked up her fourth foul with 6:09 left and Greenwood played the final 1:15 with four fouls on all five players on the floor.
“Normally you take kids out with four fouls,” Coach Reeves said after the game. “But with a team as explosive as Conway, I didn’t think we could take anybody out.”
The GHS girls built a 60-51 lead before the Lady Cats began pressing and trapping all over the floor. Their efforts paid off as they crept back into the game by forcing turnovers and making free throws. Greenwood still led 65-59 with 1:15, but two in-bounds violations and missed free throws kept the door open for the home team, which cut the deficit to 65-62 with 29 seconds left.
After an exchange of free throws made the score 67-64, another GHS turnover gave Conway one last chance to tie the score, but a hurried three-point shot missed the mark.
Speaking of the growing rivalry between the two teams, Coach Reeves said, “We’ve been together in the conference three years and every game has been close this way. It was what I expected. But when you play teams like this, you learn how to play harder, push more and fight more.
‘We didn’t handle the ball very well, and we’re used to pressure,” he added. “But most teams are not as quick as Conway. We had a lot of problems with their quickness. We were getting to spots. We just were not getting to them quick enough.”
Siloam Springs
It took the Lady Bulldogs some time to find their rhythm, but when they did the visiting Lady Panthers had no answer as Greenwood rolled to an impressive 63-30 blowout victory on February 10th. The game was played four days after Greenwood’s loss at Bryant.
Maddie Goodner scored 21 points and Megan Hartness came off the bench and scored 19 points as the Lady Bulldogs responded well to the friendly confines of H.B. Stewart Arena. Greenwood led by 16 points at the half, and ran off to a 48-18 advantage halfway through the third quarter. They were ahead by 33 points with 5:29 remaining, invoking the mercy-rule.
“If you lose and your effort wasn’t as good as you thought it needed to be, then it motivates you to come back and play harder,” said Coach Reeves. “Sometimes you can play hard and still lose. We’ve watched a lot of film, and our kids know they’re a lot better than what we’ve played recently.”
Reeves shuffled his starting lineup and brought Hartness into the game at the 1:56 mark of the first quarter. She responded with seven quick points, and the Lady Bulldogs were able to convert a 9-7 lead into a 15-8 advantage after one period.
“We’ve been moving kids around to different spots just trying to create some things,” said Reeves. “We’ve got a lot of kids that can play at different positions, and we’re trying to move them around to get comfortable. We’ve had injuries and foul trouble, so all of our kids have to be ready.” Reeves also spoke well of the play of junior Maddie Goodner.
“She gets a lot of tips and deflections, and gets her hands on a lot of balls,” said Reeves. “It makes our defense work in different areas on the floor. Every team has strengths and weaknesses, and fortunately, Maddie was in a position tonight where she made a lot of things happen for us.”
Up Next
The Lady Bulldogs will close out their regular season this week with games scheduled for home (last Tuesday) and this coming Friday night at Little Rock’s Mount St. Mary. The GHS girls have already completed the 6A portion of their conference slate and finished a perfect 6-0 against Alma, Russellville, and Siloam Springs. Two wins this week will also give them the undisputed 7A/6A Central conference championship as well.
The 6A state playoffs begin next week in Siloam Springs, though Greenwood has earned a first round bye. Twelve teams will compete for the state title, and the GHS girls will need to win twice at Siloam Springs to earn a return trip to the state finals in Hot Springs.
The Lady ‘Dogs (Central-1) will play at 7 p.m. Thursday night against the winner of South-4 and East-3. A win next Thursday puts them in the semi-finals on Saturday, March 7th, at noon.