Bulldogs pull away in second half
Greenwood turned an eightpoint halftime lead into a comfortable second-half margin with old-fashioned defense and rebounding Tuesday night against Siloam Springs.
The Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter and opened up a big lead in a 53-35 victory against the Panthers on senior night inside Panther Activity Center.
Greenwood led 24-16 in the first half, but the Bulldogs outscored the Panthers 18-6 in the third quarter to take a 42-22 lead going into the fourth.
“We were letting them get too many offensive rebounds and we were fouling too much (in the first half),” said Greenwood coach Greg Nichols. “So we started moving our feet on defense, and that prevented the fouling. And we started blocking out so we could get the rebound.”
Greenwood also began pushing the ball up and down the floor to counter Siloam Springs’ 3-2 zone defense.
“We were pushing the ball up the floor and getting easy shots,” Nichols said. “Their 3-2 zone defense is as good as it gets and it’s hard to score on if you just walk it up the floor and try to set up an offense against it. We were just trying to get up the floor quick.”
Siloam Springs also had to make some adjustments and early in the second half they had some success defensively. The struggles came on the offensive end.
“We knew coming out halftime we were going to have to make some adjustments,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Stewart. “But defensively we got some stops early in the third quarter, and we just weren’t able to convert on the offensive end.”
“Then they started being really patient and give Greg a lot of credit. They weren’t going to be in a hurry offensively. Well we didn’t have the time to play in our soft zone and let them milk 40 seconds. So we changed to man and tried to speed the game up, but obviously that also opens up the game to some easy baskets. They kind of took off with it.”
Greenwood grabbed an early first quarter lead and never trailed in the ballgame.
The Bulldogs led 11-4 in the first quarter after a three-point play by Peyton Holt and a basket by Jordan Sheppard.
Siloam Springs got back in the ballgame with a 8-4 run to end the quarter.
Jacob Wakefield scored two straight baskets and Sam Everett and Spencer Lashley got the Panthers’ within 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.
An Everett 3-pointer kept the Panthers within 20-15 midway through the second quarter before Greenwood pulled ahead 24-16 at halftime.
The Panthers trailed 2619 after a Diego Flores 3-pointer early in the third quarter, but Greenwood scored the next 11 points to go up 37-19.
Zane Harmon started the run with a basket and Neil Rice followed with a score. Sheppard converted a three-point play and followed with a turnaround jump shot and another basket for a 37-19 lead.
Sheppard finished with 16 points to lead the Bulldogs (13-10, 8-3), while Harmon had 13.
Flores, Sam Everett and Jacob Wakefield each scored seven points to lead Siloam Springs (6-21, 4-8). Spencer Lashley, Dyson Bagsby and Drew Vachon each scored four points, while Tyler Pettit and Murphy Perkins each had one.
The Panthers received the No. 8 seed for the 6A-West Conference Tournament and were scheduled to play at top-seed Lake Hamilton on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime.
The Panthers will play against Tuesday against the winner/loser of Saturday’s matchup between No. 4 Greenwood and No. 5 El Dorado. Siloam Springs must win one of its first two conference tournament games in order to advance to the 6A State Tournament in West Memphis on Feb. 28-March 3.
“We challenged the kids,” Stewart said. “I tell you it’s a great group of kids. Their attitudes are great. They’re wanting to get back and work. We’ve put that goal out there. We’ve got to win one game. We’re going to practice hard and do everything we can to put ourselves in a good situation to win a game and make it to West Memphis.”
Greenwood 53, Siloam Springs 35
Greenwood 15 9 18 11 — 53 Siloam Springs 12 4 6 13 — 35 Greenwood (13-10, 8-3): Sheppard 16, Harmon 13, Barrett 7, Rice 6, Holt 5, Teeter 4, Stewart 2.
Siloam Springs (6-21, 4-8): Flores 7, Everett 7, Wakefield 7, Lashley 4, Bagsby 4, Vachon 4, Pettit 1, Perkins 1.