Three weeks into their 5A West schedule, the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs are off to a good start at 4-1, with another challenging week ahead with road games at Harrison on Tuesday and Mountain Home on Thursday. With wins over Van Buren, Alma, Russellville, and Siloam Springs, the GHS girls have positioned themselves in the top tier of teams in a league race that’s expected to be a free-for-all at the top.
Their one loss was to conference newcomer and 4A defending state champion Farmington, with their trip to Harrison rescheduled due to bad weather. That game will be made up Tuesday, erasing the planned open date on the original schedule. Winning both road games next week will be tough for the Lady Bulldogs. Realistically, a 1-1 split would be acceptable, but the three-time defending state champions may have other ideas.
Van Buren at Greenwood
On the first Tuesday of the new year, the Lady Bulldogs opened 5A West conference play with a rousing 81-58 home victory over the Lady Pointers of Van Buren. Over the past three seasons, the GHS girls have dominated league play on their way to earning three consecutive state championships. But the 2024-25 conference race will be much more competitive with Greenwood, Harrison, Mountain Home, and newcomer Farmington all expected to compete for the league title. After five games the Lady Bulldogs sit in second place with a 4-1 record behind unbeaten Farmington (5-0).
Head Coach Ryan Casalman watched his team roll to double-digit scoring in all four quarters, netting more than 20 points in each of the last two periods. Greenwood won every quarter (16-9, 16-12, 28-17, 21-20) leading 32-21 at the half before blowing the game open in the third period. It was the highest offensive production so far this season by the defending champs. Greenwood shot a healthy 45% for the contest, including the netting of nine of 25 three-point attempts.
Van Buren committed 32 turnovers, many of them forced by Greenwood’s aggressive defense, and the Lady Bulldogs scored 37 points off those turnovers. The home team also led in points scored in the paint, 42 to 26, while the Lady Pointers led in rebounding, 41 to 32. Greenwood had 16 turnovers and 17 steals that turned into 25 points in transition.
Six GHS players contributed to the scoring, led by senior Izzy Smith and junior Kylah Pearcy who combined for 56 points. Smith hit four of six three-point shots as part of her 29 total points, while also grabbing four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Pearcy was close behind with 27 points, all from two-pointers and free throws. She also came very close to a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine steals plus nine deflections on defense.
Ashlin Rose added nine points with three boards and three steals while Piper Pitts contributed seven points with seven rebounds. Journey Clements came off the bench to add six points on a pair of treys and Trinity Spicer connected on a long three-pointer in the fourth quarter for her three points. Starter Pate Jones did not score but had two boards, nine assists, and two steals.
After the game, Coach Casalman noted that Greenwood’s Kylah Pearcy – Izzy Smith combo scored just two points less than Van Buren’s entire squad. “When we’ve got the two of them going, that makes offense pretty easy. They are a dangerous combination.” He also agreed that his team’s defense was key to the win, as it has been for years. “It was that way with Coach [Clay] Reeves, when he was here. Turnovers lead to easy baskets.”
Asked about the significance of getting off to a good start in league play, Casalman stated the obvious. “That first one is the most important. We played such a tough non-conference schedule, you kind of want to have a little bit of “feel good” about yourself, and I think tonight was that.” The coach also responded to a question about the play of Ashlin Rose, who scored nine points in the game. “If we can get nine or ten points from her every night, it stretches the defense, and that’s good for us.”
Greenwood at Alma
Later that same week a winter storm blanketed Arkansas with nearly a foot of snow, forcing the postponement of games across the conference, including Greenwood’s contest at Harrison. The Lady Bulldogs then traveled across the Arkansas River to Crawford County on Tuesday the 14th to take on the Lady Airedales of Alma. Neither team performed well offensively, both shooting less that 30% from the floor in a 52-44 GHS road victory.
The GHS girls won the first and third quarters decisively while losing the second period and playing to a draw in the fourth. The visitors built a substantial early lead despite scoring just 14 points in the first eight minutes, leading 14-5 at the buzzer. But the hometown girls rallied in the second stanza to outscore Greenwood 14-8, but the Lady Bulldogs still led 22-19 at the break. The GHS girls won the third period, 19-14, before battling to an 11-11 score over the final eight minutes.
The Alma girls shot 29% while the Greenwood ladies netted just under 28% of their shots, a somewhat deceiving stat. The visitors hit 50% of their two-point field goal attempts (18 of 36) but connected on just three of 40 three-point shots, or 7.5%. But Greenwood led in some other important categories to ensure their victory. The GHS defense had 23 steals among 31 Alma turnovers that led to 25 points off those takeaways. Alma led in rebounds, 58 to 36, while the Lady Bulldogs improved to 2-0 in conference play.
Statistically, a trio of GHS players led the scoring effort. Kylah Pearcy had 15 points, seven rebounds, and seven steals. Pate Jones added 14 points, four boards, and two steals, while Izzy Smith netted a dozen points with three assists plus an incredible 10 steals. Piper Pitts added five points with eight rebounds and a pair of takeaways. Ashlin Rose contributed four points and five rebounds and Halle Fox had two points and four boards.
Farmington at Greenwood
But the challenge of this season’s conference race was clearly on display a few days later when the Lady Cardinals came calling at H.B. Stewart Arena. The game was played on Friday the 17th, and the outcome was not favorable for the home team. In a battle of last season’s defending state champions, league newcomer Farmington made a huge statement with an 86-62 road win over the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Cardinals won the 4A state title last March before being elevated to Class 5A this season.
It was a complete team effort for the visitors with three players scoring at least 16 points each. "It was a great offensive night," said Farmington head coach Brad Johnson. "We knew [it would be an up-tempo game], and it was a good night. We have so much respect for Greenwood. They’ve been atop the mountain in Class 5A. We knew tonight was going to be a big game that probably both teams circled early. It was a big challenge." The visitors had a huge size advantage with two starters over six feet tall and several others noticeably taller than Greenwood’s players. In addition, the Lady Cardinals have one of the top freshman girls in the nation, Easton McCollough, already drawing attention from some of the country’s top colleges.
Farmington led 26-16 after a fast-paced first quarter. The Lady Cardinals made nearly 80% of their shots to get things going early. The visitors’ lead increased to 46-32 by halftime. A 14-7 scoring run helped the Lady Cardinals build their first half advantage, despite cooling off from the floor in the second quarter, finishing at 56% for the half.
The Lady Bulldogs were down 68-52 after three quarters, and Farmington continued to press its advantage with a 13-3 run in the fourth quarter to account for the final score of 86-62. The Lady Cardinals won the shooting battle at 48.5% compared to 36% for the Lady Bulldogs. Greenwood did hit 10 three-pointers to nine for Farmington, but the Lady Cardinals dominated the boards, nabbing 46 rebounds to just 31 for the home team.
The GHS girls were led by Kylah Pearcy, who finished with a team-high 26 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Senior Ashlin Rose added 16 points for her best offensive performance of the season so far, connecting on four of six three-pointers, plus five rebounds. Piper Pitts added eight points, Pate Jones six points, while Izzy Smith and Journey Clements had three points each.
After the loss, Coach Casalman talked about the challenge of facing the defending 4A state champs, who returned most of their players from last season with the addition of McCollough, who wears the #4 on her jersey. “Number four is supposedly the top-rated shooter in her class as a ninth grader. In the nation, not just in the state. UConn, Stanford, and Iowa have all come to watch her, and we knew we had to control her. But the thing that killed us was #24 and #30 in the paint with layups and offensive rebounds. But that’s mostly my fault, because when we tried to stop #4 we gave up 41 points to the other two.
“Plus, I didn’t think we shot the ball well. Ashlin Rose unbelievably well and Kylah Pearcy played well offensively, but other than that we were just okay or maybe not even as good as normal. Farmington is scoring in the 70s and 80s against everybody, which is the reason I think we are probably right there with the other top teams in our league. I think we can get to that level on nights when we’re playing well. The league parity is so much different than the last few years. I think any of the top four teams can beat the others on any given night,” said the coach.
Greenwood at Russellville
Last Tuesday Coach Casalman and assistant coach Ryan Lensing took their players to Russellville and the Lady Bulldogs absolutely exploded offensively in the first period, leading 33-7 after the opening eight minutes. Greenwood shot 78% in the first quarter and never looked back, shooting 41% in the second period and 50% in both the third and fourth stanzas. The visitors won the second period, 19-14, and the third period, 18-14, before both teams pulled their starters in the fourth quarter. Greenwood led 52-21 at the intermission.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the contest shooting 47%, including nine of 26 three-pointers. The Lady Cyclones shot 30%, also connecting on nine treys. Greenwood dominated at the free throw line, hitting 16 of 18 charity shots. Russellville had 22 turnovers, 17 of those steals by the Lady Bulldogs, who scored 35 points off those turnovers.
Kylah Pearcy was unstoppable with 35 points on 12 of 19 shooting, including three-of-five three-pointers and eight-of-nine free throws. She also added three rebounds, four assists, and six steals. Izzy Smith contributed 16 points plus three boards and nine assists. Journey Clements (9 points), Hallie Fox (8), Trinity Spicer (7), and Ashlin Rose (2) also scored. Rose added eight rebounds and Piper Pitts five boards. Fox had four rebounds, three assists, and five steals. Clements added five boards.
Siloam Springs at Greenwood
The Lady Bulldogs hosted the Lady Panthers from Siloam Springs this past Friday night at H.B. Stewart Arena and used an explosive offensive performance in the first half to notch their fourth conference victory in five outings. The GHS girls shredded the nets for 57 first half points to build a 36-point lead at the half, 57-21, invoking the mercy rule for the second half. The visitors outscored Greenwood’s reserves, 28-16, in the second half to account for the 73-49 final score.
The Lady Panthers scored the game’s first bucket as the Lady Bulldogs got off to a slow start offensively, before Kylah Pearcy hit their first basket around the 6:00 mark. Trailing 5-2, Pearcy then intercepted a pass at mid-court and drove to the basket for a layup, adding a free throw to tie the game, sparking a 10-0 scoring run to put Greenwood ahead for good, 12-5. The Lady Bulldogs led 21-10 after eight minutes. The GHS girls then pelted the visitors with six three-pointers in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.
As usual, an aggressive home defense contributed to 26 Siloam Springs’ turnovers and 35 GHS points off those turnovers. The Lady Bulldogs also outscored the visitors in the paint, 28 to 12. Greenwood shot a respectable 40%, including 10 of 33 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. They also hit nine of 12 free throw attempts. The Lady Panthers won the rebounding battle, 43 to 31, but it mattered little, easily offset by Greenwood’s 16 steals and the turnover margin.
Individually, the winning squad was led in scoring by Kylah Pearcy with 19 points on eight of 15 shooting plus three points at the line. The junior also had four rebounds, two assists, and five steals. Senior Izzy Smith was next with 16 points, including a pair of three-pointers. She added a pair of rebounds, five assists, and two steals to her resume. Piper Pitts and Journey Clements both had nine points, while Katherine Taylor added seven points, Trinity Spicer five points, and Keelie Dolan four points, while Kaylyn Jones and Halle Fox had two points each.