The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs improved their early season record to 6-1 last weekend, winning all three of their games in the Northwest Arkansas Classic at Fayetteville. Add to that a win over Conway 10 days earlier, and their winning streak stretched to six games after a season-opening loss at Vilonia. The GHS girls will return to action on Friday at Little Rock Christian, the first of three games against Little Rock schools. They will host Little Rock Central next Tuesday and travel to North Little Rock next Friday before taking a break for the Christmas holiday.

Conway

The Lady Wampus Cats have been one of the top Class 6A teams over the past few years, just the kind of team GHS Head Coach Clay Reeves wants his players to face early in the season. Both teams won state championships last March. This season’s contest took place the last Tuesday in November at H.B. Stewart Arena, a 73-67 victory for the Lady Bulldogs, who got off to a red-hot start offensively.

The GHS ladies scored 26 points in the opening eight minutes of play to build a 10-point advantage at the end of the period, 26-16. Greenwood scored the last 12 points of the quarter in a furious final 90 seconds. Sophomore Kylah Pearcy and senior Brooklyn Woolsey both hit 3-pointers, senior Anna Trusty scored on consecutive layups, and Woolsey scored again inside at the buzzer off a lob assist from senior teammate Carley Sexton.

That offensive explosion turned out to be the difference in the game, forcing the Lady Wampus Cats to play from behind for the remaining 24 minutes. Aggressive GHS defense and eight Conway turnovers in the second quarter helped keep the Lady Bulldogs ahead at the half, 41-30. A 7-0 scoring run then allowed Conway to cut its deficit to 45-42 with 5:22 left in the third quarter and 51-50 at the 2:26 mark. But junior guard Izzy Smith drove for a basket and Anna Trusty nailed a pair of free throws to push the GHS lead back to 55-50. Greenwood led 55-53 at the end of the period after a Conway three-pointer.

The Lady Bulldogs outscored Conway 18-14 over the final eight minutes, but not before the visitors made another run, cutting the GHS lead to 68-67 with 1:39 remaining. But Conway committed a pair of key turnovers in the final minute while Smith drove for a Greenwood layup and Kylah Pearcy sank a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

Conway won the battle of the boards, 36-29, but Greenwood had 14 steals to eight for the Lady Wampus Cats. The Lady Bulldogs also shot the ball better, 48 to 38 percent from the floor, including a 44 to 29 percent advantage in three-pointers. Anna Trusty led the home team with 20 points, followed by Izzy Smith and Brooklyn Woolsey with 18 points each. Earlier this fall Woolsey signed to play at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia next season. To round out the scoring, Kylah Pearcy had nine points and Carley Sexton scored six points in the 73-67 win.

Afterward, Head Coach Clay Reeves talked about the victory. “Win or lose, I knew [our girls] were going to fight,” he said. “Both [schools have] great programs and great kids that fight hard every night. Winning means everything to them. We knew a 12-point lead for us or for them was going to be a fight.”

Bentonville

Last Thursday the Lady Bulldogs opened play in the NWA Classic with a convincing 80-47 win over the Lady Tigers. Another huge first quarter (25 points) was followed by an even bigger second quarter (30 points) for a 55-21 GHS lead at the break. Coach Reeves rested many of his starters in the second half as Greenwood coasted to a 73-31 lead after three periods and its final 33-point victory.

The Greenwood girls had four players in double figures, led by Anna Trusty with 16 points. Kylah Pearcy was next with 13 points while Brooklyn Woolsey and Carley Sexton had 12 points each. Izzy Smith had eight points, Piper Pitts and Pate Jones scored five points each, and Mckenzie Thomas had four points.

The Lady Tigers actually shot the ball slightly better from the floor than Greenwood, 50 to 45 percent, but the Lady Bulldogs shot 100% at the charity stripe compared to just 38% for Bentonville. But likely the difference in the game was Greenwood’s 23 to five advantage in steals, limiting the Lady Tigers’ offensive opportunities and turning those takeaways into
GHS points on the other end of the floor. The Lady Bulldogs also won the rebounding battle, 30 to 24.

Fayetteville

Last Friday the GHS girls played the Lady Purple Dogs of Fayetteville for the second time this season, having won their earlier meeting on November 16th by 21 points, 65-44, at H.B. Stewart Arena. Playing on their home court, the Fayetteville girls were better the second time around, although Greenwood still took an early double-digit lead, 16-5, after one period and were able to maintain their advantage throughout the contest, winning 55-43.

The Lady Bulldogs won the second quarter, 14-11, to lead 30-16 at the half. Fayetteville outscored Greenwood 12-11 in the third quarter and 15-14 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the early GHS lead. The Lady Purple Dogs held a slight 41 to 36 advantage in rebounds and both teams struggled with their field goal shooting, Fayetteville at 33% and Greenwood at 31%.

But the Lady Bulldogs did shoot better from beyond the arc, hitting 35% of their three-point attempts to just 19% for Fayetteville. Greenwood also fared better at the free throw line, 64 to 33 percent. Three players reached double figures in scoring for the GHS girls – Anna Trusty (16 points), Carley Sexton (16), and Kylah Pearcy (10). Brooklyn Woolsey also added eight points.

Springdale Har-Ber

Greenwood’s final opponent last Saturday was the Lady Wildcats of Har-Ber High School in Springdale, and the Lady Bulldogs had three explosive quarters in which they scored 20 points or more. Two of those scoring outbursts happened in the first half. The GHS girls scored 23 points in the first eight minutes and 20 points in the second quarter for a 43-31 halftime lead.

After Har-Ber outscored Greenwood 12-10 in the third period, a 24-11 GHS scoring advantage in the fourth quarter pushed the final tally to 77-54. The Lady Bulldogs held a huge 55% to 26% advantage in field goals and a 50 to 20 percent advantage in three-pointers, accounting for the difference in the game. Greenwood also had 12 steals to eight by Har-Ber while both teams were essentially even in rebounding and at the free throw line.

Offensively, Anna Trusty maintained her role as the team’s leading scorer with 23 points, followed close behind by Brooklyn Woolsey, who hit a remarkable six three-pointers for most of her 20 points. Fellow senior Carley Sexton added 14 points while Kylah Pearcy and Izzy Smith both scored seven points in the contest.