Vilonia girls grab 5A-West top spot
5A-WEST GIRLS
VILONIA 62, GREENWOOD 60
GREENWOOD — Vilonia stayed unbeaten on the road Friday night to jump to the top of the 5A-West Conference standings at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.
Lauren Patterson scored a team-high 22 points, including eight of the team’s 13 fourth-quarter points, to lead Vilonia to a 62-60 victory against Greenwood. The Lady Eagles now control their own destiny in the league championship race.
“We made enough shots to beat them by two,” Vilonia Coach Alvin Riley said. “Greenwood has a good team. To beat them here is really, really big. We have a lot of experience on this team. They know how to win ball games. You have to find a way in each tough game.”
Greenwood (18-5, 8-2 5A-West) was led by Kinley Fisher’s game-high 26 points.
Vilonia (21-2, 9-1) held a 49-43 edge heading into the fourth quarter, but Greenwood wouldn’t fold.
The Lady Bulldogs cut the lead to 60-59 on a basket by Fisher with 1:28 left in the game to cap a 7-1 spurt, but one point was as close as they would get.
The game was tied 15-15 after the first quarter, but Vilonia outscored Greenwood 20-9 in the second quarter to build a 35-24 lead at halftime.
In the second quarter, Vilonia made 7 of 13 shots while Greenwood made 3 of 11 attempts from the field. Vilonia made five three-pointers in the second frame and finished the game with 11.
“If we didn’t have that second quarter, we don’t win the game,” Riley said. “We hit shots, and we played relaxed. I’m proud of the way they played. That was a big stretch for us.”
Greenwood used a strong third quarter to get back into the game. The Lady Bulldogs scored the final seven points to slice the Lady Eagles’ advantage to 49-43.
“Good teams have to weather adversity because you know they are not going to quit,” Riley said. “We talked about that. We had to be tough and hang on to the ball. We gained our composure enough for the win. We knew they’d make a run.”
Greenwood outscored Vilonia 19-14 and won the turnover margin 8-1 in the third quarter. Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves said it was a tweak to the defense that sparked his team after halftime.
“They played really good in the first half,” Reeves said of Vilonia. “I told the kids I did a terrible job in the first half of trying to adjust our defense. That first half was my fault. We changed at halftime, and our kids adjusted to it. Once it came down to it, our kids hit another gear and gave us a great chance.”
Vilonia made 11 of 16 free throws in the final quarter to preserve the victory. Greenwood was limited to just 3-of-13 shooting in the fourth quarter.
The loss for Greenwood snapped an eight-game winning streak and was its first at home this season. Vilonia, now on a seven-game winning streak, avenged a 67-52 loss against Greenwood earlier this season.
BOYS
VILONIA 62, GREENWOOD 51
Vilonia used a balanced offense and strong final quarter to pull away from Greenwood for a road victory.
The Eagles were led by Tyler Moran’s game-high 19 points, while Austin Koonce had 16 and Landon Hill added 12.
Vilonia (18-5, 7-3) held a 43-41 lead heading into the final quarter but stretched that out to an 11-point victory. The Eagles used a 19-point fourth quarter, its best of the game, to take control.
Greenwood (3-20, 0-10) was led by Sam Forbus’ 15 points while Jayce Garnes finished with 14.
Vilonia held a 14-11 edge after the first quarter and 32-31 heading into halftime.