Lady Bullodgs 50 - Nettleton 26

Lady Bulldogs 59 - Magnolia 42

Lady Bulldogs 39 - Alma 39

Lady Bulldogs end their season short of reaching state finals

     The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs ended their 2010-2011 basketball campaign at least one game short of their season objective - a return trip to the Class 5A state finals. Last year the upstart Lady 'Dogs made a surprising run through the post-season and claimed the state championship. Returning the majority of those players this season, the GHS girls were among the favorites to repeat as champs this March, but ran into a buzz saw at Alma last week, the site of the 2011 state tournament.

     After defeating both Nettleton and Magnolia to reach the tournament semi-finals, Greenwood lost to the underdog Alma Airedalettes before a large crowd in attendance to cheer on the Alma girls and boys, both of which won their games and advanced to this week's championship games in Hot Springs. It was the third meeting this season between Greenwood and Alma, with the Lady Bulldogs winning the two regular season games in 5A West Conference play. But the third time was the charm for the Alma girls, whose improved defensive play late in the season gave them momentum and propelled them through the tournament. The Lady Bulldogs ended their season with a 22-9 overall record, having finished 12-2 in league play and tying Vilonia for the conference title.

     The state tournament opened last Wednesday (March 2nd) afternoon for the Lady Bulldogs against fourth-seeded Nettleton from the 5A East Conference. Greenwood jumped out to an 11-4 first quarter lead and never really looked back. Trailing 24-14 at the half, Nettleton managed to stay within striking distance, outscoring Greenwood by a point in the third quarter, but still trailed by nine points heading into the final period, 34-25. And that's when the wheels came off for Nettleton, which scored only a single point over the last eight minutes of play, giving the Lady Bulldogs an easy 50-26 victory. Freshman point guard Lundon Williams led the team in scoring with 15 points. Junior forward Endsley Evan added 12 points and sophomore guard Presleigh Atkins contributed eight points.

     Two days later the GHS girls met Magnolia High School in the quarterfinals and defeated the Lady Panthers, 59-42, despite getting into early foul trouble with starters Endsley Evans and Presleigh Atkins both picking up two quick whistles. Both players headed to the bench, but solid depth has been Greenwood's strength all season, and head coach Clay Reeves simply replaced his starters with junior Allie Wilson and sophomore Allie Barnes, and the team never missed a beat.

     Leading 14-8 after one quarter, Greenwood rallied for 22 points in the second period, aided by Allie Barnes' 10 points off the bench. "Barnes did a great job," said Reeves after the game. "I thought both Allie Wilson and Allie Barnes came in and did a great job when [we] got in foul trouble. We've got a deep bench, [and] all of those kids have lots of playing time and lots of experience."

     The game was tied at 8-8 with just over 3:00 in the opening period, but a 17-3 scoring run by Greenwood broke the game open early. Hot shooting was a key factor in the first half as the Lady Bulldogs stroked the net for nearly 61% overall (14/23) and 67% on four of six three pointers. Magnolia head coach Chris Lynch agreed that the outcome of the game was determined in the first half. "We had a spell [of] about five or six minutes where we didn't do much offensively, and [Greenwood] had a lot to do with that," he admitted. "We just didn't make many shots when we needed to, [and] you can't shoot 28% for the game and expect to beat a Greenwood."

     Magnolia did make a brief run in the second half, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 9-2 over the last two-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter. A pair of three-pointers early in the fourth period cut the GHS lead to nine points, but that's as close as the Lady Panthers could get. Leading 44-29 after three quarters, Greenwood coasted to the 59-42 victory behind 18 points by Lundon Williams, 11 points by Endsely Evans, and 10 points by Allie Barnes. "I was proud of the way our girls played that first half," said Coach Reeves. "We played hard the second half [too], I just thought we were a lot more hesitant because we had a big lead. The first half is basically what won the game for us."

     Last Saturday (March 5th) the Lady Bulldogs had the unenviable task of having to play the Alma girls in the state semi-finals on their home floor. The Airedalettes were fortunate to just be in the playoffs, having won a coin toss to break a tie for the fourth seed from the 5A West. Alma entered the post-season with an uninspiring 15-11 overall record, but turned up the intensity, especially on defense, and won all three of its games, including knocking off two number one seeds in Paragould and Greenwood. The Airedalettes also defeated Central Arkansas Christian and will play Watson Chapel for the 5A state title this weekend at Summit Arena in Hot Springs. But the Alms girls will have their hands full. Watson Chapel dropped a classification this season after winning two of the last three 6A state titles.

     Alma's solid defensive effort limited Greenwood to just 26% shooting in the second half and helped force 16 GHS turnovers in the game. Despite losing both regular season games to the Lady Bulldogs, Alma head coach Madelyn Flenor knew her girls had a chance. "When we played them [before], we were still in the game late in the third period, so we knew we could compete with them," she said.

     Neither team could dent the scoreboard early until Alma netted a pair of free throws around the 5:40 mark of the first period. The quarter ended with the teams tied at 10-10, and it remained close through three quarters before Alma slowly began to pull away. With the game knotted at 21-all with a minute to play in the first half, Alma took the lead at the break on a three-pointer with 30 seconds left.

     Trailing 24-21 at the half, Greenwood scored only 18 points in the entire second half and just seven points in the third quarter as the Alma girls maintained their slight advantage, despite scoring only six points themselves. Leading 30-28 as the game entered the final eight minutes, the Airedalettes scored three points at the charity stripe to increase their lead to 33-28, before a three-pointer at the 4:00 mark drove a stake through the hearts of the hundreds of GHS fans who made the short drive to Alma.

     Trailing 36-29, the Lady Bulldogs could not recover, despite a Presleigh Atkins trey to trim the deficit to 36-32 at the 3:30 mark. Alma then began taking time off the clock, forcing Greenwood to foul, putting the Airedalettes at the line. They hit seven of their next eight free throws to build a 43-33 lead with 38 seconds remaining in the game. Lundon Williams hit a three-pointer for Greenwood, but it was too little too late for the Lady Bulldogs. Some fans became upset when Coach Reeves was whistled for a technical foul as he tried to get the attention of the officials to call a timeout, but the game was essentially over by that time. Junior forward Haley Donald did manage to hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for Greenwood, making the final score 46-39.

     Endsley Evans led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points and was the only GHS player to reach double figures. Presleigh Atkins had nine points and Allie Barnes scored six points, while Haley Donald and Sammy Richards each added five points. A stoic but disappointed Coach Reeves talked with members of the media after the game. "It wasn't like we took bad shots. We had a lot of shots that went in and out and even at times got the offensive rebound," he said. "It was not a lack of effort. Give Alma credit because they outplayed us and outcoached us."

     Coach Reeves also tried to debunk the sports myth that it's hard to beat the same team three times in the same season. "That's what people say, but it's really not. You've just got to go out and play. Alma played better than we did tonight. They coached better than we did tonight. They deserved to win. They played great. It wasn't lack of effort. Things just didn't go [well] for us."

     Asked to sum up the season for his Lady Bulldogs, Coach Reeves was complimentary of the team as a whole and his three departing seniors in particular. "Our kids did a great job," said the coach. "We won a lot of games and we lost a few games. Most all of our games were close games. We've just got to find a way to do a few things a little bit better and things are going to be good for the future. We played a lot of good teams, and we'll be back. Courtney [McKinley], Tosha [Hicks], and Jessica [Moudy] have been great for three years. They're good leaders for our team. They are hard workers and always have a positive attitude. They always put our team first, and I couldn't be any more proud of them."

     Regarding the future, it continues to look bright for the Lady Bulldogs. Coach Reeves is losing only those three seniors and will be getting new players from a junior high team that was outstanding this year as well. "We've got 19 players and we've got 16 of them coming back," said the coach. "The future looks good and we'll build on what happened tonight, and learn from it to help us for the future."