The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs have made the turn in the 2025 conference race, posting a 5-2 record at the halfway point and 7-2 currently after recent wins over Siloam Springs, Mountain Home, Van Buren, and Harrison. With two conference losses, the GHS girls are locked in a battle with Mountain Home for second place, trailing first place and league unbeaten Farmington (9-0). Greenwood’s two losses were to Farmington and their first game against Harrison. The Lady Bulldogs have now won three consecutive games since their loss to the Lady Goblins.
Games remaining on the conference schedule include hosting Alma next Tuesday before traveling to Farmington on Friday. After a Tuesday off, the Lady Bulldogs will go to Siloam Springs on Friday, February 21st, before playing their final two games at home the following week against Russellville and Mountain Home. Winning the games they should win, Greenwood’s contests against Farmington and Mountain Home will be critical in determining where they finish in the league race and how they are seeded in the state tournament.
Siloam Springs
On Friday, January 24th, the Lady Bulldogs entertained the Lady Panthers of Siloam Springs for the first game of their home-and-home series in 5A West conference play, and it wasn’t much of a contest. The Greenwood girls were on fire in the first half, outscoring the visitors 57-21 after two quarters before clearing the bench in the second half and coasting their way to a resounding 73-49 victory. Greenwood led 21-10 after eight minutes before pouring in 36 points in the second period.
After hitting just one of seven three-point shots in the opening quarter, the Lady Bulldogs bombarded Siloam Springs with six treys in the second stanza on 12 attempts. They also drained 8-of-11 two-point field goals, shooting 61% overall for the period. Greenwood also had seven steals in the quarter, contributing to 10 visitor turnovers, disrupting the Lady Panthers’ offense.
For the game, the GHS girls shot just over 40% overall and 30% from beyond the arc, hitting 10 of 33 attempts, while also making nine of 12 free throw attempts. Siloam Springs had 26 turnovers and Greenwood scored 35 points off those giveaways and takeaways. The Lady Bulldogs finished with 16 steals and nabbed 31 rebounds compared to 43 for the visitors.
Of the GHS starters, senior Izzy Smith played the most minutes (25) and finished with 16 points, two boards, five assists, and two steals. Leading the way offensively was junior Kylah Pearcy with 19 points in just 15 minutes. She also grabbed four rebounds, two assists, and five steals. Junior Journey Clements scored nine points, as did Piper Pitts, both in 16 minutes of floor time. Katherine Taylor added seven points in just six minutes, hitting a pair of threes, while Trinity Spicer scored five points and Keelie Dolan four points. Halle Fox and Kaylyn Jones scored two points each.
Harrison
Greenwood’s first scheduled game against Harrison was postponed due to wintry weather in week one of the conference season in early January. The makeup contest was rescheduled for the traditional open date in the middle of the league season, which was Tuesday, January 28th this year. When the game was finally played, it was quite the back-n-forth affair that ended with a 55-52 victory for the hometown Lady Goblins. This past Friday the Lady Bulldogs avenged that loss against Harrison.
The visitors got themselves in a hole early, trailing 15-6 after eight minutes. But a second quarter rally turned the tables, outscoring Harrison 19-6 to put Greenwood on top at the half, 25-21. The Lady Bulldogs continued their push in the third period, doubling Harrison offensively, 12-6, to increase their lead to double digits at 37-27. But the script flipped again in the fourth quarter as the Lady Goblins rallied to tie the score and force overtime.
After shooting a horrific 14% in both the second and third quarters, Harrison suddenly got red hot, hitting nearly 60% of their shots, including three-of-four three-pointers plus six-of-seven free throw attempts. In the final seconds the Harrison girls held a 50-47 lead before GHS junior Journey Clements hit a clutch three-pointer to tie the score just before the buzzer, forcing the extra period. But Greenwood netted just two points in overtime and lost a tough road contest, 55-52.
For the game, neither team shot the ball particularly well. Harrison held a slight lead at 34.7% to 33.9% for Greenwood. The Lady Bulldogs were able to hang with the Lady Goblins by hitting 10 of 32 long range bombs for 30 of their 52 points. Both teams did well at the charity stripe, but Harrison dominated the boards with 45 rebounds to 26 for Greenwood. The Lady Bulldogs held a slight lead in turnover margin with five less giveaways, 17 to 22.
Individually, six GHS ladies contributed offensively, led by Izzy Smith, Piper Pitts, and Journey Clements with 12 points each. Both Pitts and Clements got all their points from behind the arc with a quartet of three-pointers each. Pitts added five rebounds and three steals. Izzy Smith, Greenwood’s top three-point shooter, went 0-for-5 from downtown but scored 10 points from the field and two at the line to go along with six rebounds, six assists, and six steals. Pate Jones added eight points and Kylah Pearcy six points before the latter fouled out of the game.
Mountain Home
On the last day of January, the Lady Bulldogs played the second of three consecutive road games against the Lady Bombers of Mountain Home, widely expected to be one of the top teams in the league. But Greenwood’s girls made a huge statement by leading nearly wire-to-wire and winning by more than 20 points, 77-56. The visitors outscored the home team 21-11 in the opening period and 17-14 in the second stanza for a 36-25 halftime margin. The Lady Bombers rallied a bit in the third period, outpacing Greenwood 21-17 before the Lady Bulldogs won the fourth quarter, 22-10.
After the Lady Bombers scored the game’s first four points, Greenwood’s Izzy Smith hit a three-pointer then added a layup to put the visitors on top, a lead they would never relinquish. Kylah Pearcy then repeated her teammate’s scoring feat to make it 10-4 and Smith added another field goal to polish off the 12-0 run with Greenwood on top, 12-4. After Mountain Home cut the GHS lead to 14-11, the Lady Bulldogs closed out the opening frame with a 7-0 run for a 21-11 advantage.
The visitors shot 43% for the game, including 13-of-38 three-point shots. Mountain Home committed 25 turnovers, mostly caused by 17 Greenwood steals, resulting in 29 GHS points off turnovers. Greenwood had 32 rebounds compared to 45 for the home team. The Lady Bulldogs were led in scoring by the two usual suspects, Izzy Smith and Kylah Pearcy, who combined for 60 points, led by Smith with a career-high 40 points, more than half of which came from beyond the three-point line.
The GHS guard hit 15 of 25 shots overall, including 7-of-13 from long distance, plus three points at the charity stripe. Her career performance earned her Player of the Week honors from the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. She also had six rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Ordinarily, Pearcy’s 20 points would have led the way for the Lady Bulldogs, but she gladly took a backseat to her senior teammate. The junior also corralled eight rebounds and had five assists and three steals. Pate Jones added nine points, Journey Clements five points, and Piper Pitts three points.
Van Buren
This past Tuesday, the GHS ladies took the short trip across the Arkansas River bridge to Van Buren in Crawford County to take on the Lady Pointers for the second time this season. After winning their first encounter at H.B. Stewart Arena, 81-58, the Lady Bulldogs took the early lead and held on for a critical 58-54 road victory at Van Buren’s Claire Bates Arena. Greenwood won the first and fourth quarters (18-13, 16-12) while the home team carried the second and third periods (10-8, 19-16). The Lady Bulldogs led 26-23 at the intermission.
Playing on a foreign court, the GHS girls shot almost 41% but 56% from two-point land on 18-of-32 shooting. Uncharacteristically, the Greenwood girls hit only 4-of-22 three-point shots, allowing the Lady Pointers to stay in the game. The visitors had 10 steals among Van Buren’s 15 turnovers while the home team won the battle of the boards, 40-to-24.
After Izzy Smith’s spectacular performance at Mountain Home, Kylah Pearcy returned the favor against Van Buren with 33 points, five rebounds, two assists, and three steals. She scored 13 points from the floor without a three-pointer plus seven points from the free throw line. Smith added 11 points with two rebounds and three steals. Pate Jones had six points, Piper Pitts five points, and Ashlin Rose three points. Pitts added four assists while Rose grabbed seven rebounds and had four blocked shots.
Harrison
This past Friday night the Lady Bulldogs vindicated themselves after losing just 10 days earlier to the Harrison Lady Goblins. The GHS coaches and players know they should have won that first game, holding a 10-point lead after three quarters before losing in overtime. But round two was a different story, with Greenwood taking an early lead and holding it throughout Friday’s contest before eventually winning by double digits, 61-49.
After the visitors scored the game’s opening basket, Greenwood’s Ashlin Rose hit a baseline jumper to tie the score. Harrison regained the lead on a free throw, but Kylah Pearcy hit two charity shots of her own to put the Lady Bulldogs on top for good. Izzy Smith then followed with a three-pointer and Pearcy added a layup to make it 9-3. After Harrison scored, Piper Pitts drained a trey to make it 12-5 before Pearcy struck again with a steal and scoop shot plus a free throw to cap the 13-2 run. Harrison added a final field goal to make it 15-7 after one period.
But the Lady Goblins didn’t go away, battling back to win the second quarter, 18-14, closing the gap at halftime to 29-25. Returning from the break, the GHS girls reasserted their dominance with a 20-10 third quarter, including a 10-0 scoring run fueled by a rash of three-pointers, led by Piper Pitts, who had five bombs for the game. Leading 49-35 after three periods, Greenwood coasted to a 12-point victory with both teams playing nearly even in the final stanza.
Back in the friendly confines of H.B. Stewart Arena after three consecutive games on the road, the GHS ladies shot the ball well, hitting just over 42% of their offerings from the floor, including 11 of 28 (39%) three-point attempts. The home defense limited Harrison to 35% shooting for the contest, but that same aggressive defense sent the visitors to the free throw line 25 times from where they scored 18 points. Greenwood hit six of its seven attempts from the line.
The home team also won the battle of the boards, grabbing 29 rebounds, including 20 on the defensive end of the floor, while Harrison had 23 boards. Both teams had 13 steals and turnovers were virtually even though too high for both teams. The Lady Bulldogs had 21 to Harrison’s 20. After having lost at Harrison, Friday’s win was absolutely critical to maintaining Greenwood’s place in the league’s pecking order, keeping them solidly in the hunt for second place behind top-ranked Farmington.
For the game, Kylah Pearcy had 17 points to pace her teammates, adding seven rebounds, eight assists, 11 deflections, and four steals to her performance. She was followed closely by Piper Pitts with 15 points, all on treys, plus eight boards, two assists, four deflections, and a steal. Izzy Smith and Journey Clements finished with nine points each. Smith also had three assists, three deflections on defense, and a steal while Clements got all her points from long range. Ashlin Rose added six points with seven defensive boards, four deflections, and three steals, while Pate Jones had five points, three rebounds, eight deflections, and two steals.
After the win, Head Coach Ryan Casalman talked with local media about his team’s performance. “That was our best defensive rebounding [effort] I thought. I haven’t seen the numbers, but it seemed to me we had five people pursuing the ball whenever [Harrison] missed. I don’t think they got a whole lot of second chance points,” he continued. “We turned it over way too many times, but when we win a conference game by double digits, we’ve got to be happy. [Still], I know we can play better.”
Asked about the state of the league race and the necessity of avenging their loss at Harrison, Casalman said, “I think it fueled our players a little bit. I know it did me. Every game from here on out is going to be that way [a must win]. We really need to get them all. Obviously, that’s difficult, but we’ve done it in the past and we can do it again. Every game we win, winning [the next] game becomes even more critical.”
The Lady Bulldogs remain two games behind Farmington for the top spot in the 5A West with just five games remaining. The GHS girls must defeat the Lady Cardinals on the road next Friday to have any hope of finishing in first place, a slim hope at best. At this point, their best option is to beat out Mountain Home for second place and the two-seed in the playoffs, putting Greenwood and Farmington on opposite sides of the state tournament bracket, meaning the two teams could not meet until the state finals, where anything could happen. Both schools are defending state champions, but after moving up from 4A, Farmington (22-1) is the top-ranked team in Class 5A and #2 overall in the state according to MaxPreps Sports.