B.J. Ross is in his second season as head coach of the Greenwood Bulldogs, and he clearly has things moving in the right direction to improve the boys varsity basketball program. This year’s squad has already won more than twice as many games as last year and there is plenty of talent rising through the junior high ranks to populate future GHS rosters. Ross left nearby Charleston and took the job at Greenwood knowing the challenges ahead of him and the need to see things clearly and speak the truth.

“The kids at Charleston are not that different from Greenwood,” said the new GHS head coach in November 2023. “That’s part of what attracted me to Greenwood. This is just on a larger scale. [Charleston] is a football crazed town, and I grew up there and I understand it. You’ve got to know the culture and what you’re getting into. You better embrace it and love it. You’ve got to be mindful of all the other sports. When you show that you respect and care about the other programs, they will reciprocate and that’s how you start sharing athletes.

“I hope we will be competitive every game,” he added back then when asked about the potential for his first GHS team. “Obviously, I hope we’re in the mix to get one of those playoff spots. This year (2023-24) is a foundation-builder, and that’s what I tell the players. They need to set a tone for the kids behind them.”

Those comments reveal a coaching strategy that seems to be working so far, given the state of the current Bulldogs’ team still hoping to snare a playoff spot in the 5A West. Two prominent GHS football players, Kane Archer and Grant Karnes, among the best athletes on campus, are starting together on the hard court this season and have made a huge difference, helping the Bulldogs win a dozen games to date. But Coach Ross knows the reality of where his team stands with just a handful of conference games remaining, and he’s not afraid to speak his mind.

The Bulldogs (12-12, 3-6) have five games left against Alma, Farmington, Siloam Springs, Russellville, and Mountain Home, three of those games at home, and they are presently in sixth place. Only the top four league teams will qualify for the playoffs. After last Friday’s lopsided loss to the first-place Goblins, the GHS head coach truthfully assessed his team’s hopes for the rest of the season.

“That game doesn’t really matter because Harrison and Farmington are going to beat all the teams we’re battling for the fourth [playoff] spot,” said the coach. “It’s going to come down to Mountain Home, Russellville, Siloam Springs, and Alma. We need three [more] wins to have a chance to get in [the playoffs].”

After opening the conference season with two straight wins, the Bulldogs have lost six of their last seven games, leaving them behind the proverbial 8-ball, needing at least three and possibly four more wins to have any hope of making the playoffs. Over the last three weeks they played games against Siloam Springs, Harrison, Mountain Home, Van Buren, and Harrison again.

Siloam Springs

After tough losses to Farmington and Russellville, the Bulldogs bounced back with a 56-45 home victory over the Panthers at H.B. Stewart Arena. Greenwood won three of the four quarters and were never really threatened in the game, leading 16-12 after one period and 33-20 at the half. Siloam Springs won the third quarter, 15-7, before the home team closed out the win with a six-point advantage in the final eight minutes, 16-10.

Despite the convincing victory, the Bulldogs hit just 36% of their shots from the field compared to 43% by the Panthers. The difference offensively was Greenwood’s 11 three-pointers to just five for the visitors. Both teams had 30 rebounds, but the Bulldogs had more scoring chances due to 19 Siloam Springs’ turnovers, allowing the GHS boys to score 16 points on those giveaways, included among them seven Greenwood steals.

Seven players contributed points for the Bulldogs, led by Jayden Garnes with 20 and Jack Scott with 14. Both players hit a quartet of three-pointers among their shots. Garnes also had four rebounds and six assists. Scott had three boards. Ty Holt and Grant Karnes both had seven points, with Karnes also grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Holt had two boards, two assists, and three steals. Lane Philpot added four points, five assists, and three steals, while Hudson Clark and Kane Archer scored two points each. The latter also had three rebounds and three assists.

Harrison

January 28th was supposed to be an open date on the conference calendar, but the wintry weather earlier in the month forced the postponement of Greenwood’s game at Harrison, leading to a makeup game on the last Tuesday of the month. The Goblins have since proven themselves to be the best team in the 5A West, but the Bulldogs more than held their own during the first meeting between the two teams, despite eventually losing, 77-65.

The GHS boys scored in double digits in all four quarters, including an impressive two dozen points in the fourth period, but were never able to stop the home team offensively. Harrison led 16-12 after one period and 33-27 at the break. The Panthers stayed on top after three stanzas, 53-41, then matched the Bulldogs’ 24 points in the fourth quarter for the eight-point win.

With a wealth of shooters, the Harrison boys scorched the nets for over 57% compared to just under 40% for the visitors. The Goblins hit an incredible 67% of their two-point shots while the Bulldogs hung in the game partly due to their eight three-point baskets. Not surprising to many longtime Greenwood fans, the officiating clearly favored the home team, sending Harrison to the line 30 times, accounting for 20 points. The Bulldogs made just seven of 17 free throw attempts. Greenwood had 10 steals and 10 turnovers, taking advantage of 17 Harrison giveaways.

A quartet of GHS players notched double figures in scoring, led by Jayden Garnes with 19 points. The senior point guard also had three rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Ty Holt, Grant Karnes, and Kane Archer all had 12 points each. Holt added three boards, three assists, and a steal. Karnes crashed the boards for 13 rebounds and had one assist and three steals. Archer had two boards, four assists, and two steals. Hudson Clark came off the bench for eight points with three assists and Lane Philpot added two points with three rebounds and three steals.

Mountain Home

On the final day of January, the Bulldogs continued their three-game stretch on the road at Mountain Home against the Bombers, one of the teams battling Greenwood for the last playoff spot in the conference. The opening quarter was fast and furious, with both teams scoring in the low 20s. Sophomore Ty Holt hit a three-pointer for the visitors’ first basket for an early 3-2 lead, but the two squads battled back-and-forth throughout the first eight minutes. The ‘Dogs hit four treys in the period.

The Bombers led 21-20 after one period and 33-28 at the intermission. Mountain Home continued to build on its lead in the third stanza, outscoring Greenwood 14-11 for a 47-39 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. But the Bulldogs narrowed the gap by taking the final period, 17-14, to make the final score respectable at 61-56. Postgame analysis showed that both teams were remarkably similar in most statistical metrics.

But the most meaningful of those stats was shooting percentage, won by the Bombers 41% to 36%, allowing the boys from Baxter County to hit two more field goals than their opponents, which was essentially the difference in the game. But both squads were bad at the free throw line, under 50%, and both teams hit six three-pointers in the contest. Each team had 38 rebounds, and both took good care of the basketball, with only 19 combined turnovers and seven steals between them.

Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by Jayden Garnes and Kane Archer with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Garnes grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists while Archer had four boards and six defensive deflections. Hudson Clark came off the bench to net eight points while Grant Karnes scored seven points with 10 rebounds. Ty Holt added another trey for six total points plus seven defensive boards. Starter Lane Philpot added a single basket for two points with four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Van Buren

Last Tuesday, February 4th, the Bulldogs traveled to Van Buren’s Claire Bates Arena for round two against the Pointers, starting their second seven-game tour through the 5A West. But the home team set the tone early, winning the opening stanza by five points, 16-11, a lead the Pointers would not relinquish. Still, the Bulldogs kept the game reasonably close by besting their hosts 8-6 in a low-scoring second quarter. Greenwood trailed just 22-19 at the break, but Van Buren’s offense picked up in the second half, winning the third period, 19-15, and the fourth, 23-17, to pull away for the double-digit win, 64-51.

The host Pointers shot the ball significantly better than the Bulldogs, 46% to 31.5%. Van Buren also won the battle of the boards, 36 to 27, and scored 36 points in the paint compared to just 16 points for the visitors. Both squads were virtually even in three-point shooting, made free throws, steals, and turnovers. Only four Bulldogs scored in the contest, but three of them reached double figures.

Kane Archer had one of his best offensive performances of the season with 20 points to lead the way, playing all 32 minutes. He also had four rebounds, an assist, and three defensive deflections. Senior Grant Karnes was next with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting plus four free throws while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Jayden Garnes added 13 points with four boards. Lane Philpot netted four points with six rebounds, an assist, and two steals.

Harrison

This past Friday night the Bulldogs finally returned to H.B. Stewart Arena after playing their last three games on the road, all conference losses. Unfortunately, the visiting Harrison Goblins, who lead the 5A West race, were not in a charitable mood and scorched the nets for 88 points, scoring in the 20s in three of the four quarters to keep them atop the league race tied with Farmington, both at 8-1.

The Bulldogs hung with the Goblins for two quarters, trailing by nine points at the break, but the game got away from them in the second half. Harrison led 22-18 after one period, 39-30 at the half, and 61-40 after three quarters before closing strong with a 27-point fourth quarter to win handily, 88-52. The visitors shot the ball extremely well in the blowout victory, and Coach Ross was brutally honest in his postgame assessment.

“[Harrison is] ranked #3 in the state, and when they shoot like that, nobody in our league is going to beat them. Let’s be honest. That was good, old-fashioned butt-whipping. But we battled. It was 39-30 at half and we really weren’t displeased at all. But we’re wiping that one out and moving on. That game doesn’t really matter because Harrison and Farmington are going to beat all the teams we’re battling for the fourth [playoff] spot. It’s going to come down to Mountain Home, Russellville, Siloam Springs, and Alma. We need three [more] wins to have a chance to get in [the playoffs].”

For the game, the Goblins hit 13 three-pointers or 48% of their attempts, accounting for 44% of their points. They also hit 11 of 13 free throws and 19 of 32 traditional two-point shots, or nearly 60%. Overall, the Harrison boys shot just over 54% for the game compared to 33% for the Bulldogs, who made only 4-of-22 three-point shots attempted. The Goblins also controlled the boards with 36 rebounds to 26 for Greenwood. Not surprisingly, the visitors also won the battle for steals, turnovers, and points in the paint.

Two GHS players reached double figures in scoring, led by Kane Archer’s 13 points. He also added a pair of rebounds, two assists, and three steals to his game resume. Hudson Clark came off the bench to net 11 points, including a pair of treys. Grant Karnes and Jayden Garnes had eight points each with Karnes also nabbing five rebounds and Garnes dishing out four assists. Ty Holt added six points and led the team with 10 rebounds. Shooter Jack Scott hit his only long-range attempt for three points and had two rebounds off the bench, while Cooper Bland had two points and Lane Philpot one point. Bland had three rebounds in the fourth quarter and Philpot had two for the game.